Recommend a good brand of Black Bean Paste for me please!

Cafe Society
1

When I was a kid, my father would sometimes bring home seabass, and my mother would often cook it in (Chinese) black bean paste. It was sooo good – hella concentrated, there were lots of tiny whole black beans still in the sauce … salty and garlicky with that distinctive fermented bean taste …mmmmmmm …

Now all I can seem to find is watered-down lame-ass black bean “sauce.” It is the picture in the dictionary next to “disappointment.”

All advice welcome. Who makes the real stuff? Where do you buy it? Thanks!!!

(because scallops aren’t the same without it!)

2

Lee Kum Kee is probably the most likely available but if you have an asian market nearby why don’t you buy a bag of fermented black beans? They last longer and you can adjust the bean/garlic ratio on your own.

Measure out the beans; rinse and drain; mash with garlic. I tend to use a 1:1 ratio.

3

Thanks for the idea of what to do with this pouch I’ve had for a long time – no idea what brand it is. It’s all in funny writing.