Fermented Black Beans

I remember attending an after school cooking class when I was young where we learned to make a Chinese stir-fry. I’m sure it tasted fine, but I find that most Chinese recipes I try don’t quite match what you find at a good Chinese restaurant (of which opinions differ greatly).

My quest to lock down some  solid Chinese dishes has expanded in the last few years. I’ve started experimenting with more and more different types of ingredients and techniques that I hope might help improve the taste/authenticity/quality? of my dishes.

Here is the latest ‘secret’ ingredient I bought:

When I saw it on the grocery store shelf I politely asked one of the staff there to explain what it was and how it was cooked with. His response was sufficient for me to drop the $1.89 it cost at Fairway Market.

I’ve yet to cook with it but my initial Internet research was interesting. Fermented Black Bean (or Preserved Black Bean) is actually fermented soy bean (vs black beans often used in latin american cooking). Apparently it was used in place of soy sauce prior to soy sauce being around. The ingredients listed are black (soy) bean, salt, and ginger… So maybe it is gluten free? Gluten allergy/sensitivity peeps are losing their minds as they read this.

With any luck it will replace the jars of black bean sauce sitting in my fridge and on my shelf and be way more
delicious.

I’ll post how it goes – I am going to try it in a dish tonight.