Pixian Sichuan Pi Xian Broad Bean Paste, 35oz

If you want that classic Szechuan flavor, this paste is essential. It's not too hot (you can always use Tsien Tsien chilies for increasing the heat). I wish it came in a smaller container, though; 2kg is a lot to go through! I suppose it would work as gifts in decorative jars though if you know enough people into Chinese cooking. It is quite salty, so taste your dish before adding salt or soy sauce. The beans are large, and you'll probably want to mash the paste before using it.

Really tasty stuff. Kept in the fridge and it lasted for years. Not sure how many, I didn't count, but it was several. I also left it in the bag container the whole time. Its a paste, not a liquid, so there is no reason to worry about it leaking. I'd just take what I needed and roll the bag back up. Towards the end this would leave parts getting access to air and it would dry out. Still tasted the same once some moisture was added. As others have mentioned, this stuff is really salty. Don't add salt to your dish if you're using this. But it lasts forever, as very salty stuff tends to do. While it is a shame that someone is shipping product with expired dates, I doubt that it will affect the product. I don't know if mine was expired or not when I got it. I never thought to look.

Amazing product and dates good

This is the paste for Szechuan dishes. It comes in a lovely package. Great flavor and consistency. I strongly recommend this.

After watching a cooking show use this type of product, I had to try it. Wow! The flavor is absolutely addicting!!!! This is the real thing and is a true paste. You can buy other brands in jars but most of the time those are runny. It has some heat to it but not enough to make it uncomfortable!!! It comes sealed in a large plastic bag which after opening must be refrigerated. Throw away package it is shipped in as soon as you get it. Happy cooking!

I cook Chinese cuisine all the time, and I am never without Pixian broad bean paste. In fact, it’s the only product I’ve used because a Chinese lady recommended it above all other brands of broad bean paste. In the paste, I purchased plastic jars of it. However, because I use it so much, I prefer it coming in a bag because the cost is reduced. The quality and the taste is exactly the same, and the size is comparable to the larger jars that I’ve purchased in the past. I highly recommend this product from Mapo Tofu to stir fried green beans!

This is the real deal folks-- i have been trying to find Toban djang toban jang or hot bean paste for some time and although i live in a reasonably sophisticated area, not far from NYC, the closest i can come to this product is the one made with soybeans, and even that is a difficulty to locate! this one is the deep red, not the bright red, so more aged and more pronounced in flavour, but so essential if you like to cook Sichuan Chinese food, which i adore. This ingredient makes the dish called Fish Flavour Eggplant, and I for one can not live without that in my diet, esp now with such great local slender eggplants in the market. The packaging is very rustic: a heavy plastic bag holding the paste, wrapped in a heavy patterned paper, all hand-tied with a course rough string. A handmade product, hopefully not by abused workers.... It is essential for all sorts of noodle dishes too--With this review comes a thanks to Fuchsia Dunlop for letting me know the difference in these pastes.

One can read through numerous Chinese cookbooks and never find the suggestion this paste is the key to much Chinese cuisine. Until using this paste, which fills the kitchen with the familiar smells of Chinese restaurants, it was not clear why Chinese food cooked at home just cannot match that found in these eateries. Yet here it the secret, dare I say, sauce. This brand is also very good, spiced right though perhaps a bit much for the bland cook and eater, yet true to the Chinese way. It also seems to last as we've had ours for several months and there is no sign of degeneration, mold, or rot. A necessary ingredient for anyone interested in authentic Chinese cooking.