Here's a couple of simple, good recipes that use black bean sauce. Just in case you don't know, these black beans are the Chinese fermented black beans. They're extremely salty++and should be rinsed before use++ and have a very nice, savory taste that blends well with many foods. Very common in Chinese markets and I've seen bottles of ready prepared black bean sauce in supermarkets in the Oriental food sections. Just substitute the deep fried tofu cubes for the meat in these recipes. One of these recipes is for pork spareribs and one for prawns. They'll give you an idea of how the beans are combined with the other ingredients to come up with the sauce.

Preparation: Have butcher cut spareribs into 1-inch pieces. Trim off fat. Place spareribs in a heat proof dish. Wash and rinse black beans 2 or 3 times, then mash them with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, cornstarch and sherry. Mix with spareribs.

Cooking: Place heat proof dish on steaming rack in wok. Add water to bottom of wok. Cover. Steam for 30 minutes.

Do-ahead notes: Do through preparation.

Comments: Spareribs can be left in the steamer for 2 hours if dinner is late. Substitute bean sauce for salted black beans++and abracadabra! Mein See Jing Pie Quat! (Steamed Spareribs in Bean Sauce.)

From "The Chinese Village Cookbook." A practical guide to Cantonese country cooking. Rhoda Yee, Yerba Bueana Press, San Francisco. 1975.