Bean sauce (yellow bean sauce, brown bean sauce, bean paste, soybean condiment)

Seasonings made from germinated soybeans are one of the oldest forms of food flavouring in China. Before 200 B.C., the ancient Chinese used a form of salted and fermented soybeans, as well as another type of thin, salty sauce. These were precursors of the bean sauce of today, which is made from dried yellow or black soybeans that are partially decomposed by adding a mold culture and then they are salted, dried, or mixed with brine. Bean sauce is thick, spicy, and aromatic. Correctly blended, it is quite salty but provides a distinctive flavour to Chinese sauces and is a frequent addition in Chinese cookery. The traditional bean sauce follows the ancient recipe for pickled yellow soybeans in a salty liquid. There are two forms: whole beans in a thick sauce and mashed, ground or pureed beans (sold as crushed or yellow bean sauce).

Shopping tips

If labeled plain ‘bean sauce’, it is likely to be whole beans. This is the preferred sauce, as it is rounder in flavour and has more of a textural bite. Often the pureed version is very salty. In China, bean sauce is often purchased from local food shops, which make sauce to a favourite local recipe. People buy what they need from large jars. Many of the versions available in cans or jars from China (Pearl River Bridge brand) or Hong Kong are quite good, especially the Koon Chun Sauce Factory’s bean sauce.

Storage notes

If you buy the sauce in cans, transfer it to a glass jar. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Useful hints

Bean sauce is a good foundation for making a favourite sauce: combine it with hoisin sauce and chilli bean paste.

© Ken Hom and reproduced with his kind permission.