Tauco

Tauco, also known as taucu, taotjo, or tauchu, is a flavorful paste made from fermented yellow soybeans. This staple of Chinese Indonesian and Malaysian cuisines adds a unique taste to various dishes.

The process of making tauco begins with boiling yellow soybeans until they are tender. The beans are then ground and mixed with flour before being left to ferment, resulting in a rich soy paste. This paste is soaked in salt water and left to sun-dry for several weeks, acquiring a yellow-reddish color and a distinctive aroma.

Tauco is a versatile ingredient used in many Indonesian dishes, particularly in Sundanese and Javanese cooking. It is also popular in Chinese Malaysian, Singaporean, and Bruneian cuisines. You’ll find it enhancing the flavors of dishes such as tofu in tauco sauce, red snapper with tofu in soybean sauce, frog legs in tauco soup, softshell turtle in tauco soup, and stir-fried water spinach.

The main production hubs for tauco are Cianjur, West Java, and Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia. For a well-known brand, Yeo Hiap Seng (Yeo's) is a major producer of taucu in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.