Comments on: Got Umami? Soybean Ingredients of the East http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/ Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:32:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on Got Umami? Soybean Ingredients of the East by: Barbara http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-93314 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:23:06 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-93314 Stefan, fermented black beans like I use in my recipes come in either little cellophane packets that are clear with Chinese writing on them, or in cardboard oatmeal carton looking things--cylindrical boxes in yellow, white and red. I prefer the kind in the cellophane packets--they have black and yellow writing and designs on them. What you got was prepared fermented black bean sauce which isn't as good because they are saltier. The ones in the cylinder box are saltier and drier, the ones in the packet are less salty and more moist and flavorful. Stefan, fermented black beans like I use in my recipes come in either little cellophane packets that are clear with Chinese writing on them, or in cardboard oatmeal carton looking things–cylindrical boxes in yellow, white and red. I prefer the kind in the cellophane packets–they have black and yellow writing and designs on them.

What you got was prepared fermented black bean sauce which isn’t as good because they are saltier.

The ones in the cylinder box are saltier and drier, the ones in the packet are less salty and more moist and flavorful.

]]> Comment on Got Umami? Soybean Ingredients of the East by: Stefan http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-93267 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:40:38 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-93267 I too love the taste of any dish I have had at a restaurant with black bean sauce. I wanted to replicate the same flavor at home so I bought something in a little jar called "Preserved Black bean" Its ingredients are black beans, sugar,salt, msg, soybean oil and the inside texture reminds me of black beans that were crushed into a thick almost paste substance. I was hoping for the fermented black beans that are featured in a few of you recipes but i'm not sure if its the same. In the picture above you seem to have something similar...I can't read everything on it but it says "black bean" on it. Did I get the right thing? Or do I need to get something different? I too love the taste of any dish I have had at a restaurant with black bean sauce. I wanted to replicate the same flavor at home so I bought something in a little jar called “Preserved Black bean” Its ingredients are black beans, sugar,salt, msg, soybean oil and the inside texture reminds me of black beans that were crushed into a thick almost paste substance. I was hoping for the fermented black beans that are featured in a few of you recipes but i’m not sure if its the same. In the picture above you seem to have something similar…I can’t read everything on it but it says “black bean” on it. Did I get the right thing? Or do I need to get something different?

]]> Comment on Got Umami? Soybean Ingredients of the East by: Barbara http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-1772 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 05:26:45 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-1772 Lindy--I think that fermented black beans would be awesome with kasha and mushrooms--they certainly pair beautifully with mushrooms and rice, so I don't see why not. Go for it! If you ever have questions about cooking Asian food, let me know--feel free to post them. If I don't know the answer, I can usually find it out, or find someone who knows. I like it when I get asked things I don't know, because it gives me an excuse to research something I might not have thought of researching before. Which is pretty cool. Persimmon--I am fearful of what your grandmother would have thought if she smelled raclette. Talk about stinky feet cheese! I was talked into teaching a raclette class at Sur La Table, so I had to figure out how it worked and all of that (you melt cheese and put it on potatoes and grilled sausages--for this there needs to be a class? Aiya!) so I bought some in downtown Columbus and drove home with it, with my daughter in the back seat with it. She was complaining about the smell, even with the windows down as the autumn air slowly warmed the cheese to room, I mean, car-temperature. It was pretty strong. Oddly, most of the smell was in the waxed rind, which you cut off. After we trimmed it before the class, it smelled fine and it tasted quite pleasant. Rose--I really liked the spongey texture of the fermented tofu, too! I thought it felt neat and really, the more I ate it, the better it tasted. But I like thousand year old eggs, too--which makes Zak shudder when he watches me eat them. But they are good! I keep telling him, and he keeps shaking his head. He at least believes me when I tell him that chicken feet are good. But he still won't taste them. Silly man. Lindy–I think that fermented black beans would be awesome with kasha and mushrooms–they certainly pair beautifully with mushrooms and rice, so I don’t see why not.

Go for it!

If you ever have questions about cooking Asian food, let me know–feel free to post them. If I don’t know the answer, I can usually find it out, or find someone who knows. I like it when I get asked things I don’t know, because it gives me an excuse to research something I might not have thought of researching before.

Which is pretty cool.

Persimmon–I am fearful of what your grandmother would have thought if she smelled raclette. Talk about stinky feet cheese! I was talked into teaching a raclette class at Sur La Table, so I had to figure out how it worked and all of that (you melt cheese and put it on potatoes and grilled sausages–for this there needs to be a class? Aiya!) so I bought some in downtown Columbus and drove home with it, with my daughter in the back seat with it. She was complaining about the smell, even with the windows down as the autumn air slowly warmed the cheese to room, I mean, car-temperature. It was pretty strong. Oddly, most of the smell was in the waxed rind, which you cut off. After we trimmed it before the class, it smelled fine and it tasted quite pleasant.

Rose–I really liked the spongey texture of the fermented tofu, too! I thought it felt neat and really, the more I ate it, the better it tasted. But I like thousand year old eggs, too–which makes Zak shudder when he watches me eat them. But they are good! I keep telling him, and he keeps shaking his head.

He at least believes me when I tell him that chicken feet are good.

But he still won’t taste them. Silly man.

]]> Comment on Got Umami? Soybean Ingredients of the East by: Rose http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-1771 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 02:30:20 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-1771 "Stinky tofu", called "Chou dofu" in mandarin, is a favorite snack in taiwan. I was determined to actually try it my last time there this summer. I asked my teachers, my aunt, my uncle, friend's relatives where I should go and every single person had their "stinky tofu" street vendor (it is certainly a street food) to recommend. I actually really liked it--the texture was great, it was a thick sponge like taste. I didn't mind the stink after a few minutes either. “Stinky tofu”, called “Chou dofu” in mandarin, is a favorite snack in taiwan.

I was determined to actually try it my last time there this summer. I asked my teachers, my aunt, my uncle, friend’s relatives where I should go and every single person had their “stinky tofu” street vendor (it is certainly a street food) to recommend.

I actually really liked it–the texture was great, it was a thick sponge like taste. I didn’t mind the stink after a few minutes either.

]]> Comment on Got Umami? Soybean Ingredients of the East by: persimmon http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-1769 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 23:33:53 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/04/got-umami-soybean-ingredients-of-the-east/#comment-1769 I like the plain white brined "fermented bean curd", though I rarely use it as a cooking ingredient. At home we smoosh it up and dip steamed vegetables in it at the table. Spinach, long beans, green beans and pea pods are the favourites, and I think it beats the capful of vinegar. Umami foods, being often of animal, fermentative or fungal origin, inspire some very impressive reactions, and this is why I grew up knowing to hide the green carton of spaghetti cheese when my grandmother came over. "Aiya! Chuuuuu! Stinky-feet cheese!" I like the plain white brined “fermented bean curd”, though I rarely use it as a cooking ingredient. At home we smoosh it up and dip steamed vegetables in it at the table. Spinach, long beans, green beans and pea pods are the favourites, and I think it beats the capful of vinegar.

Umami foods, being often of animal, fermentative or fungal origin, inspire some very impressive reactions, and this is why I grew up knowing to hide the green carton of spaghetti cheese when my grandmother came over. “Aiya! Chuuuuu! Stinky-feet cheese!”

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