Koji kit is the sprouts of Aspergillus oryzae. So I further find out a shortcut and saver way–using the kit for the fermentation. Fungus widely exists in my grandma’s yard as she makes fermented foods each year, but my apartment is too clean so there are very few starters around. After reading lots of articles and papers, I found out the reason is the environment-my apartment. I have double-checked with her and tried several batches using natural fermentation in my apartment. My mom did not make fermented broad beans previously but my grandma did. I only start with a small batch and yield around 1.5 kg doubanjiang at last(in the little earth jar shown in the above picture). So I went back to my hometown this year and make my own batch from just dried fava beans under their directions. There is almost no chance to find fermented broad beans outside China, even outside Sichuan. But it is true only if you are in China because we are making our homemade doubanjiang based on an essential ingredient-fermented broad beans(霉豆瓣). I thought homemade doubanjiang can be quite easy after watching my mother and grandma making them a year and year again. If you plan to try it at home, please know the most important fungus during the process: Aspergillus oryzae, how it works, and the best conditions.

Making a jar of doubanjing is comforting and enjoyable, but also time-consuming and expensive. If you meet premiere three-year doubanjiang, do not miss it at whatever price.Ĭaution: the following is an extremely long post, as I am trying my best to explain everything in detail. However we are lucky as there are still some brands (Pi’xian Doubanjiang on amazon: Sichuan / Pixian / Pi Xian Broad Bean Paste 16OZ (454g)) to trust. Instead of using traditional fermentation method, modernized production lines are widely adopted to improve the outputs. It is quite sad that the tradition is losing due to the city development. But the main market for Pixian doubanjiang is outside Sichuan province. The prices vary based on the fermentation years. Pixian doubanjiang usually goes through quite long fermentation time under sunshine. Due to the excellent water sauces, great weather condition and ancestral recipe, Pixian Doubanjiang has its unique flavor and enjoys a high reputation all over world. There are two sub-versions-one is red oil doubanjiang, which is relatively easy to make and quite popular in housewives’ kitchen the other one is famous Pixian doubanjiang produced in a small area named as Pixian of Sichuan province. Sichuan Doubanjiang is made from broad bean (fava beans) instead of soybean. There are several versions popular in different areas in China. Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱) literally means bean paste.

Spicy bean paste