Fermented Black Bean (Douchi)

Glycine max · Legume

40 pairings

Douchi is whole soybeans (Glycine max) fermented with mould and salt until they turn soft, black, wrinkled and intensely savoury — the pungent umami base of Cantonese black-bean sauce and countless Sichuan and Hunan dishes. Unlike the smooth pastes and sauces made from them, douchi keeps the bean whole: each glossy, salty morsel bursts with a funky, winy, faintly bitter depth that seasons steamed fish, stir-fried greens and braises. Salted, dried and keeping almost forever, it is one of China's oldest and most influential foods — the ancestor of soy sauce, miso and doenjang alike.

Picking a good onedrag

Fresh pack, soft and loudly winyDried hard, flat or gone rancid

Shop stockThe ordinary bag or jar. A tablespoon, rinsed and chopped, into steamed fish, greens or mapo tofu - a salt seasoning, not a bean by the bowlful.Everyday best

The beans in the packMatte and drier, still plump, salt dust in the bag

Give of a beanFirm, gives under real pressure, moist at the centre

Pack, date and sealInside date, salt settled loose at the bottom

Smell in the bagSavoury and salty, the winy top note gone quieter

What to look for, from fresh pack, soft and loudly winy to dried hard, flat or gone rancid.

What one gives you

100%

Usable yield

no refuse, all edible · spooned a tablespoon at a time, not portioned as a bean

Preparing