The market · Seasonings and ferments · East Asia
Doubanjiang
A paste of broad beans and chilli, fermented for months or years — salty, savoury, hot. The soul of Sichuan cooking.
salty · fermented · hot
What to do with it
Ana Etxarri's ChawanmushiDoubanjiang would season itRosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineappleDoubanjiang would season itTolu Adeyemi's Jollof, party styleDoubanjiang would season itMira Kowalski's Pierogi ruskieDoubanjiang would season it
HunanChangsha spicy crayfishWhole crayfish stir-fried and braised in a red, oily sauce of chilli, garlic, beer and spices, eaten with the fingers at night-market tables in summer.No one here has made it yetUyghur and XinjiangBig-plate chickenChicken and potatoes braised with chilli, Sichuan pepper and green peppers, served on one huge platter, with wide flat noodles tossed through the sauce at the end.No one here has made it yetSichuanMapo tofuSoft tofu in a fiery, glossy sauce of doubanjiang, fermented black beans, minced beef and ground Sichuan pepper.No one here has made it yetSichuanFish-fragrant aubergineAubergine fried soft, then braised in a sweet, sour, hot sauce of pickled chilli, garlic, ginger and spring onion — with no fish at all.No one here has made it yet
SichuanTwice-cooked porkPork belly simmered whole, sliced thin, then stir-fried until the edges curl, with chilli bean paste and green garlic or leeks.No one here has made it yetSichuanChongqing hotpotA pot of beef-tallow broth thick with chilli, Sichuan pepper and chilli bean paste, kept boiling at the table for cooking raw meats, offal and vegetables.No one here has made it yetSichuanWater-boiled beefTender slices of beef poached in a chilli-bean broth over a bed of greens, then heaped with dried chilli and Sichuan pepper and doused in smoking oil.No one here has made it yet
SichuanTwice-cooked porkPork belly simmered whole, sliced thin, then stir-fried until the edges curl, with chilli bean paste and green garlic or leeks.No one here has made it yetSichuanChongqing hotpotA pot of beef-tallow broth thick with chilli, Sichuan pepper and chilli bean paste, kept boiling at the table for cooking raw meats, offal and vegetables.No one here has made it yetSichuanWater-boiled beefTender slices of beef poached in a chilli-bean broth over a bed of greens, then heaped with dried chilli and Sichuan pepper and doused in smoking oil.No one here has made it yetIf you can't find it
Chinese grocers — look for Pixian on the label.
- 1MisoRed miso with chilli flakes and a spoon of chilli oilYou lose the deep, fermented broad-bean heat. Mapo tofu is built on it.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Chinese grocers. Pixian (Pixian doubanjiang) is the benchmark; darker means older.
- Worth knowing
- Fry it slowly in the oil until the oil turns red before adding anything else.