5 Best Doubanjiang Substitutes

What Is Doubanjiang: Chinese Chili Bean Paste?

Doubanjiang is a fermented seasoning that originated in China. It’s made by aging fermented fava beans and soybeans mixed with red pepper, miso, sesame oil, sugar, and so on.

The biggest feature is spiciness. It also features a unique aroma with saltiness and a little sourness. You can enjoy the great flavor of Doubanjiang more by heating it with oil.

It is a very popular seasoning with gochujang in Japan too. In my case, it’s mainly used when making Chinese food such as mapo tofu.

Can You Substitute Gochujang for Doubanjiang?

Some people confuse doubanjiang with gochujang.
Gochujang is a fermented seasoning that originated in the Korea Peninsula. It’s not only spicy, but also it’s sweet and sticky. Gochujang is made by saccharifying rice and glutinous rice, adding chili pepper, and aging them.

A lot of Korean cuisine, for instance, bibimbap (mixed rice) and Korean barbecue require this great seasoning, gochujang.

Although these two seasonings are different seasonings, you may thing like “Can you substitute gochujang for doubanjiang?”.

Here, I would like to introduce the 5 best doubanjiang substitutes including alternative using gochujang.

Good Substitute for Doubanjiang

1. Gochujang + Cayenne pepper powder + Soy sauce + Sesame oil + Garlic

If you have gochujang at home, it would be great material for the alternative. Because doubanjiang is more spicy than gochujang, you can bring the taste closer by adding a bit of cayenne pepper powder to it.

[Recipe]
Please mix the following seasonings.
・1 tbsp Gochujang
・1 tbsp Cayenne pepper powder
・1 tbsp Soy sauce
・1.5 tsp Sesame oil
・1 tsp Grated garlic

So, what if you neither have doubanjiang nor gochujang at home?
Don’t worry! There are some other ways to make alternatives.

2. Crushed red pepper + Cayenne pepper powder + Miso + Sesame oil + Soy sauce

Doubanjiang brings out the unique flavor, but it is a very spicy seasoning anyway. So, you can make more authentic alternative by combining miso and crushed red peppers. To make it more delicious, you should have sesame oil and soy sauce. If you don’t have red peppers, please add 1 more tsp of cayenne pepper powder or something like that.

[Recipe]
Please mix the following seasonings.
・1 tbsp Crushed red pepper
・1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper powder
・1 tbsp Miso
・1 tsp Sesame oil
・1 tsp Soy sauce

3. Miso + Soy sauce + Sesame oil + Grated ginger + Cayenne pepper powder

Just because doubanjiang is a pretty spicy seasoning, not everyone is strong in spicy foods. I would like to share with you how to make a slightly less spicy alternative.

[Recipe]
Please mix the following seasonings.
・1 tbsp Miso
・1 tsp Soy sauce
・1 tsp Cayenne pepper powder
・1/2 tsp Sesame oil
・1/3 tsp Grated garlic

4. Miso + Soy sauce + Cayenne pepper powder

Some people may say that it’s hard to prepare many types of seasonings. For such a person, there is an easy way to make the alternative with only three materials: miso, soy sauce, and cayenne pepper powder. It’s more likely to get closer to the taste of real doubanjiang if you can use akamiso which is brownish color and has strong saltiness.

[Recipe]
Please mix the following seasonings.
・1 tbsp Miso
・1/2 tsp Soy sauce
・1 tsp Cayenne pepper powder

5. Miso + Soy sauce + Cayenne pepper powder + Vinegar

When you lick doubanjiang, you can feel a little sour taste because it is fermented.

If you use miso, you can get the feeling of fermenting beans. For those who want a more fermented feeling, I recommend adding a little vinegar.

[Recipe]
Please mix the following seasonings.
・1 tbsp Miso
・1/2 tsp Soy sauce
・1 tsp Cayenne pepper powder
・1/3 tsp Vinegar