The market · Seasonings and ferments · East Asia
Fermented black beans
Douchi: black soybeans salted and fermented until soft, dark and savoury.
funky · salty · savoury
What to do with it
HunanSteamed fish head with chopped chilliesA large fish head split open, heaped with red salted chillies and steamed, then finished with spring onion and sizzling oil.No one here has made it yetHunanHunan smoked porkPork belly salted, then smoked for weeks over a wood fire until dark and firm, sliced thin and stir-fried with garlic shoots or leeks and chilli.No one here has made it yetHunanSteamed trio of cured meatsSlices of smoked pork, cured chicken and cured fish packed together in a bowl with fermented black beans and chilli, and steamed until their fats and flavours mingle.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 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 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 yetIf you can't find it
Chinese grocers, in bags or cardboard tubs, as douchi.
- Jarred black bean sauce, a little more, and less salt elsewhereYou lose the pungent, whole-bean bite — the sauce is sweeter.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Chinese grocers, in bags or cardboard tubs. Not the same as tinned black turtle beans.
- Worth knowing
- Rinse briefly and chop or crush. In mapo tofu, steamed fish and spare ribs.
Kitchens that keep it in
Guangdong and Hong Kong, southern ChinaCantoneseThe cooking of Guangzhou and Hong Kong: very fresh things cooked briefly and seasoned lightly, so they taste of themselves.11 classicsSichuan province, south-western ChinaSichuanBold and layered: the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper with the heat of chilli — málà — alongside some two dozen named flavour combinations.11 classics