Chicken in bean sauce

March 10,2023

Chaoshan Cuisine: Panin Bean Paste Unique Sauce, Give Your Food Soul!

Why there are so many applications of Chaoshan cuisine, in addition to what Chaoshan knows how to eat, more importantly, it is closely related to unique sauces in Chaoshan. In following, from time to time we will introduce you to unique Chaoshan sauces. Today I will introduce you to Puning Soybean Paste.

Soybean paste is a traditional soy product in Chaoshan, Guangdong. It is a food or condiment made by steaming (boiling) high quality soybeans and then naturally fermenting, has a long history, especially Puning soybean paste is most famous.

When talking about Puning bean paste, people of Chaoshan are very familiar with it. It is a condiment that can be seen in almost every kitchen. There is a folklore "Chaoshan Specialty Song": "Puning is famous for its good bean paste, and Xinheng is famous for its old canned vegetables".

A long time ago, every home in Puning County had a tradition of boiling soybean paste as a condiment for cooking or as a savory dish three times a day. In middle of Ming Dynasty, Puning became a county. After that, people added word "Puning" to bean paste and called it "Puning Bean Paste", which gradually became a custom. In 2009, Puning Soybean Paste Project was included in third batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage list announced by Guangdong People's Government.

Pooning bean paste is golden yellow in color, contains protein, sugar-reducing amino acids, has a mild quality, aromatic taste and is rich in nutrients.

Soybean panning paste has a salty, fresh and sweet taste. It can be used as a dipping sauce for dishes, cooking seafood, meat and of course vegetables, especially boiled fish. The most famous dishes include Chicken in Puning Bean Sauce, Bone in Puning Bean Sauce, and Boiled Mandarin Fish in Puning Bean Sauce.

The following is an example of homemade Puning Soybean Paste.