 Bottled tauco on display in an Indonesian supermarket | |
| Alternative names | Taucu, Tauchu, Tao Jiew |
|---|---|
| Type | Cooking sauce and condiment |
| Region or state | Southeast Asia |
| Associated cuisine | Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand |
| Created by | Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia |
| Main ingredients | Fermented soy |
| Variations | Closely related to douchi |
Tauco, Taucu, Taotjo, Tao Jiew or Tauchu (Chinese: 豆醬; pinyin: dòujiàng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-chiùⁿ; Thai: เต้าเจี้ยว, RTGS: Tao Jiew) is a paste made from preserved fermented yellow soybeans in Chinese Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai cuisines.[1] Tauco is made by boiling yellow soybeans, grinding them, mixing them with flour, and fermenting them to make a soy paste. The soy paste is soaked in salt water and sun-dried for several weeks, furthering the fermentation process, until the color of the paste has turned yellow-reddish. Good tauco has a distinct aroma.[2] The sauce is also commonly used in other Indonesian cuisine traditions, such as Sundanese cuisine and Javanese cuisine. Taucu is generally used in cooking by Chinese Malaysians, Singaporeans, Bruneians, and Thais.[3]
The sauce is often used as a condiment and flavouring for stir-fried dishes such as tahu tauco (tofu in tauco sauce), kakap tahu tausi (red snapper with tofu in soybean sauce), in soup such as swikee oh (frog legs in tauco soup) and pie oh (softshell turtle in tauco soup), or stir fried with kangkung (water spinach). Today the major production centre of tauco in Indonesia are in Cianjur in West Java, and Pekalongan in Central Java. In Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei, the main commercial brand of taucu is Yeo Hiap Seng (Yeo's).[4][5] In Thailand, the sauce is often used in stir-fries, such as Pad Mee Korat & stir-fried vegetables, and also dipping sauces such as Khao Man Gai.
- ^ "Soybean Paste (Tauco)". RCP. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
- ^ Aini (8 May 2013). "Tauco yang Enak, Baunya Khas" (in Indonesian). Kompas.com. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
- ^ Simon Richmond (2010). Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei. Lonely Planet. pp. 62–. ISBN 978-1-74104-887-2.
- ^ "Taucu (Malaysia)". Yeo Hiap Seng. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ^ "Tauco (Indonesia)". Yeo Hiap Seng. Retrieved 23 December 2016.