The Classic Sichuan Sauce That Packs Your BBQ With Unforgettable Flavor

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The perfect BBQ marinade should add depth, complexity, and tremendous flavor to your grilled meats. There are endless ways to create a tasty BBQ sauce, like using canned fruit as an unexpected meat marinade, or incorporating flavored whiskey as a secret weapon for a sweet and smoky marinade. For a spicy, umami burst of flavor, try making a marinade with doubanjiang, a staple in Sichuan cuisine that has been around for centuries.

Sichuan cooking is a cooking style originating from the Sichuan province in southwest China that incorporates spicy, bold flavors from ingredients like red chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns (berries of the Chinese prickly ash tree), garlic, ginger, pickled vegetables, and fermented bean paste like doubanjiang. Well-known Sichuan dishes include mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, Sichuan hot pot, and twice-cooked pork. 

A spicy and savory bean paste, doubanjiang is made from fermented chili peppers, fava (broad) beans, salt, and flour. Often referred to as the "soul of Sichuan cooking," it's used as a base for a sauce or marinade, and sometimes as a table condiment for rice or noodles. To use in your BBQ, create a marinade with a tablespoon or two of the paste and other umami ingredients like soy sauce and sesame oil. Using dark soy sauce that has brown sugar or molasses added to it will add a hint of sweetness to balance the savory flavor of the paste. The marinade will add the perfect spicy, umami flavor to your grilled steak, pork, and chicken wings. 

There are multiple varieties of doubanjiang with various fermentation times ranging from months to several years. One of the most popular and oldest varieties is known as Pixian doubanjiang which is made in the Pidu District (formerly called Pixian) of Chengdu, China, the capital of the Sichuan province. Pixian doubanjiang is fermented longer than other varieties, ranging from one to eight years. Fresh, unaged doubanjiang is bright red in color, while aged varieties have a deeper, purplish hue and more flavor complexity. 

Longer-aged varieties are traditionally fermented in earthen crocks that are left in the sun and hand-stirred daily. Some factories have automated the process by using tractors with long arms to stir cement vats of the fermented paste. The Pidu District is known for having the ideal climate (moderate temperature with high humidity) to keep the paste from drying out too fast in the sun, thus allowing it to age longer. 

Doubanjiang is often compared to gochujang, a Korean fermented bean paste made with chili powder, glutinous rice, and soy beans. While both have heat, gochujang tends to be a bit sweeter due to the rice. Regarding where to find doubanjiang for your BBQ, Asian grocery stores frequently carry it, or you can purchase it online. Well-reviewed products on Amazon include Muspyn Sichuan Pixie Broad Bean Paste and Pixian Sichuan Broad Bean Paste. Both are made by the Sichuan Pixian Douban Company, a longtime and leading producer of Pixian doubanjiang.