What is it?

A staple of Chinese cooks, black bean sauce is made not from the black turtle beans more familiar to Western cooks, but rather soybeans that are fermented with salt. The sauce is usually flavored with garlic and imparts a characteristically rich, pungent, and salty flavor to the sauces in many Chinese dishes.

How to choose:

Look for fermented black bean sauce in Asian grocery stores or in the Asian food sections of well-stocked supermarkets.

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Recipes

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  Recipe

  Quick Steak Stir-Fry

  Just a few ingredients create an explosion of flavor in this dish, thanks in large part to funky, fermented black bean sauce, which be found in the Asian section of…

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  Recipe

  Grilled Salmon with Aleppo-Honey Glaze, Turnips, and Kale

  Zesty ginger-spiked vegetables are the perfect foil to this richly glazed fish.

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  Recipe

  Chicken, Shiitake, and Watercress Stir-Fry

  This stir-fry gets deep complexity from Chinese fermented chile-bean sauce, also called toban djan, which can be found in the Asian section of well-stocked supermarkets. The dish comes together in…

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  Recipe

  Mapo Tofu

  这片辣的辣豆腐菜是典型的四川味道，其味道（辣热和麻木）的口味。这个食谱是菜肴的非常辛辣的版本，靠近原件，…

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  Recipe

  Tilapia with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce

  Tilapia is readily available and it takes no time to cook, making it a great choice for weeknight dinners. It's also a mild-flavored fish, so it's the perfect vehicle for…

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  Recipe

  Stir-Fried Beef & Broccoli with Black Bean Sauce

  You won’t believe how good this Chinese take-out classic can be when you make it at home. It's easily adaptable to serve meat-lovers and vegetarians alike: see the variation below…

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  Recipe

  Broccoli & Shiitake Stir-Fry with Black Bean Sauce

  Dried shiitake mushrooms add an almost “meaty” flavor to this vegetarian version of a Chinese take-out classic.

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  Recipe

  Soy-Glazed Snapper

  If you can’t find snapper, choose any other moderately firm textured, delicately flavored fish, such as rockfish, sea bass, striped bass, or grouper.