Black beans, fermented rewards a little know-how: how to choose them, cook them, store them, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 26 recipes to cook with them.

What is black beans, fermented?

Fermented black beans are not really a kind of bean you cook into a pot. They are a seasoning: soybeans salted and fermented until they turn soft, black, and intensely savory. In Chinese cooking they are called douchi, one of the oldest preserved foods in the world.

A spoonful smells funky and pungent, almost like a strong cheese. That deep, salty umami is the whole reason they exist, and it is the backbone of the black bean sauce on a Chinese takeout menu.

They come dry and wrinkled in a bag or jar, packed in salt. A little goes a long way.

Cooking With Fermented Black Beans

The classic move is to rinse the beans, chop or lightly mash them, then fry them in oil with garlic and ginger at the start of a stir-fry. That brief sizzle blooms their aroma and spreads it through the dish.

From there they flavor everything from meat to seafood. They carry the sauce in a Beef Chow Fun with Black Bean Sauce and a fiery Hunan Hot & Sour Chicken, where their salt-funk balances the chili and vinegar.

They have a special affinity for shellfish and steamed fish. A Chinese Whole Fish with Black Bean Sauce or Clams in Black Bean Sauce (Chinese New Year) leans on them to cut the brine and add savory depth.

Rinse them first. They are packed in salt and often a bit of dust, and a quick rinse keeps the dish from turning too salty.

Pairings and Common Mistakes

Fermented black beans were made for garlic, ginger, scallion, chili, and a splash of rice wine. Add a little sugar and soy sauce and you have built a black bean sauce from scratch. They also love pork, beef, clams, and oily fish.

The most common mistake is using too many. Their flavor is concentrated, and a heaping spoonful turns a dish harsh and oversalty. One to two teaspoons of the chopped beans seasons a stir-fry for two.

The second mistake is forgetting the salt they carry. Hold back on added soy sauce and salt until you taste, since the beans have already done a lot of that work.

Do not skip the bloom. Tossing them in raw at the end leaves a flat, gritty result. They need that hot-oil start to open up.

Substitutes

Prepared black bean sauce from a jar is the easy stand-in, since it is the same beans already mashed with garlic and oil. Use about a tablespoon of sauce for a teaspoon of whole beans and cut back on other salt.

Miso paste can mimic the salty, fermented depth in a pinch, though it lacks the sharp black bean funk. Thin it with a little water and use sparingly.

Doubanjiang, the Sichuan fermented broad bean paste, brings a similar savory hit with more heat, and works well where the dish already wants chili.

Buying and Storing

Look for fermented black beans at any Chinese or Asian grocery, sold in bags or small boxes. The most common good brand is Yang Jiang, often with dried orange peel in the mix. Choose beans that are still slightly soft, not rock-hard.

Their saltiness makes them nearly indestructible. An unopened package keeps for a year or more in the pantry, and once opened they last many months in a sealed jar.

Store the jar somewhere cool and dark, or in the fridge for the longest life. If the beans dry out and harden over time, a short soak in warm water softens them.

Discard them only if they grow fuzzy mold or smell sharply off rather than pleasantly funky.

Quick facts

In Chinese

黑豆，发酵

British (UK) term

Black beans, fermented

en français

haricots noirs fermentés,

en español

frijoles negros, fermentados

Recipes using black beans, fermented

There are 26 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 26 recipes