Taucheo Pork

taucheo pork

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.

See Also: Stir-fry Pork with Ginger & Scallions

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.

Stir-fry Taucheo Pork Recipe

Taucheo (豆酱) is a preserved soy bean paste popularly used in Chinese cooking. Its saltiness and aroma perks up many Chinese savoury dishes.

Ingredients:

  • 8 garlic cloves peeled and sliced thinly
  • 3 chilli padi to taste; sliced thinly
  • 1 tbsp taucheo (soy bean paste/ 豆酱)
  • 200 grams pork fillet tenderloin cut preferred, sliced thinly and diagonally (against the grain)
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • 2 slices ginger sliced thinly
  • 3 stalks spring onions cut to 5 cm length
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 1-2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

Directions:

  1. Using an electric blender, first grind the garlic and chilli until finely chopped. Add in taucheo and blend until a paste is formed. Alternatively, use a mortar and pestle.
  2. Marinade sliced pork with sesame oil for at least 10 minutes.
  3. Heat oil in wok. Stir fry taucheo paste prepared in step 1 until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
  4. Add ginger and stir fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add pork slices and stir until the surface is cooked. Half way though stir-frying, add spring onions.
  5. Add water, dark soy sauce and Chinese wine. Once the sauce comes to a simmer, turn off the heat. Serve with steamed rice.

Noob Cook Tip

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.