Tausi (salted black beans) substitutes
Tausi (salted black beans) substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called tausi, salted black beans, fermented black beans, preserved black beans, douchi, dou chi, Chinese black beans, salted soybeans
Use Black bean garlic sauce (jarred)
1 tbsp sauce for every 1 tbsp rinsed tausi
Jarred black bean garlic sauce is the most available swap: use a tablespoon of sauce for every tablespoon of rinsed, mashed tausi, but because the jar already contains garlic, sugar, oil and salt, cut the recipe's added garlic and sugar and hold back the salt until the end. It will taste smoother and sweeter with less punch and no chewy bits. If you have no jar, two teaspoons of dark miso plus a teaspoon of soy sauce per tablespoon of tausi gets the fermented-soy depth, and Korean doenjang gets closer to the funk.
- Verdict —
- You'll taste it
- The tweak —
- Add it to the pan after the aromatics and let it sizzle for 20 seconds before the liquid goes in, the same way you would treat the beans.
- Best for —
- pork tausi
Updated 26 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of tausi (salted black beans) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black bean garlic sauce (jarred)pork tausi | 1 tbsp sauce per 1 tbsp rinsed tausiYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 2 | Doenjang (Korean soybean paste)pork tausi | 1 ½ tsp per 1 tbsp tausiTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Dark or red miso plus soy saucestir-fries | 2 tsp miso plus 1 tsp soy sauce per 1 tbsp tausiYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Doubanjiang (fermented broad bean chilli paste)mapo tofu | 2 tsp per 1 tbsp tausiYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Soy sauce with a little fish saucestir-fries | 1 tbsp soy sauce plus ¼ tsp fish sauce per 1 tbsp tausiYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Nothing comes close, so lean into the jarpork tausi | 1 to 2 tbsp black bean garlic sauce per servingYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Black bean garlic sauce (jarred)
different taste and texture
Made from the same fermented beans, so the flavour family is right. This is the pragmatic answer, and the one thing to understand is that it is a finished sauce rather than the raw ingredient: the beans have already been mashed and blended with garlic, sugar, oil and often cornstarch.
- Best for
- pork tausi, steamed fish with black beans, stir-fried greens, clams and mussels, mapo-style dishes
- Prep
- Add it to the pan after the aromatics and let it sizzle for 20 seconds before the liquid goes in, the same way you would treat the beans.
Because the jar already carries garlic, sugar and salt, cut the recipe's garlic by half, skip its sugar, and add no salt until you taste the finished dish. The result is smoother, rounder and distinctly sweeter, with none of the sharp fermented punch of rinsed whole beans and none of the soft chewy bean texture, which in a dish like pork tausi is half of what people enjoy.
Doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
similar taste, different texture
Closer to tausi's character than any other paste, because doenjang is coarsely fermented soybean with visible bean pieces and a genuine funk to it. That funk is the specific thing that most substitutes lose.
- Best for
- pork tausi, braises, stir-fries, steamed fish, soups
- Prep
- Fry it briefly in the oil with the aromatics to take the raw edge off, then add liquid.
It is saltier by volume than tausi, hence the smaller amount, and it is earthier and slightly more sour, so a Chinese-style dish made with it leans faintly Korean. The bean fragments help the texture but do not fully replace the soft whole beans. It will also make a clear sauce slightly cloudy and grey-brown.
Dark or red miso plus soy sauce
different taste and texture
The most widely available fermented-soy option, and it does cover the main job: deep salty savouriness from fermented beans. Dark or red miso is much closer than white, which is sweet and mild.
- Best for
- stir-fries, braises, steamed fish, sauces where smoothness is fine
- Prep
- Whisk the miso into a spoon of the pan liquid to loosen it, then stir it in off the heat or at the very end.
Rounder, sweeter and noticeably less funky than tausi, so the dish tastes softer and less savoury in the way that matters here; the extra soy sauce is there to put some of that sharpness back. It also has no texture at all. Do not boil miso hard or it goes grainy and loses its aroma, so add it late.
Doubanjiang (fermented broad bean chilli paste)
different taste and texture
A genuine fermented bean paste with real depth and funk, and a staple of the same Sichuan-adjacent cooking that uses black beans. If your dish is a braise or a mapo-style stir-fry, this works well.
- Best for
- mapo tofu, braised pork, stir-fried aubergine, spicy stir-fries
- Prep
- Fry in the oil with the aromatics for 30 seconds until the oil turns red, then continue with the recipe.
It is made from broad beans and chilli, not soybeans, so it brings real heat and stains the dish red, which in a delicate steamed fish with black beans is wrong on both counts. It is also very salty. Use it where a bit of chilli belongs and avoid it where the dish should stay pale and clean.
Soy sauce with a little fish sauce
different taste and texture
The emergency version, built from two things almost every kitchen has. It gets the salt and a reasonable amount of savoury depth into the dish, which stops it tasting empty.
- Best for
- stir-fries, quick braises, when the cupboard has nothing fermented in it
- Prep
- Add with the other liquids. Reduce any other salt in the recipe accordingly.
There is nothing bean-like about it: no funk, no chew, no dark flecks through the sauce, and the dish will taste like a plain soy stir-fry rather than a black bean one. It also adds more liquid than tausi does, so reduce the sauce a little longer. The fish sauce is doing real work here, adding a fermented pungency that soy alone lacks; a quarter teaspoon is enough and more will dominate.
Nothing comes close, so lean into the jar
different taste and texture
The honest position for pork tausi and steamed fish with black beans, where the little soft salty beans are half the dish rather than a background seasoning. No paste reproduces both the intense fermented punch and the chewy bean texture at the same time.
- Best for
- pork tausi, steamed fish with black beans, any dish where the beans are visible and intentional
- Prep
- Use the jarred sauce, add half a teaspoon of rice vinegar per tablespoon to sharpen it, and finish with plenty of sliced spring onion.
Expect a smoother, sweeter, more homogeneous dish. A splash of rice vinegar or a squeeze of lemon puts back some of the sharpness the jar has sanded off, and a generous handful of spring onion at the end gives the mouthful something to interrupt it. If the beans really matter, they keep for years in the fridge, so buy a bag next time you pass an Asian grocer.
Questions
5 questionsCan I use black bean garlic sauce instead of tausi?
Yes, and it is the most practical swap, roughly a tablespoon of sauce per tablespoon of rinsed mashed tausi. But it is not a like-for-like exchange: the jar is a finished sauce containing garlic, sugar, oil and often starch, so cut the recipe's garlic by half, skip its sugar, and hold back the salt until you have tasted. The dish comes out smoother and sweeter, with less fermented punch and none of the soft chewy beans.
Are tausi, douchi and fermented black beans the same thing?
Yes. Tausi is the Filipino name, douchi the Chinese one, and salted black beans, fermented black beans or preserved black beans are the English labels you will see on bags and jars. They are all whole soybeans fermented with salt until black and soft. They are not related to the black turtle beans used in Latin American cooking, which are a different bean entirely and no substitute for each other.
What is the best substitute for tausi if I have no black bean sauce?
Korean doenjang, about a teaspoon and a half per tablespoon of tausi, because it is coarsely fermented soybean with visible bean pieces and a real funk, which is the note most substitutes lose. Dark or red miso plus a teaspoon of soy sauce per tablespoon is the more widely available option and works well, though it tastes rounder and sweeter. Both should be added late rather than fried hard, and neither gives you the chewy bean texture.
Can I just leave the tausi out?
Not really, if the dish is named after it. Pork tausi and steamed fish with black beans are built on those beans, and without them you have plain braised pork or plain steamed fish, which is fine but is a different meal. If tausi is one seasoning among several in a stir-fry, you can skip it and add a tablespoon of soy sauce plus a quarter teaspoon of fish sauce to replace the salt and some of the depth.
Do I need to soak dried tausi first?
No soaking, just a rinse. Give the beans thirty seconds under cold running water to wash off surface salt, then drain and chop or mash them. Some cooks soak them for five or ten minutes if the beans are very hard or very salty, and that is fine, but a long soak washes out the fermented flavour you paid for. Jarred tausi in brine needs draining and a light rinse and nothing more.
Tips for substituting tausi (salted black beans)
5 tips- Rinse tausi briefly before using it, then chop or lightly mash it. The beans are packed in salt and a quick rinse under cold water takes the harshest edge off without washing away the flavour. Chopping matters too: whole beans stay as isolated salty pockets, while chopped ones distribute through the sauce.
- Tausi is doing three things at once, which is why substituting is fiddly. It is a salt source, a deep fermented umami source, and a texture, the soft chewy beans you find in the sauce. Most substitutes give you the first two and none of the third.
- Fry the beans in the oil with the garlic and ginger before any liquid goes in. Thirty seconds in hot oil transforms them, releasing a nutty fermented aroma that boiling them in sauce never produces. Do the same with any paste you substitute, except miso, which should go in at the end.
- Salt the dish last, always. Tausi, jarred black bean sauce, miso, doenjang and doubanjiang are all salty and none of them at the same rate. Cook the dish, taste it, then decide about soy sauce and salt.
- Dry tausi keeps essentially forever. Once you have a bag, transfer it to a sealed jar and keep it in the fridge, where it will stay good for years. That is worth knowing because it is the kind of ingredient people buy once for a recipe and then wonder about.