Refrigerate spicy bean sauce after opening. They offer a Pixian Doubanjiang sourced and packaged for them in Sichuan, as well as a super premium 3-year aged Pixian Doubanjiang. The Mala Market is a great resource for authentic, premium Sichuan (and other Chinese) ingredients. A 3-year fermented la doubanjiang will have more depth of flavor than one that has been fermented for 3-6 months. The longer the fermentation, the more expensive it can be. You may see prices differ depending on the fermentation time. ” You may also see it labeled with some combination of the words, “broad bean paste with chili.”Īs always, it’s best to look at the Chinese characters on the label, as English translations can vary widely on ingredients imported from China. Look for the Chinese characters, 辣豆瓣酱 or “ la douban jiang. In addition to Mapo Tofu, classic Sichuan dishes that use spicy bean sauce include Twice Cooked Pork and Spicy Numbing Dry Pot (Mala Xiangguo). Note that doubanjiang is quite salty, so you’ll have to keep that in mind when seasoning the dish and adding other salty ingredients, like soy sauce. Once the sauce hits the oil, it immediately begins to turn red! Often, that deep red color you see in Sichuan dishes comes from frying doubanjiang in oil. It is the king of Chinese sauces in Sichuan cooking and can be eaten as a condiment, or used as a seasoning or sauce base in cooking. Spicy bean sauce is seriously tasty, and it’s the foundation of many great Chinese dishes ( Mapo Tofu, anyone?). However, if you see the character “辣” ( la, meaning “spicy”), you have the spicy Sichuan version. If you see just the characters, “ 豆板醤” (doubanjiang), you may be looking at a non-spicy bottle. To make absolutely sure you’re getting the spicy version, look at the Chinese characters on the bottle.
You can tell the difference easily, as the sweet/non-spicy version is a dark brown color, rather than red. Note that you may see other products labeled “doubanjiang” that are actually sweet bean pastes.
Píxiàn dòubàn ( 郫縣豆瓣) is a particularly well-known type of spicy bean sauce, named after the town of Pixian in Sichuan province. The flavor is savory (filled with umami from the fermentation process), spicy, and salty.
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