🍽️ Yangjiang Fermented Black Beans

Salty fermented soybeans, soul of western Guangdong cooking.

Yangjiang fermented black beans are a famous traditional seasoning of Yangjiang, ranked with Yangjiang kitchen knives and lacquerware as the three treasures of Yangjiang. Made from local black soybeans through soaking, steaming, starter culture, fermentation and sun-drying, they develop naturally in Yangjiang's warm, humid climate. The finished beans are jet-black, glossy and oily, intensely salty-savory with a rich soybean depth and a faint sweet finish. They are enormously versatile: steamed pomfret, stir-fried pork ribs with black beans, bitter melon with black beans, and steamed spare ribs—almost a secret weapon of western Guangdong home kitchens. Yangjiang sits on the western Guangdong coast, where fishermen once ate the beans with rice and congee; today they have spread across China with Cantonese cooking, becoming a foundational seasoning for Cantonese wok flavors, and a must-buy Yangjiang souvenir.