Old Traditions of Making Huangyao Douchi

THE ancient town of Huangyaolocated in ZhaopingCounty， Hezhou City， southChinas Guangxi ZhuangAutonomous Region， is renown forits time-honored Douchi processingtechniques. Douchi is a kind of popularChinese food made from fermentedand salted black beans， which iscommonly used as a condiment orseasoning for a variety of dishes. Thehistory of Huangyaos Douchi processingtechniques can be traced backto the late Yuan Dynasty （1271-1368）and the early Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）. According to a historical recordof the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911），“Huangyao is famous for its Douchiand has no rivals.”

The process of making Douchi inHuangyao involves about a dozensteps. The skills and procedures usedto make it have evolved and beenimproved by generations of Huangyao people over the past 300 years. Theyhave been passed down by verbaltradition as no related written documentationhas been found to this day.Today， in an industrialized era， HuangyaoDouchi is still made by traditionalhandmade process. In November2008， Huangyao Douchi processingtechniques were included in the list ofintangible heritage items of Guangxi.

The unique flavor of HuangyaoDouchi is attributed to the localnatural environment. High-qualityblack beans are essential for theproduction of Douchi ， so HuangyaoDouchi is generally made from localpremium black beans. Since the soil inHuangyao is high in selenium， a tracemineral which is vital to good health，the beans are also rich in nutrients. Tomake Huangyao Douchi ， black beansare normally first soaked in well waterfrom the town. The area of Huangyaois characterized by an unusual topog-raphy called karst which makes theunderground water rich in minerals.As a result， Douchi made with thiswell water has a unique flavor.

Following the traditional steps thatinclude steaming in wooden barrels，cooling， fermenting in a fermentationroom， cleansing off enzymes in wellwater， fermenting with tree leaves，and air drying， it normally takespeople over fifteen days to produce abatch of premium handmade HuangyaoDouchi . After it is cooked， HuangyaoDouchi becomes dark black incolor and gives off an appetizingaroma.

Douchi is a commonly used sauceand ingredient of Huangyao cuisine.Local residents often eat it at breakfastwith white rice porridge and ricenoodles. In Huangyao， Douchi is notmerely a simple condiment， it is anintegral flavor of this ancient townthat dates back a thousand years.