Shacha sauce () is a savory, slightly spicy Chinese condiment used in Minnan cuisine (primarily Teochew,

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

, and Taiwanese). It is made from soybean oil, garlic,

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

s, chili, Chinese brill, and dried shrimp. It is also sometimes sold as "Chinese barbeque sauce". Shacha sauce is used many different ways; as a soup base, a barbeque meat rub, a dipping sauce (for hotpot), or a seasoning for stir-fries. It is also included with instant noodles manufactured in Vietnam, in their own packet alongside packets of soup base, dried vegetables, or other seasonings.

Origin

Shacha sauce is also known as ''sa-te'' in the Teochew and

dialects, reflecting its origins in satay sauce introduced by expatriate

Min Nan Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Chinese languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...

people returning to China from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. During the 20th century, Teochew immigrants in Southeast Asia adapted satay sauce to local tastes, including the introduction of dried seafood. Shacha is now quite different from the peanut-based satay sauce popular in Malaysia and Indonesia. Following the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, Teochew immigrants resettled in Taiwan and introduced shacha sauce to the Taiwanese culinary repertoire. One in particular, Liu Lai-chin, a

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

-based noodle shop owner originally from Chaoshan, created the iconic Bullhead brand (牛頭牌) of shacha sauce in 1958. In the 1960s and 1970s, as beef consumption slowly gained cultural acceptance in Taiwan, shacha sauce became more popular among locals.

References

Chinese condiments Fujian cuisine Teochew cuisine Taiwanese cuisine Chinese sauces Barbecue sauces {{China-cuisine-stub

Origin

See also

References