Pixian bean paste is so famous because of its production technology and climate, and its biggest characteristics are spicy, red, fragrant and oily.
Sichuan cuisine is the most popular dish in China, with spicy taste, in which Pixian bean paste is indispensable, and many famous dishes are indispensable.
Bean paste is red in color and fragrant in taste, which can add color and flavor to dishes. With Pixian bean paste, an ordinary piece of tofu can become "lively and fragrant", so it is the classic Sichuan dish of Mapo tofu. It is precisely because of the advantages of bean paste that most families now prepare a bottle of bean paste for cooking, which is not only good-looking but also delicious.
However, there are many kinds of bean paste in the supermarket, some are cheap and some are expensive. How can we buy authentic Pixian bean paste?
Pixian bean paste
Many bean paste are "selling dog meat by hanging sheep's head", and the word "Pixian" is written. In fact, it is not the origin of Pixian at all, so you must carefully distinguish it when buying.
There are several grades of authentic Pixian bean paste, with high grade and high quality, good taste and taste, which are generally divided into three categories: super grade, first grade, second grade and these, and there is also a red oil bean paste.
Super-grade products-reddish brown in color, shiny and oily, rich in sauce and spicy flavor, fresh in taste, mellow in spicy flavor, crisp in petals, slag-melting and long in aftertaste.
First-class products-light red and brown in color, shiny and slightly oily, with sauce flavor and spicy flavor, and slightly worse in taste than super-class.
Second-class products-red or light reddish brown in color, shiny, with sauce ester fragrance and spicy fragrance. Fresh and spicy, crisp petals, slag melting.
Red oil bean paste-bright red color, characterized by more red oil, but its taste and taste are not as good as the above three kinds. Its fermentation time is relatively short, only 3~6 months, and its nutrition and umami taste are relatively low.
For bean paste, the longer the fermentation time, the better the nutrition, taste and taste, and the more expensive the price.
Consumers can buy bean paste according to their own needs. For example, the catering industry should not only ensure color, flavor and cost, but also buy red oil bean paste. For home use, I suggest you buy super or first-class bean paste. Although it is more expensive, it tastes better. After all, you eat it yourself.
Skills of buying Pixian bean paste
When you see these four kinds of sauces, don't buy them no matter how cheap they are. They are probably fake Pixian bean paste.
The first kind of very red bean paste.
The color of bean paste is a direct criterion to judge the quality, and it is normally reddish brown or light reddish brown. If the color is found to be very red, it means that the fermentation time is too short, and the merchant artificially added pigment to increase the color.
The second kind of non-sticky bean paste
Bean paste is made by fermentation for a long time, with low water content and rich oil. After stirring, the paste feels very sticky. The non-sticky bean paste shows that it contains a lot of water and belongs to inferior bean paste.
The third kind of bean paste that tastes too salty.
Authentic Pixian watercress is rich in sauce flavor and spicy flavor, delicious in taste and moderate in salty taste. Poor-quality bean paste has a short fermentation time, so it has a lot of water and a weak taste. Merchants will add a lot of salt to enhance the taste, so it is best not to buy this kind.
The fourth kind of bean paste containing impurities
High-quality bean paste is fried in hot oil, with a bright red color and a lot of red oil. Inferior bean paste will turn black after frying due to more impurities, which will affect the color and taste.
Usage of bean paste
Most people use bean paste, which is fried directly in the pot, which is wrong. The correct way is to put it on the chopping board and chop it with a knife, and then fry it in oil, so that it tastes good, and it is easier to produce red oil and has a stronger fragrance. .