The market

Liuyang fermented black beans

Douchi: black soybeans salted and fermented until soft, dark and savoury.

If you can't find it

Chinese grocers, in bags or cardboard tubs, as douchi.

  1. 1Black bean
    Jarred black bean sauce, a little more, and less salt elsewhere
    You lose the pungent, whole-bean bite — the sauce is sweeter.

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

Hunan province, south-central ChinaHunanHot and sour and smoky: fresh and salted chillies rather than Sichuan's numbing pepper, with smoked meats from the hearth and a fierce, quick wok.7 classics