Black bean paste is a traditional Chinese cooking additive used in stir-fry dishes, chicken, and fish. It can be made from scratch or purchased in sauce jars. Black beans are also used to create sweet pastes for desserts. Homemade paste is healthier and can be frozen for later use.
Black bean paste is made from green beans and is a traditional cooking additive to various Chinese recipes. The texture varies depending on the other ingredients added to the pasta, and some versions are more like gravy. Black bean pasta varieties aren’t as well known in some regions as its counterpart made from red beans, but the sauce is still just as popular in Asia. This type of pasta can be made from scratch with black beans or purchased in sauce jars from grocery stores. Black bean paste is a popular additive to stir-fried dishes, as well as those that include chicken and fish.
Different types of beans are used around the world in side dishes or are mashed to create fillings and sauces for a variety of meals. In some parts of Asia, black or green beans are traditionally used to create sweet pastes for mooncakes and other types of desserts. Sweet bean pastes are traditionally made from scratch, which can often be time consuming depending on how long the green beans take to cook. To create the paste, black beans are cooked and mashed before being combined with salt and other seasonings, such as garlic. Water and soy sauce are often added if a runnier consistency is desired.
As sauces continue to gain popularity in regions other than China and Taiwan, many Asian food manufacturers have decided to make their own versions and sell them in grocery stores. Black bean paste is usually sold as a pot sauce in supermarkets because it tends to keep better. Sauces are usually found in the ethnic aisles of Western supermarkets, but there is typically a greater variety of pastes available in Asian grocery stores.
Choosing between a homemade black bean paste and jarred sauces depends on what types of dishes are being cooked. The paste version tends to work better with mooncakes and other traditional Chinese desserts because the texture is thicker. Black bean dips are popular additions to stir-fry meals, as they help cook vegetables while maintaining a moist texture. Both pastes and sauces can be used as rubs for chicken and fish.
Making black bean paste from scratch may take longer, but there are usually more health benefits. Packaged and processed sauces tend to contain high levels of sodium, which can be especially unhealthy for eaters who have high blood pressure. If a cook tends to use black bean paste often, they might consider making it in bulk and freezing portions of it for later use.
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