# Help w/ yellow bean paste...



## jpinmaryland (May 16, 2006)

I have had this w/ fish in a restaurant and it was awesome. But I tried to do a stir fry w/ pork and really didnt get much taste out of it. Is yellow bean paste used more in a baked or steamed type of dish? I thought pork would do all right with it since that is a kind of mild flavor. For those who dont know, yellow bean paste is sort of salty/slighty sweet bean paste. I like it, just not sure how to use it...thx.


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## htc (May 16, 2006)

My mom uses it for meat or fish. Maybe you didn't add enough?


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## jpinmaryland (May 16, 2006)

it's possible; that is one thing I thought about. I was doing a stir fry and I had about 2 TB of the paste and added it into the pork/vegetables along with some water and wine. I was afraid to add very much soy sauce for fear that I would throw off the taste, instead I got very little taste or at least not as much as I am used to w/ chinese cooking...

Hey, htc. When your mom does it, does she use it for like stewing or braising or something like that??


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## ironchef (May 16, 2006)

When making Chinese dishes, the base for your sauce should be some kind of stock beit chicken, fish, etc. Part of the reason why it was bland was because you used water.


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## jennyema (May 17, 2006)

Make it into a stir fry sauce with some soy sauce, a bit of chix stock, and maybe some other seasoning like hoisin or oyster sauce and some minced ginger, garlic and scallion.

Alone it's pretty mild.


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## jpinmaryland (May 17, 2006)

thanks for all these tips! Didnt think of any of that.

Iron chef: Is that avatar..? Is that...? Fossil man?


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## ironchef (May 17, 2006)

jpinmaryland said:
			
		

> thanks for all these tips! Didnt think of any of that.
> 
> Iron chef: Is that avatar..? Is that...? Fossil man?


 
It is him.


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## BreezyCooking (May 17, 2006)

Ironchef is right - it's always better to use stock for stirfries rather than water. If I don't have cubes of homemade on hand, I at least always have a carton of Swanson's chicken broth in the fridge. My base sauce/liquid for nearly all stirfries consists of 3 Tblspns stock, 2 Tblspns dry sherry, & 1 Tblspn soy sauce. Then I add whatever specific ingredients for that particular sauce - hoisin, oyster, chili-garlic paste, etc., etc.

As far as yellow bean paste goes, it's one of the very mildest types, so you probably could either use more, or switch over to a red bean paste, which is a bit stronger.


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## jennyema (May 17, 2006)

JP, it just occured to me to ask ... what does your yellow bean paste look like?  Could it be that you have yellow miso, rather than Chinese bean sauce?


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## BreezyCooking (May 17, 2006)

Aacck - my mistake too.  I automatically assumed we were talking about miso paste.


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## jennyema (May 17, 2006)

OK, that explains a lot.

White (yellow) iso paste isn't for stir frying.  It's for making soup, sauces, dressings, etc.  It's quite light.  When you combine it with Mirin and sugar you can make a great glaze for salmon.

You can also buy other, darker miso pastes.

Chinese fermented bean paste is a different condiment.  see here


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## jpinmaryland (May 17, 2006)

I dont think it's miso paste..It's called Ground Bean Sauce, made by Koon Chun sauce factory. Ingredients: water, soya beans, salt, wheat flour, sugar sesame oil and spices. It's a brownish in color sort of like the color of molasses. Taste somewhat salty with a sweeter after taste e.g. hoisen. 

What's the difference with miso paste? ANd, is yellow bean paste the same as white bean paste?


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## ironchef (May 17, 2006)

jpinmaryland said:
			
		

> I dont think it's miso paste..It's called Ground Bean Sauce, made by Koon Chun sauce factory. Ingredients: water, soya beans, salt, wheat flour, sugar sesame oil and spices. It's a brownish in color sort of like the color of molasses. Taste somewhat salty with a sweeter after taste e.g. hoisen.
> 
> What's the difference with miso paste? ANd, is yellow bean paste the same as white bean paste?


 
What you're using probably isn't miso. But it does sound like it's made from soybeans. From the ingredients you've listed that comprise the bean sauce, you need the addition of other flavors like ginger, hoisin, soy sauce, chicken stock, sherry, etc. etc. for the food to have more flavor.


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## jpinmaryland (May 18, 2006)

If I need to add all or some of that other stuff, what is the pt. of the bean paste?


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## ironchef (May 18, 2006)

It's a base, a foundation. It's about building the different levels of flavor and giving each dish more depth. It's about balancing flavors. It's about developing a flavor that when people taste the dish, they don't just say "It tastes like hoisin".


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## htc (May 18, 2006)

jpinmaryland, this is the stuff my Mom uses but it's not for stir fry (or at least that's not how my family uses it). You use it to flavor meat or fish. BTW, I really like that brand of sauces. They carry a thick soy sauce that I use a lot for Vietnamese cooking. Good choice of brand!

Hope that helps.


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## BreezyCooking (May 18, 2006)

The only Chinese bean paste I've ever used has been black bean paste, which is made from salted preserved black beans.  Miso paste is a fermented product made from soybeans, as well as other grains on occasion.  Here's a link to a company that produces Miso using barley, rice, chickpeas, & even corn!!  Interesting.

http://www.great-eastern-sun.com/misomaster.html


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## Gretchen (May 18, 2006)

Yellow bean paste and miso are pretty close to the same thing. Is it possible that the dish the OP had was yellow *curry* paste instead. I googled for recipes for bean paste and it seems to be mostly with tofu or deep fried by itself. I, of course, didn't go too far so there may be lots of other stuff.
I LOVE dishes with curry pastes.

Edited to say I hadn't read the second page of replies.


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## jennyema (May 18, 2006)

JP

What you have is *Chinese yellow bean sauce*. Like Ironchef says, it is used as a base for sauces. Alone it will not be thrilling. Experiment and add ingredients to it till you have something that pleases you.

Here's a recipe that uses it (along with other u\yummy stuff) with noodles.


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## jpinmaryland (May 18, 2006)

good stuff to sift through here. Thanks..


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## jpinmaryland (Dec 22, 2006)

I like all the replies but I think htc was  most revealing, I dont think this yellow bean sauce is supposed to be used for stir fry but rather for braising or simmering...Havent gotten back to trying this out yet. Thanks all.


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## boufa06 (Dec 22, 2006)

jpinmaryland, your yellow bean sauce is called 'tau cheo' in Singapore.  It comes in paste form, brown or black, or in bean form. As htc correctly said, it is used for flavouring fish or meat.  You can also add it to vegetable stews and soups.  There is no need to use salt or soya sauce when using it.


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