You can't make mapo tofu without fermented black beans.
Tips
culture
Salt-fermented soybeans, dark and pungent - one of China's oldest preserved foods (records date to the Han dynasty). Sichuan-style 豆豉 anchors mapo tofu; Cantonese-style 阳江豆豉 powers steamed-rib and black-bean-sauce dishes.
mistakes
Read 豉 as chǐ (third tone), not shì or shī. The character is unusual enough that even native speakers sometimes guess wrong.
