Broad Bean Paste
Broad bean paste is a fermented seasoning made from broad beans, also known as fava beans, which are inoculated with a mould culture, matured in salt brine and milled into a thick paste. The best known style is the chilli bearing doubanjiang of Sichuan, in which fermented broad bean is combined with salted red chilli and aged, but plain broad bean paste without chilli is also traded as a base material.
Its function is to supply fermented savoury depth, salt and, in the chilli styles, colour and pungency. Fungal and bacterial proteases break bean protein down into peptides and free amino acids, so the paste carries a high level of glutamate, while lactic acid bacteria produce the acidity that balances the salt. Long aged pastes darken through Maillard reaction and lose the raw bean note that young material still shows.
Texture runs from coarse to smooth, the colour reddish brown in chilli styles and yellow brown to dark brown in plain ones, with visible bean cotyledon fragments and chilli skin in unrefined grades. It is not soluble but disperses in hot liquid and oil, and it is usually fried in oil at the start of a dish so that the fat extracts the colour and aroma. Salt content around ten to fifteen percent gives it ambient stability.
We source bulk Broad Bean Paste from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Reddish brown to dark brown paste with visible bean and chilli particles |
| Odour and taste | Characteristic fermented broad bean and chilli, salty and savoury |
| Moisture | 60 percent maximum |
| Salt as sodium chloride | To declared value, typically 10 to 16 percent |
| Amino acid nitrogen | 0.25 g per 100 g minimum |
| Total nitrogen | 0.80 g per 100 g minimum |
| pH | 4.5 to 5.5 |
| Water activity | 0.88 maximum |
| Total aflatoxins | 10 microgram per kg maximum |
| Lead | 1 mg per kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.5 mg per kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 10000 cfu per gram maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 100 cfu per gram maximum |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 grams |
Common Markets Grades
The main grades separate plain fermented broad bean paste from chilli bearing paste, and within the chilli styles the ratio of bean to chilli, the ageing time and the chilli variety set the price. Young pastes aged a few months are brighter red and more sharply salty, while pastes aged one to three years or longer are darker, thicker and more rounded, with a higher amino nitrogen figure. Particle size is a further axis, with coarse traditional grades keeping whole bean pieces and refined industrial grades milled smooth so that they pump and dose cleanly.
Beyond the paste, the same base is sold as a spray dried powder for dry seasoning blends and as a chilli oil in which the paste has been fried and the solids removed. Grades also differ by whether wheat flour is used in the koji step, which affects gluten labelling, and by whether colour and preservatives are added. Clean label lines rely on salt, acidity and pasteurisation alone, while industrial lines may carry a permitted preservative and added colour to hold appearance through a long shelf life.
Applications
- Sichuan style cooking pastes and sauces, fried in oil as the flavour and colour foundation of the dish
- Hot pot base manufacture, providing fermented depth beneath the chilli and Sichuan pepper
- Industrial stir fry and braising sauce production, as the savoury and pungent base
- Twice cooked pork, mapo tofu and similar retail meal kits and ready meals
- Chilli oil and crisp production, where the paste is fried and the oil retained
- Marinades for meat and poultry, contributing salt, colour and umami in one addition
- Noodle sauce and dressing manufacture, thinned with oil, vinegar and soy sauce
- Fermented seasoning blends and instant noodle sachets, in paste or powdered form
- Table condiment bottling for retail sale
Brands Using Broad Bean Paste
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Broad Bean Paste on the ingredient label.
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Broad Bean Paste
Top Broad Bean Paste manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Broad bean paste is a fermented food rather than a food additive, so it carries no E number and its status follows its components. In the United States the bean, chilli and salt components are food ingredients, and any preservative or colour additive used must be permitted for the use and declared. Where wheat flour is used in the koji step, wheat is a major food allergen and must be declared, and soy is declarable where soybean is included in the recipe. Products are also subject to the general acidified and low acid food controls where the pH and water activity of the finished paste require them.
In the European Union the paste is a composite food, with any additives such as benzoates, sorbates or added colour restricted to those permitted for the food category and declared by function and E number. Cereals containing gluten and soybeans must be emphasised in the ingredient list where present. Imported material is subject to the general contaminant framework, and aflatoxin and ochratoxin controls apply to the dried chilli component, which in practice is the most common reason a consignment is rejected. Codex addresses the product through its general standards on food additives, contaminants and labelling and through its regional standards for fermented soybean and bean pastes rather than through a standard specific to broad bean paste.
Manufacturing Process
Broad beans are soaked, dehulled and steamed to soften and denature the protein, then cooled and, in the traditional route, dusted with wheat flour and inoculated with an Aspergillus starter. The beans are held in a koji room for several days while the mould covers them and secretes proteases and amylases. The mature bean koji is transferred to open jars or tanks with salt brine, where a slow fermentation follows: fungal enzymes continue to hydrolyse the protein while halotolerant lactic acid bacteria and yeast generate lactic acid, alcohol and the ester fraction of the aroma.
Red chilli for the chilli styles is prepared on a separate line, being washed, destemmed, coarsely chopped and salted so that it ferments in its own brine. After both streams have matured, they are combined in the target ratio and aged further in open vessels, traditionally turned by day and exposed at night so that evaporation concentrates the mash and Maillard reaction darkens it. Mature paste is milled to the required particle size, standardised for salt, moisture and colour, then pasteurised or sterilised and filled hot into pails, drums or retail jars. Powder grades are diverted before filling, blended with a carrier and spray dried.
