How to make Soyabean Paste aka Taucheo

Most people conveniently buy soyabean paste from the Asian stores or supermarket theses days. This, of course, saves time and energy and convenient to our present hectic lifestyle.But the downside, is that it becomes a noticeable separation between the origin and the end product. What you don't know is when and how it was made, how it was treated and stored prior to your purchase.So much so that it is safe to say that many traditional homemade foodstuff are in danger of becoming a an invisible art. It has become our personal challenge since we started writing in this blog, is to collect as many traditional and family 'secrets' recipes for many to share. For those ambitious few who may wish to create their own pure homemade and traditional foodstuff , a classic recipe is presented here as start to our new challenge in this blog.

Teochew Ah Mah's Taucheo aka Granny's Soyabean Paste

2 cups soyabeans
6 cups water
1/3 cup sea salt

To make two cups of soya bean paste, soak the soyabeans in cold water overnight or at least 8 hours and drain. Heat a wok over medium high heat and add soaked soyabean to toast for about 30 minutes. Making sure the soyabean is not burnt and set aside to cool. Place the soyabeans in a paper bag and roll over with a rolling pin or a wine bottle, to remove the skins. Discard the skins. In a big pot, add the soyabeans with 6 cups of water. Bring it to a high boil and immediately decrease the heat to medium low heat to prevent boilover. Boil gently for about 2 1/2 hours or until soyabeans become tender. Transfer the soyabeans onto a bamboo tray lined with cheese cloth. Cover loosely with banana leaves and keep in a very warm place to ferment for 5 days. In a bowl, combine the fermented soyabeans and mash with the sea salt. Transfer the the soyabeans to a earthen or ceramic jar with a lid. After mellowing for a week, they ready to be used but it best kept in a refrigerator to turn into taucheo. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator and they will keep fresh for months.