Taucheo is soy bean paste which is popular ingredient in Chinese cooking, and a staple in my pantry. I love my mother‘s taucheo chilli sauce – a simple recipe made of only 3 ingredients namely taucheo, chilli padi and garlic.
My mother’s specialities using this taucheo chilli paste include steamed flower crabs and claypot yong tau foo. I have a theory that anything cooked in this taucheo chilli paste will be delicious and I used this sauce for cooking a dish which I am very familiar with: stir-fried pork with ginger and scallions. The result was so good, with the perfect balance of savouriness and spiciness, that spicy taucheo pork (豆酱猪肉) has now become a regular dish on our dinner table.
Taucheo (豆酱) is a preserved soy bean paste popularly used in Chinese cooking. Its saltiness and aroma perks up many Chinese savoury dishes.
Tip from my mum: When grinding the taucheo chilli paste, the garlic and chilli are added to the blender first. Add the taucheo only after the garlic and chilli become finely chopped. This is because the sticky taucheo will prevent the garlic and chilli from being grinded if everything is added in the blender at the same time.