fermented black beans

Mapo tofu is a justly popular menu item in many Chinese restaurants. It is a quickly cooked dish of braised tofu with minced pork (sometimes beef) in a bracing spicy sauce made with fermented black beans and fermented broad bean paste, along with hot red pepper and Sichuan pepper. This meatless version with fresh shiitake mushrooms is completely satisfying, and surprisingly easy to make. For the best texture, use soft tofu rather than firm, taking care to cook it gently to keep it from crumbling.

Vegan Mapo Tofu

shiitake mushrooms

water

block of soft tofu (do not use silken)

Salt

vegetable oil

red peppers

black beans,

spicy broad bean paste (doubanjiang)

garlic

ginger

soy sauce

sesame oil

Sichuan pepper

Cilantro sprigs,

Remove stems from mushrooms. Make a light mushroom broth by simmering stems in 2 cups water for 15 minutes, then strain and reserve broth (discard stems). Dice mushroom caps and set aside.

Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes. Cover with boiling salted water, let steep for 15 minutes, then drain.

Put oil in a wok or wide skillet over medium heat. Add red peppers, black beans and bean paste and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add garlic and ginger and let sizzle, then add mushrooms, soy sauce, sesame oil and Sichuan pepper. Add 1 1/2 cups mushroom broth and cook mixture gently for 2 minutes.

Carefully add tofu cubes. Shake pan to distribute sauce, using a wooden spoon to help. Try to avoid smashing tofu. Drizzle in cornstarch mixture, gently swirling pan to incorporate (sauce will thicken) and simmer tofu in sauce for 2 minutes more. Thin with a little mushroom broth if necessary. Transfer to a low bowl or platter. Sprinkle with scallions and cilantro sprigs.

Add rice wine and salt to fish. Make black bean sauce. Peel, chop and blanch asparagus. Heat oil in wok, stir-fry asparagus, add ginger, garlic fish and sauce, mix, cook until done. Add spring onions, sesame oil and serve.

Fish fillets in black bean sauce

(9 ounces) skin-on fish fillets

(2tsp) rice wine

fine sea salt,

(⅓oz) fermented black beans

sugar

milliliters (1tsp) light soy sauce

¼tsp finely ground white pepper

(12½oz) green asparagus

spring onions

milliliters (2tsp) cooking oil

Cut the fish fillets into two-bite pieces.

Put the fish in a bowl, add the rice wine and sprinkle with salt. Mix well, then set aside while preparing the other ingredients.

Briefly rinse the black beans with warm water, then drain them. Put them in a small bowl, then add the sugar, soy sauce, white pepper and 15ml (1 tbsp) of warm water. Mix well, then set aside to soak.

Place the asparagus spears flat on a cutting board and use a vegetable peeler to peel off the tough outer skin from the lower part of each stalk. Cut the spears into 2.5cm (1 in) pieces.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil, add the asparagus pieces and blanch for 15 seconds. Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water and drain again.

Cut the ginger slices into thin matchsticks. Slice the garlic cloves in half. Cut the spring onions into 2.5cm (1 in) pieces.

Heat a wok over a high flame. When the wok is hot, add the cooking oil. Swirl the wok until coated with the oil, then add the asparagus and sprinkle lightly with salt. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds.

Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for about 15 seconds. Add the fish and the black bean sauce. Mix gently, then turn the flame to low.

Cover the wok with the lid, then simmer the ingredients for 30 seconds. Gently stir the ingredients and if the mixture seems dry, add about 45ml (3 tbsp) of hot water.

Turn the flame to high and cook the ingredients, stirring gently, until the fish is cooked and the liquid lightly coats the ingredients. Turn off the flame.

Taste the sauce and correct the seasonings, if necessary.

Stir in the spring onion and sesame oil. Transfer the ingredients to a plate and serve immediately.

A delicious, savoury and flavourful dish that goes well with white rice

Pork Ribs with Fermented Black Beans

500 g pork ribs

pip garlic

spring onion

black beans

tbsp light soya sauce

tsp dark soya sauce

tsp sesame oil

tsp black vinegar

chicken powder

tsp sugar

tbsp corn flour

tbsp hua tiao chiew (Chinese cooking wine)

Rinse pork ribs and pat dry with kitchen paper. Then chop pork ribs into smaller pieces and marinate with the seasoning at least for an hour or longer (so that the flavours of the marinade will be infused into the ribs).

Place spring onion into pressure cooker, followed by pork ribs, fermented black beans, garlic and ginger. Lastly pour in the water.  Cover lid and start to cook until the time is up in your pressure cooker (I cooked mine in the electric pressure cooker pot for about 15 minutes).

When served, garnish with some cut chillies and spring onion.

All the flavours of typhoon shelter crab without the mess (though of course, you can substitute a mud crab for the soft shell crabs in this recipe, or choose whole shrimps or prawns for an easier-to-eat dish).

Typhoon shelter soft shell crabs

(7-9 ounces) garlic cloves, peeled

(⅞oz) fermented black beans

shell

flour,

red bird’s-eye chillies,

6-12 small dried whole chillies,

(5⅓oz) spring onions

(2tsp) granulated sugar

(5⅓oz) panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

cooking oil,

Put the garlic cloves in a food processor and process until roughly chopped – do not chop them too finely. (Or chop the garlic with a sharp knife.)

Put the garlic in a wok and add enough oil to cover it by about 1cm (7/16 in). Place the wok over a medium flame and heat until it just starts to sizzle, then turn the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the garlic takes on a little colour. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly until the garlic turns just a little darker than pale golden. Watch carefully because it will turn dark and bitter if over­cooked. Pour the garlic and oil through a fine strainer set over a bowl. (The garlic oil can be decanted into a clean bottle and used to stir-fry vegetables and meat. I don’t use it to fry the soft shell crabs and other ingredients for this dish because the garlic flavour would be overwhelming.)

Briefly rinse the black beans, then put them in a bowl and cover with warm water. Soak them for about 15 minutes, then drain them before drying with paper towels. Roughly chop the black beans.

Clean the crabs. Use kitchen shears (or a sharp knife) to cut off the face, slicing deep enough to trim off the eyes and mouth. Turn the crab belly-side up and pull off the flexible “apron” at the base (it is bell-shaped for females, pointed for males). Turn the crab over, then lift up the right side of the top shell, leaving it attached at the centre. Pull off and discard the feathery gills from the body, then fold the shell back down. Repeat with the left side of the crab. Put the crab on a clean tea towel and prepare the other crabs the same way.

Carefully blot up as much moisture as possible from the crabs – not just from the surface but also under the back shells (this will save you from some of the splatters that are inevitable when frying the crabs).

Clean the wok used to fry the garlic, then dry it over a high flame. Pour in fresh oil to a depth of about 12cm (4¾ in) and heat it to 180° Celsius (350° F).

Put some flour in a flat dish. Working with two crabs at a time, dredge them thoroughly in the flour so they are completely coated, shake off the excess, then put them in the hot oil and fry for about two minutes on each side. Take care, because the oil will splatter. Lift the fried crabs out of the oil and drain them on paper towels. After all the crabs have been fried, discard the oil and clean and dry the wok.

Cut the fresh chillies in half lengthwise, leaving them intact at the stem end. Scrape out and discard the seeds.

Heat about 100ml (¼ cup and 2 tbsp and 2 tsp) of oil in a wok placed over a medium-high flame and when it’s hot, add the fresh chillies and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the dried chillies, and cook for about 15 seconds, or until they start to darken. Use a shallow slotted spatula to scoop the chillies from the wok, leaving behind the oil.

Cut the spring onions into 5cm (2in) lengths. Add half the spring onion to the wok, sprinkle with salt, then stir-fry over a medium-high flame until wilted. Use the slotted spatula to scoop the spring onion out of the oil and put it on a plate. Add the remaining spring onion and the black beans to the hot oil and stir-fry until the spring onion is wilted. Scoop the black beans and spring onion out of the wok. Pour the remaining oil out of the wok but don’t wash it.

Heat the wok again over a medium-high flame, then add the fried garlic, sugar and panko and stir constantly for about a minute. Add the chillies, spring onion and black beans and mix thoroughly. Taste the mixture and add some salt, if necessary.

Add the fried soft shell crabs to the wok and cook over a medium-high flame, stirring frequently, until the crabs are hot.

Arrange the ingredients on a platter, then serve with steamed rice or plain congee.

This is how you make perfect homemade Chinese-style beef in black bean sauce. Use my homemade black bean sauce recipe, or store-bought, and you&#39;ll have a delicious stir fry, full of umami flavour.

Beef in black bean sauce

tbsp sesame oil

tbsp rapeseed oil

tbsp minced ginger

tbsp Shaoxing Chinese rice wine

tbsp dark soy sauce

tsp rice vinegar

granulated sugar

½ tsp ground black pepper

180 ml (3/4 cup) chicken or vegetable stock

tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA) (mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water to form a slurry)

400 g (14 oz) beef steak

tsp bicarbonate of soda

salt

½ tsp black pepper

tbsp rapeseed/avocado or other neutral oil

onion

red bell pepper

green bell pepper

boiled rice

spring onions (scallions)

sesame seeds

Start by soaking the fermented black beans. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for one hour.

Soaking the black beans:

Now velvet the beef. Place the beef in a bowl and sprinkle over the bicarbonate of soda.

Rub the bicarbonate of soda into the beef so it’s thoroughly coated.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Thoroughly rinse the beef in cold water, drain, then pat dry with kitchen towels. Place in a bowl, ready to use in your stir fry.

Velveting the beef:

Once the beans have soaked for an hour, drain and thoroughly rinse them.

Place the drained  black beans in a bowl and give them a bit of a mash with the back of a fork. I like to mash up about three-quarters and leave the rest whole.

Add the sesame and rapeseed oil to a small saucepan. Heat over a medium heat.

Add the garlic, ginger, and black beans and fry for one minute, stirring often, until fragrant.

Add the rice wine, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, pepper, and stock.

Stir together, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, until slightly reduced.

Stir in half the cornflour slurry to thicken the sauce. Add more if you&#39;d like the sauce thicker, then turn off the heat.

Making the black bean sauce:

Toss the tenderised beef in the salt and pepper.

Heat the two oils oil in a wok over a high heat.

Add the beef and fry, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, until the beef is just cooked.

Add the onion, red, and green peppers and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until slightly softened.

Add the black bean sauce, fry, stirring often, for 1-2 minutes, until the sauce is heated through.

Bringing it all together:

Serve over boiled rice, topped with spring onions, and sesame seeds.

Serve:

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/58gHFzBK.mp4

Perfect homemade Chinese-style beef in black bean sauce - it's rich and delicious - full of umami flavour.

Top 5 fermented black beans recipes from across the web

The most viewed fermented black beans recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Vegan Mapo Tofu

Fish fillets in black bean sauce

Pork Ribs with Fermented Black Bean...

Typhoon shelter soft shell crabs

Beef in black bean sauce

Top 5 fermented black beans recipes from across the web

The most viewed fermented black beans recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Vegan Mapo Tofu

Fish fillets in black bean sauce

Pork Ribs with Fermented Black Bean...

Typhoon shelter soft shell crabs

Beef in black bean sauce

The most viewed fermented black beans recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine