Fermented Black Beans

Fermented black beans, known in Chinese cooking as douchi, are whole soybeans that have been fermented with a mold culture, salted, and dried until dark, wrinkled and intensely pungent. They are used as a savory seasoning rather than eaten as a standalone dish, typically rinsed and chopped before being added to stir fries, steamed fish and sauces, most famously black bean sauce. Douchi has been documented in Chinese cuisine for over two thousand years and is not the same product as the common black turtle bean of Latin American cooking, a different species eaten whole rather than fermented into a seasoning.