| 1 | Marinating: with sharp paring knife, scrape chicken meat from thigh; slice into thin strips across the grain. |
| 2 | (breast meat is not preferred for this dish, as meat is too dry and spongy). |
| 3 | Combine sherry, soy, cornstarch and sugar in bowl; massage liquid into meat with your fingers. |
| 4 | Marinate for 15 to 30 minutes. |
| 5 | Preparation: wash asparagus; peel tough white outer skin off ends; slice on diagonal in 2 ? sections. |
| 6 | Rinse fermented black beans. |
| 7 | In bowl, combine and mash black beans and garlic, brown sugar, black soy sauce and chicken stock; stir; reserve for 15 minutes. |
| 8 | Stir frying: add 2/3 of oil to hot wok; when oil is very hot, add chicken. |
| 9 | Stir-fry for about 3 minutes on high heat - or until chicken begins to shrink and firm up. |
| 10 | Remove chicken to holding bowl. |
| 11 | Reheat wok to high, add remaining oil. |
| 12 | When oil is hot, add black bean sauce. |
| 13 | Stir-fry for 1 minute. |
| 14 | Add asparagus; mix with sauce. |
| 15 | Stir sauce with asparagus. |
| 16 | When sauce boils, add cooked chicken; toss to combine. |
| 17 | Dribble in a little cornstarch paste if needed; cornstarch in chicken marinade might be enough. |
| 18 | Toss ingredients until very little liquid remains and is reduced to glaze. |
| 19 | Dish is ready when asparagus brightens. |
| 20 | If you still have too much liquid, remove ingredients, continue to reduce sauce, then return ingredients to coat them with sauce. |
| 21 | Serve in individual portions. |
