Homemade Red Chili Bean Paste — An Essential Seasoning for Delicious Sichuan Cuisine

Remove the stems from the red chili peppers, wash them, and drain the surface water.

Take a large container that is free of water and oil, and use a knife and cutting board that are free of water and oil to chop the chili peppers, or use a clean food processor to crush them (they don't need to be ground too finely, a coarse texture is fine).

Add about 5 jin of salt, stir evenly, and put it into a jar. The salt should be salty enough; it's okay if it's a bit too salty.

Soak the fermented broad beans in beer for two to three days (just keep the beer barely covering the broad beans). After they have softened, add about half a jin of salt and mix evenly. Fermented broad beans are available on Taobao.

Pour the soaked fermented broad beans along with beer into the chili jar, mix well, and then sprinkle a layer of salt on top.

Heat the oil, pour in an appropriate amount of corn oil, and heat it until fully hot.

After cooling, pour into the Douban jar, making sure to cover the Douban paste completely. Seal the jar with plastic wrap and cover it with the jar lid. Since I now live in the north and use more peanut oil and corn oil, and not rapeseed oil, and because peanut oil solidifies at low temperatures, I chose corn oil.

After fermenting for a while, the chili will lose its fresh spiciness and begin to become mellow, and it can then be used. If possible, it can be placed under the sun to accelerate fermentation. During the fermentation process of broad bean paste, it should be stirred from time to time.