Since there’s still beautiful looking long beans at the farmer’s market, I can’t stop buying them. This time I went with a simpler recipe than the Long Beans With Tempeh.
Simpler, but it uses an ingredient you may not be familiar with, fermented bean curd or preserved bean curd. Or in Chinese, fu yu. Some people call it “chinese cheese”, because of its pungent aroma, saltiness, and smooth creamy texture.
Basically, it’s cubes of tofu that have been fermented in rice wine. It’s used as an flavoring agent or condiment. There’s different varieties of fermented bean curd, I like the white, chili one for its subtle spiciness. There’s also a red version that’s usually used with meat, although I’ve never tried it. A little bit goes a long ways, so a jar usually lasts for a good while stored in the refrigerator.
This is the brand I get from the Asian grocery store, it’s the one I grew up with. I’ve tried other brands but I like this one the best. Recently, they’ve updated their packaging (the old one is on the left). They’re also now ISO 9001 certified.
At first whiff, you may be put off by the aroma. But I assure you when cooked or added to other foods, it doesn’t taste like how it smells. It mellows out, leaving a delicious, savory, kinda salty flavor.
Besides long beans, any number of vegetables can be cooked with fermented bean curd, I’ve tried spinach and zucchini with great success. Sometimes I like to smash and mix a cube into just plain ol’ white rice.
Long Beans With Fermented Bean Curd
Serves 2 as part of a meal
1/2 bunch long beans, about 6 ounces
3 tablespoons water
1 – 2 fermented bean curd cubes
1 teaspoon oil
Snap off the ends of the long beans, break into 3″ pieces and wash in several changes of water.
Put the bean curd cube and water in a small mixing bowl, mash the bean curd in the water and set aside.
Heat a wok until hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the long beans, stir-fry and cover for about 30 seconds. Add the bean curd water mixture and cover. Cook until the long beans are tender and the water absorbed and sauce-like about 2 1/2 minutes. Plate and serve.
My Mom and I love bean curd and this sounds fantastic. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
I always appreciate how you feature items that may be unfamiliar to a lot of us and then make us all want to go out and buy them! Fabulous recipe!
Nikki – Thanks, I love bean curd too!
Jennifer – Thanks! I’m finding that’s one of the great things about food blogs is learning about new foods. :-)
those beans look delicious. And thanks for the fermented bean curd intro, I also always learn something on your blog.
Ooo I absolutely love this dish! I bet it tastes as lovely as it looks!
I’ve been fiddling with these jars in our Asian grocery a few times, but never quite dared to buy one. Now I know better, thanks so much for posting this!
It’s also very useful to know that it’s supposed to be used in small quantities like a flavoring agent, not as a main ingredient… Oh I’m sure we will love this, I’ll have to try and find some long beans today!
Lisa – Thanks, I’m always learning new things on your blog! :-)
noobcook – Thanks!
Anni – The nice thing abut most stuff at the Asian grocery store is that it’s not very expensive to try out new things.
Yup, 1 or 2 cubes is all it takes. Hope you get to try it sometime.
Fermented Tofu is my fav when combined with rice soup that I make… just so delicious I can eat a whole bunch at once :)
Foo Yee (what we always called it) is wonderful on green beans with olive oil and sauteed garlic. We also use it on broccoli. I just mash some in the sautee pan along with the vegetable and give it all a quick stir. Very delicious! Thanks for the photo of those green beans, they look great.
Li – I like it in rice soup too!
Francine – Thanks! Broccoli is a great idea, I haven’t tried that yet. Amazing stuff, it’s pretty much good on most green colored vegetables.
Nice article and i feed your posting
Thanks for this recipe. I love the taste of fermented beancurd. My favorite brand is from Hongkong “Liu Ma Kee”
Raymond – I’ll have to keep an eye out for that brand and give it a try. Thanks!