Salted Black Beans

Not to be confused with black bean sauce, these are dried, fermented black soya beans that are used to make the sauce. Sold as shrivelled, whole salted beans, they are used in the famous mapo dofu and stir-fry sauces and are added to glazes for steamed pork ribs and other meats. The quality is far superior to jars of gloopy black bean sauce, but use them sparingly as their intense funky taste goes far.