Fermented black soybeans or Douchi. Flavor chasing.

To maintain the momentum for home cooking, the first step is to make food tasted good to you. If you can make your food as delicious as, if not better than, fast and processed food, you have won half of the battle against fast and processed food. Therefore flavor chasing is the number 1 priority of my FAST cooking system.

There are many different ways to improve the flavor of your food. One way is to look for novel seasoning agents that you have not tried before. As the saying goes: you know what you like, but you cannot like what you do not know. Therefore testing and experimenting new and different seasoning agents is essential.

In this video, I am going to introduce you to a Chinese condiment, known as douchi, or fermented black soy bean. Frequently it is simply referred to as black bean. This history of black bean is illustrious, dated back to 200 BC in the Han dynasty. Black bean could be used in many different types of cooking other than traditional Chinese cooking.

I have experimented with it in making many different dishes by varying the amount and in combination with other seasoning agents. The results are magical, creating new and complex flavors that I find it satisfying. I call this type of experimentation flavor chasing, a way to identify unique flavor that you enjoy and you could create. Flavor chasing is the most effective way to keep fast food and processed food at bay. Once you have discovered your flavor, you would never want to go back to the old way. Besides, no one would be able to create it for you.

In future video, I will continue to explore the concept of flavor chasing as well as the practical approach. We all love flavor, and there is nothing more satisfying than when you find the flavor that makes you to light up and pay attention.