Sounds like a great idea. But slathering Lee Kum Kee
Black Bean & Garlic sauce - which is four times as salty
as you might guess - on something as delicately flavored
as sole kind of overwhelms it. Good thing I had lots of
rice made to spread out the saltiness.

This will take refining, and maybe I'll have to make my
own black bean sauce so I can control the proportions.

--Blair

writes:
>Sounds like a great idea. But slathering Lee Kum Kee
>Black Bean & Garlic sauce - which is four times as salty
>as you might guess - on something as delicately flavored
>as sole kind of overwhelms it. Good thing I had lots of
>rice made to spread out the saltiness.

and plenty of beer to wash it all down

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> Sounds like a great idea. But slathering Lee Kum Kee
> Black Bean & Garlic sauce - which is four times as salty
> as you might guess - on something as delicately flavored
> as sole kind of overwhelms it. Good thing I had lots of
> rice made to spread out the saltiness.
>
> This will take refining, and maybe I'll have to make my
> own black bean sauce so I can control the proportions.
>
Black beans are pretty strongly flavored for sole, but generally
speaking it's easy to make a black bean sauce ad hoc and control its
strength and saltiness to your taste. As a starting point of
reference, you could try:

2 TB fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped
1 TB garlic, minced
1 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine (or dry sherry or dry vermouth or sake)
1 TB soy sauce
pinch white pepper

Mix that all together. Add up to 1/4 cup water if you want more
liquid. This would be enough for a couple of portions of sole. For
about 2 lbs of spareribs I use 3 TB black beans, 3 TB garlic, 1 TB rice
wine, 2 TB soy sauce and 1/2 cup water.

For some dishes, instead of mixing in the liquids, it works better to
first stirfry the beans and garlic in oil for 30 seconds to a minute to
release their flavors, then add the liquids to simmer. -aem

On 1 Jul 2006 00:26:44 -0700, aem wrote:

> Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> > Sounds like a great idea. But slathering Lee Kum Kee
> > Black Bean & Garlic sauce - which is four times as salty
> > as you might guess - on something as delicately flavored
> > as sole kind of overwhelms it. Good thing I had lots of
> > rice made to spread out the saltiness.
> >
> > This will take refining, and maybe I'll have to make my
> > own black bean sauce so I can control the proportions.
> >
> Black beans are pretty strongly flavored for sole,

Much agreement, except I wouldn't put it on any fish. Shellfish,
yes... clams with black bean sauce is wonderful!

> but generally
> speaking it's easy to make a black bean sauce ad hoc and control its
> strength and saltiness to your taste. As a starting point of
> reference, you could try:
>
> 2 TB fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped
> 1 TB garlic, minced
> 1 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine (or dry sherry or dry vermouth or sake)
> 1 TB soy sauce
> pinch white pepper
>
> Mix that all together. Add up to 1/4 cup water if you want more
> liquid. This would be enough for a couple of portions of sole. For
> about 2 lbs of spareribs I use 3 TB black beans, 3 TB garlic, 1 TB rice
> wine, 2 TB soy sauce and 1/2 cup water.
>
> For some dishes, instead of mixing in the liquids, it works better to
> first stirfry the beans and garlic in oil for 30 seconds to a minute to
> release their flavors, then add the liquids to simmer. -aem

--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

tert in seattle > wrote:
writes:
>>Sounds like a great idea. But slathering Lee Kum Kee
>>Black Bean & Garlic sauce - which is four times as salty
>>as you might guess - on something as delicately flavored
>>as sole kind of overwhelms it. Good thing I had lots of
>>rice made to spread out the saltiness.
>
>and plenty of beer to wash it all down

Toasted Head chardonnay. Beer would've been
too strong in the first place.

--Blair

sf <sfpipeline_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>On 1 Jul 2006 00:26:44 -0700, aem wrote:
>> Blair P. Houghton wrote:
>> > This will take refining, and maybe I'll have to make my
>> > own black bean sauce so I can control the proportions.
>> >
>> Black beans are pretty strongly flavored for sole,
>
>Much agreement, except I wouldn't put it on any fish. Shellfish,
>yes... clams with black bean sauce is wonderful!

The black-beaniness of it was good. Just way too salty.

I only used about a teaspoon per filet.

I picked up a bottle at Fry's today. Different prep from
the jar version. 920 mg of sodium per tablespoon instead
of 1280 or something. But it doesn't have whole beans
in it I don't think.

>> 2 TB fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped

Can I get fermented black beans that aren't already
in black bean sauce? I'm not sure I've seen them at the
Asian megamart.

And come to think of it...isn't this just Chinese Natto?

--Blair
"Can I get an 'ewww'?"

On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 02:00:28 GMT, Blair P. Houghton wrote:

> Can I get fermented black beans that aren't already
> in black bean sauce? I'm not sure I've seen them at the
> Asian megamart.

They are there, if you know what to look for. Look for "salted" or
"fermented black beans". They keep almost indefinitely in the
refrigerator. http://www.rahul.net/clb/pix/chinesebeanbag.jpg
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
>
> Can I get fermented black beans that aren't already
> in black bean sauce? [snip]

Yes, they're in every asian market I frequent, and quite inexpensive.
See this online source for what one package looks like. At 48 cents
I'd guess shipping costs would make you want to find more things to
order.... As I said in the earlier post, making your own sauce gives
you complete control. -aem

https://www.surfasonline.com/products/24411.cfm