The humble beef stew is a classic of cookery found all over the world, from Taiwan, where it's made with doubanjiang (a spicy fermented bean paste), to Dublin, where it's transformed into a hearty ...

Fermented bean paste, or doubanjiang, adds umami to the dish. The area is known for being humid, so people eat spicy food to get rid of the damp feeling in their bodies. It is said that the dish ...