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Doubanjiang | Broad Bean Paste(豆瓣酱)

July 18, 2012 156 Comments

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Sichuan cuisine is famous for widely used seasonings and spices. We are going to know the soul of Sichuan cuisine, doubanjiang (spicy broad bean paste). It is the most common and important seasoning for lots of famous Sichuan dishes including mapo tofu and twice-cooked pork.

doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱) literally means bean paste. There are several versions popular in different areas in China. Sichuan Doubanjiang is made from broad bean (fava beans) instead of soybean. There are two sub-versions—one is red oil doubanjiang, which is relatively easy to make and quite popular in housewives’ kitchen; the other one is famous Pixian doubanjiang produced in a small area named as Pixian of Sichuan province. Due to the excellent water sauces, great weather condition and ancestral recipe, Pixian Doubanjiang has its unique flavor and enjoys a high reputation all over world. Pixian doubanjiang usually goes through quite long fermentation time under sunshine. The prices vary based on the fermentation years. But the main market for Pixian doubanjiang is outside Sichuan province. It is quite sad that the tradition is losing due to the city development. Instead of using traditional fermentation method, modernized production lines are widely adopted to improve the outputs. However we are lucky as there are still some brands (Pi’xian Doubanjiang on amazon: Sichuan / Pixian / Pi Xian Broad Bean Paste 16OZ (454g)) to trust. If you meet premiere three-year doubanjiang, do not miss it at whatever price.

types of doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Common housewives in Sichuan province love to make their own Doubanjiang at home. The homemade Doubanjiang is produced by a simpler process but yield great tastes too. My family has the tradition to make Doubanjiang each year, making several large jars in turn and exchange with family members. We usually call homemade doubanjiang red oil doubanjiang, because usually a layer of oil is used to separate the doubanjiang from air.

types of doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Homemade red oil doubanjiang


Caution: the following is an extremely long post, as I am trying my best to explain everything in details. Making a jar of doubanjing is comforting and enjoying, but also time-consuming and expensive. If you plan to try it at home, please know the most important fungus during the process: Aspergillus oryzae, how it works and the best conditions.

I thought homemade doubanjiang can be quite easy after watching my mother and grandma making them year and year again. But it is true only if you are in China because we are making our homemade doubanjiang based on a essential ingredient—fermented broad beans(霉豆瓣). There is almost no chance to find fermented broad beans outside China, even outside Sichuan. So I went back to my hometown this year  and make my own batch from just dried fava beans under their directions.  I only start with a small batch and yield around 1.5 kg doubanjiang at last(in the little earth jar shown in above picture).

My mom did not make fermented broad beans previously but my grandma did. I have double checked with her and tried several batches using natural fermentation in my apartment. Guess what? All of the tests failed. After reading lots of articles and papers, I found out the reason is the environment-my apartment. Fungus widely exist in my grandma’s yard as she make fermented foods each year, but my apartment is too clean so there is very little starters around. So I further find out a shortcut and saver way–using kit for the fermentation. Koji kit is the sprouts of Aspergillus oryzae. After loaded with the sprouts, broad beans can be fermented in a short time and meanwhile reduce the chance to be infected by other harmful fungus.


 

Ingredients

    • 150g dried board beans (peeled)
    • 0.3 g kit starter
    • 800g to 1000g fresh pepper
    • 3 tbsp. minced ginger (optional)
    • 30ml Chinese white spirit
    • 250ml cooled boiled water
    • 50g salt+40g salt
    • 2 tbsp.fermented sticky rice
    • oil as needed
    • a Jar
spices (you can replace them with 1 tbsp. Chinese five spice powder)
  • 2 star anises
  • 3-4 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon red Sichuan peppercorn
  • 1 small piece of Chinese cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 tsaoko
  • 2 cardamons

Firstly soak the beans overnight with enough water and then drain.Transfer the beans to a steamer and steam for 20-45 minutes based on the hight of the layer until just well cooked (when you break them in halves in hand, there is no raw part inside, but the beans should not be too fragile to smash easily). You can taste the beans. They should be slightly stiff but well cooked already.

homemade doubanjiang

homemade doubanjiang

After steaming, transfer the beans out immediately and spread to cool down. In summer, make sure they are cooled down completely. Then mix the starter with 3g flour. The powder in the small spoon is the starter I use, known as koji kit (koji mold spores). You can purchase a Japanese version from amazon.

homemade doubanjiang

Spread the starter to the beans and massage with hands to make sure all the beans are loaded with starter.

homemade doubanjiang

Then flat them and cover with a wet clean cloth (I soak the cloth in cooled boiled water and please keep the cloth away from the beans). Place on a baking cooling rack so there is air going through underneath and place in shadow place (try to avoid sunshine). Keep the temperature between 30 to 36 degree C and the air humidity around 80% (at least 70%).

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

If weather condition is great,  it should look this after several hours.

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Foodhomemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Then after another 12  to 16 hours, it looks like this.

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Lovely? I watch them for minutes.

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

After another 12 hours to 16 hours, the white hair turns yellow.

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

When the hair turns yellow, stop the fermentation via drying under sunshine.

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

After one day drying under sunshine, it looks like. That’s the fermented broad beans(霉豆瓣).

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Wash the beans under running water gently and drain. Then add 30ml Chinese white spirit (白酒), 250ml cooled boiled water and 50g salt.Mix well and fermented for 30 hours to 40 hours (covered).

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Then you will get this.

homemade doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Wash the pepper and air dry for 5-10 hours. And then cut into small pieces. Add around 40g salt and set aside for 1 hour before mixing with the beans.

doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Scoop the red peppers to the beans and discard the extra liquid at the bottom. Mix in spices, 50ml oil and 2 tablespoons of fermented sticky rice (you can skip this if hard to acquire). And transfer the mixture into the pot.

doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

This is optional! In the first 7 days, place in warm place (under sunshine ) and uncover by day and half covered by night.
Add oil to cover the doubanjiang (3-4 cm higher), cover the lid and place in warm place. Then we pass everything to time. Let it ferments for at least 3 months before enjoying. Use cleaned tool to scoop the sauce out and it can be kept for 2-3 years.

doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

After three months. Homemade red oil doubanjiang has a lighter and brighter color comparing with Pixian doubanjiang.

doubanjiang|China Sichuan Food

Homemade red oil doubanjiang

5 from 9 votes
Print
Doubanjiang | Broad Bean Paste
My grandma's secret recipe to make real Sichuan red oil doubanjiang
Course: pantry, sauce
Cuisine: Sichuan cuisine
Keyword: Broad Bean
Calories: 181 kcal
Author: Elaine
Ingredients
  • 150 g dried board beans , peeled
  • 0.3 g kit starter
  • 800 g to 1000g fresh pepper
  • 3 tbsp. minced ginger , optional
  • 30 ml white spirit , or other hard liquor
  • 250 ml cooled boiled water
  • 50 g for beans +40g (for fresh peppers) salt
  • 2 tbsp. fermented sticky rice
  • oil as needed
  • a Jar
Spices (you can replace them with 1 tbsp. Chinese five spice powder)
  • 2 star anises
  • 3-4 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon red Sichuan peppercorn
  • 1 small piece of Chinese cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 tsaoko
  • 2 cardamons
Instructions
Make fermented fava beans
  1. Firstly soak the beans overnight with enough water and then drain.Then transfer the beans to a steamer and steam the board beans for 20-45 minutes based on the hight of the layer until just well cooked (when you break it in halves in hand, there is no raw part inside, but the beans should not be too fragile to smash easily). You can taste the beans. They should be slightly stiff but well cooked already.
  2. After steaming, transfer the beans out immediately and spread to cool down. In summer, make sure they are cooled down completely. Then mix the starter with 3g flour.
  3. Spread the starter to the beans and message with hands to make sure all the beans are loaded with starter.
  4. Spread the starter to the beans and message with hand to make sure all the beans are loaded with starter.Then flat them and cover with a wet clean cloth (I soak the cloth in cooled boiled water and please keep the cloth away from the beans). Place on a baking cooling rack so there is air going through underneath and place in shadow place (try to avoid sunshine). Keep the temperature between 30 to 36 degree C and the air humidity around 80% (at least 70%). Wait for 24 to 48 hours until the white hair turns yellow.Stop the fermentation via drying under sunshine.
Make Doubanjiang mixture
  1. Wash the beans under running water gently and drain. Then add 30ml white spirit, 250ml cooled boiled water and 50g salt.Mix well and fermented for 30 hours to 40 hours (covered).
  2. Wash the pepper and air dry for 5-10 hours. And then cut into small pieces (I chop ginger along with peppers). Add around 40g salt and set aside for 1 hour before mixing with the beans.
  3. Scoop the red peppers to the beans and discard the liquid on bottom. Mix in spices, 50ml oil and 2 tablespoons of fermented sticky rice. And transfer the mixture into the pot.
  4. This is optional! In the first 7 days, place in warm place (under sunshine ) and uncover by day and half covered by night.
  5. Add oil to cover the doubanjiang (3-4 cm higher), cover the lid and place in warm place. Them we pass everything to time. Let it ferments for at least 3 months before enjoying.
Nutrition Facts
Doubanjiang | Broad Bean Paste
Amount Per Serving (100 g)
Calories 181 Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 2356mg102%
Potassium 294mg8%
Carbohydrates 10g3%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 640IU13%
Vitamin C 96.3mg117%
Calcium 30mg3%
Iron 1.5mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

Filed Under: Pantry, Recipes, sauce and seasonings, Sichuan Food

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  1. Sasha says

    November 25, 2019 at 10:56 am

    Hi there,

    Great recipe! Thank you so much for putting this together. I’m celiac so I’ve been looking for a gluten free version and bumped into this recipe. Can I use dried chilli instead of fresh ones? 🤔

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      November 26, 2019 at 10:09 am

      Sasha,
      Dried chili peppers can also be used to make doubanjiang, but it cannot produce a bright color as fresh ones.

      Reply
  2. Brendan Speed says

    April 13, 2020 at 2:39 pm

    What a great paste my favorite I am going to attempt this recipe soon
    I’ll keep you posted
    Cheers

    Reply
  3. Sebastian says

    May 12, 2020 at 2:31 am

    5 stars
    Hi Elaine, I’ve made your recipe a couple times now. It’s fantastic. I currently have a big 10 litre pot I’ve been aging for the last 8 months. But I’m curious about one of the steps during the process. You call for the addition of Chinese white spirit to the washed beans beans and salt.What does the addition of alcohol do other then add flavour during the first step? Does it inhibit the growth of yeast during the lactic acid fermentation? would be interested to know. thanks

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      May 13, 2020 at 9:25 am

      Hi Sebastian,
      There are two purpose of adding alcohol. The first is to bring unique aromatic to the beans and the second one is sterilizing at the beginning of the fermentation.

      Reply
      • Sebastian says

        May 13, 2020 at 9:13 pm

        Ok good to know. Thank you.

        Reply
        • Luke says

          June 25, 2020 at 5:57 am

          It’s very strange that the yeast fermentation is only done for 2 days and then stoppped by the white spirit. Doesnt really make sense. Most yeast fermented foods are fermented for 10 days.

          Reply
          • Elaine says

            June 28, 2020 at 8:06 am

            Luke,
            This one is not yeast fermentation firstly, and it is not done in 2 days. What do you mean?

          • Luke says

            July 24, 2020 at 12:31 am

            Ok, you want to be difficult. You dont want to accept the use of the word “yeast” to describe Aspergillus oryzae, or the fungi that you say is in the atmosphere of your grandmother’s yard. And you are denying that there is an initial fermentation of the beans, for approximately 2 days. What, have you forgotten what you wrote in your article?
            Your problem. Another Asian woman full of man hatred.

          • Nick says

            August 3, 2020 at 3:24 am

            Hey Luke,
            Aspergillus oryzae is actually a mold, not a yeast, so not sure where you’re getting your information. Both are fungi, as are mushrooms, but that doesn’t make all of them yeast. They are different just like grass and trees are different plants. So, Elaine is correct and you’re wrong, but I wouldn’t expect someone with such a fragile ego to be able to have the self-reflection to double check their information and admit they’re wrong. Also, Elaine is not being difficult, you’re just being a delicate little flower. Also, based on your statement about “another Asian woman full of man hatred”, I’d be pretty comfortable saying it isn’t man hatred, but I would understand why you would feel that way. I can’t imagine many women like you or are willing to put up with your bullshit.

            Elaine, thanks for such an informative post. Hoping to make this soon!

            Nick

          • April says

            August 3, 2020 at 3:40 am

            @Luke chill. Please back off with your sexist/racist shit. It’s 2020, we should all know that it’s not acceptable.

            Different cultures have different techniques. She has generously indulged us with a family recipe, there’s no need to be so accusatory/defensive. Also Aspergillus oryzae is a mold, not a yeast, so she has every right to be confused and ask you to clarify. An apology to Elaine would be nice.

            Elaine, I love your recipes and will try to make this paste soon!

  4. Carol Vargas says

    June 7, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    I bought the one from Amazon that comes in the bag. I didnt notice but it said it expired in March 2020. Do you think it is still safe to use? I have not opened the bag and it has been kept in a cool dark place.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      June 11, 2020 at 7:46 am

      Carol,
      Don’t eat expired food! They are not healthy and already lost the original flavor.

      Reply
  5. Wuu Kuang says

    October 23, 2020 at 6:19 am

    Where can I get a ceramic croc for fermenting. Is there a lid on the croc that you use?

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      October 23, 2020 at 8:09 am

      Hi Wuu,
      Mine is similar to this one the same shape but different raw material.

      Reply
  6. Paul says

    December 9, 2020 at 6:52 am

    Inspiring! I have the koji already growing on the broad beans. Now i am off to find some chilli…
    Thankyou!

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      December 15, 2020 at 8:45 pm

      Good luck, Paul!! Homemade doubanjiang is so amazing.

      Reply
  7. Daniel says

    December 21, 2020 at 2:14 pm

    What a wonderful post, full of background information, with clear instructions and beautiful pictures!

    I’m currently growing Koji on black beans mixed with roasted wheat for a shoyu-style sauce. Do you think I could use that same base in place of the fermented beans?

    And about the white spirit used: what alcohol content should the liquor have? According to wikipedia, baiju usually has around 60% alcohol – is that correct here?

    Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      January 8, 2021 at 8:51 am

      Daniel,
      Thanks you for your kindness. Yes fermented black beans can be good for this too. But it creates a slightly different flavor.
      Yes, baiju has 60% alcohol content.

      Reply
  8. Alice says

    January 18, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    Hello
    Where I live it is impossible to find dried broad beans. I was wondering if i could use canned ones or if there is another bean you would recommend as a substitute?
    I’m really keen to try the recipe!

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      January 21, 2021 at 10:31 am

      Alice,
      If you get fresh broad beans, sun drying is a good potion. Canned ones can’t produce the best flavor. Or you can use soy beans to creates soy bean paste based on this recipe.

      Reply
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