I got 24 vegan fish sauce at someone's recommendation and it works great in thai curries.
I've also ordered yondu, a Korean veggie umami-provider. but I can't advocate for it yet.
If you like fermented black beans you might try doubanjiang (but not the lee kum kee version), e.g.: https://www.amazon.com/Sichuan-Pixian-Boad-Paste-Chili/dp/B01M31VHNZ/
The dobanjiang instead of pixian doubanjiang is a big nono imo, I know lots of asians who aren't sichuanese or even chinese like their own cultures take on mapo tofu but mapo tofu without pixian doubanjiang can't be like the real thing. Buy the brand which says China-honored brand
I found it for less than half this price in a chinatown 2 hours away from me; next time I will order from amazon :-)
I ordered this doubanjian from Amazon. Even 99 Ranch didn't have any pixian doubanjiang.
u/blueberrymuffincakes, this is the one I've found in Chinatown. It's called "Juancheng Doubanjiang". Hua Sheng charges the least at $2 for a plastic jar of 500g. Lucky Moose charges the most at $2.49 while Kai Wei charges $2.29. At all of these stores, it's kept rather far away from where they keep the other jars of sauces and bean pastes by Lee Kum Kee and Haitian. It took me a little bit of hunting before I came across the Pixian doubanjuang on a lower or top shelf that wasn't in my line of sight. If you can't find it on your own, it's probably easiest to ask the employees (if you speak Cantonese or Mandarin) or show a picture of the doubanjiang to them. Check the best before date on the label or lid to make sure that you're not buying unduly stale inventory.
This is also sold in bigger jars or paper bags, but for my purposes a 500g jar is plenty.
I know /u/mthmchris mentioned that he doesn't like the Lee Kum Kee brand, but he said he liked this Pixian dobanjiang. He's sort of the resident expert on Chinese food.
That being said, I could only buy the LKK one in my country; I'll have to order the other one from abroad, as well as douchi so I can make proper mapo tofu.
Get doubanjiang (specifically that brand). It's used in a lot of Sichuan dishes such as mapo tofu. It's not crazy spicy on its own, and it typically starts dishes by being fried in oil to color the oil red and make everything delicious. It's a great funky base for spicy Sichuan dishes.
Oh, and Sichuan peppercorns. Have to get those as well.
Hui Guo Rou is a Sichuan recipe, Korean fermented soya bean is the wrong ingredient for the dish. You'll want to buy Pixan Broad Bean Paste/Doubanjiang, which is a lot cheaper at your local Asian Market compared to Amazon. Check out Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe from Every Grain of Rice.
doubanjiang keeps a long time, being fermented and all. and lao gan ma can be slapped on anything...
Stir fried ground pork is a good one. Can use the classic soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, ginger spring onion, sesame oil combo or what I prefer is like a sichuan homestyle one.
My basic recipe is
Normally takes me like 25-30 minutes to make so I just start my rice cooker and it'll be done by the time the rice is. Another good one is mapo tofu which uses pretty much the same seasonings.
Can add sichuan pepper with/instead of the white pepper which I'd definitely recommend trying. My roommates don't like the numbing flavor so I normally make it without.
Green onions and ginger reduce the fishiness of fish by quite a bit. Alcohol like beer or shoaxing wine can also reduce fishy flavors. If you like spicy food (not terribly spicy just a tad despite the color) try this.
The chili bean paste used is can be found at asian markets pretty easily just look for pixian doubanjian or buy off amazon. Chinese black vinegar can be subbed for balsamic and shoaxing wine for dry cherry if you can't buy them.
This is the kind you want, it's good.
Followed this for the sauce: https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-bbq-pork-cha-siu/ except I added a tablespoon of hot broad bean paste (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M31VHNZ). Marinate in half the sauce overnight, then sous vide for 2 and a half hours at 145. After that, set up a rack over a cookie sheet lined with foil (with some water in the bottom), basted with some of the remaining bbq sauce, and roasted at 475 for 20 minutes (basting again every 5 minutes). After final basting, gave it about 2 minutes under the broiler.
You can grab one of the good mass market bean pastes on amazon
Sichuan Pixian Boad Bean Paste with Red Chili Oil - 17.6 oz (500g) | Hong You Dou Ban https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M31VHNZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Gr6cEbDATAKEZ
Easy, the trick is in picking up the right ingredients. There's a whole lot of different sorts of doubanjiang out there, you want this guy: https://www.amazon.com/Sichuan-Pixian-Boad-Paste-Chili/dp/B01M31VHNZ and then something like https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Douchi-Fermented-Black-Beans/dp/B003K3KOM8 for the black beans.