Yellow soybean paste facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yellow soybean paste |
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| Traditional Chinese | 黃醬 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 黄酱 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | yellow paste | ||||||||||
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Yellow soybean paste is a special kind of paste made from yellow soybeans. It also contains salt and water. This paste is made in China. People mostly use it in Beijing cuisine and other foods from northern China.
Contents
What is Yellow Soybean Paste?
In Chinese, the full name for this paste is huángdòu jiàng. This means "yellow bean paste." But most people just call it huáng jiàng, which means "yellow paste."
How It Looks and What's Inside
Even though it's called "yellow soybean paste," it's not really yellow. It can be light brown, dark brown, or even black.
Long ago, this paste was only made from soybeans, salt, and water. Today, many makers also add wheat flour. Sometimes, they use a special ingredient called potassium sorbate. This helps keep the paste fresh for a long time.
How People Use It
Yellow soybean paste is famous for a noodle dish called zhajiang mian. This name means "fried sauce noodles." To make it, the yellow soybean paste is cooked with ground pork. Then, this tasty sauce is poured over thick wheat noodles.
Outside of Beijing, people sometimes mix other sauces with it. They might use sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce. These sauces make the dish taste a bit sweeter.
Where to Find It
You can find yellow soybean paste easily in China. It is also sold in Chinese grocery stores in other countries. It comes in different types of containers. You can buy it in plastic packages, bottles, or metal tins.
Different Kinds of Yellow Soybean Paste
There is a newer type of this paste called "dry yellow soybean paste." Its Chinese name is gān huángjiàng. This paste has less water, so it is drier. This makes it easier to carry around and store.
You use dry yellow soybean paste in a similar way. But first, you need to add some water to it. This makes it softer before you add it to your food.
In Thailand, people also have a version of yellow soybean paste. They often mix it with chilies to make it spicy.
Images for kids
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Yellow soybean paste on a supermarket shelf.
See also
In Spanish: Pasta amarilla de soja para niños
