Condiment
Fermented black beans
豆豉
Also called douchi, dau si, salted black beans, Chinese black beans
Black soybeans that have been cooked, fermented and dried with salt. They look like shrivelled black raisins and are used a spoonful at a time as a seasoning, not eaten as a pulse. They are not the same as Latin American black beans, or as jarred black bean sauce, which is already mixed with oil and garlic.
Origin
Southern and western China. Yangjiang in Guangdong and Liuyang in Hunan are known for them, and Sichuan cooks rely on them too. They are one of the oldest Chinese seasonings and turn up in Han-dynasty tombs.
Flavour
Intensely salty, savoury and pungent, a little bitter and winey, somewhere between soy sauce and dried mushroom.
How to use it
Rinse briefly to take off some salt, then chop or crush and fry with garlic and ginger at the start of a stir-fry. Use them in black bean sauces, with steamed spare ribs, in twice-cooked pork and in hot pot bases.
Storage
Keep in a sealed jar or bag in a cool cupboard for a year, or in the fridge for longer. They dry out further with age but stay usable.
Recipes using it
Sichuan hot pot
四川火锅
A tabletop pot of beef-tallow mala broth, red with chilli and numbing with Sichuan pepper, simmering in the middle of the table while everyone cooks their own meat, tofu and greens.
MediumHot
Twice-cooked pork
回锅肉
Sichuan hui guo rou: pork belly simmered, chilled and sliced thin, then stir-fried until the slices curl, with doubanjiang, black beans, sweet bean sauce and leek.
MediumMedium heat
