WTF is ‘Red Oil’ Chili Bean Paste?

Date: 2026-03-23 00:34:19

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A critical ingredient in Sichuan cooking is ‘red oil’ chili bean paste? So… what is it?

0:00 – why are there so many chili bean pastes
1:08 – two types of red oil chili bean paste
3:02 – how to fry up the one year
4:58 – some solutions for color
6:45 – how to fry up your own flavor
8:26 – is this worth it

FULL, DETAILED RECIPE

…is over on Substack! Free as always, if it had to be said:

https://open.substack.com/pub/chinesecookingdemystified/p/wtf-is-red-oil-chili-bean-paste

HOW TO FERMENT YOUR OWN DOUBANJIANG

As promised, recipe from the always-excellent ChinaSichuanFood is here:

Doubanjiang | Broad Bean Paste(豆瓣酱)

Once day, we’ll have to make our own 🙂

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And check out our Patreon if you’d like to support the project!

https://www.patreon.com/ChineseCookingDemystified

Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHaL5H-VYRg&t=896s