This all-purpose Chinese meat sauce (家常肉酱) is a meaty relish of mushroom, shallot, fermented black bean, and chili that can make an exciting, satisfying meal out of any bowl of noodles, congee, or rice.
When you don’t have anything else in the fridge, you’ll be glad to have this Chinese meat sauce on hand for a quick, tasty meal!
Packing in the Flavor
Some people love having something salty on the table to spice up a dining experience, whether it’s a small dish of chili oil, or something as simple as soy sauce. This relish will do so much more than that!
I’m choosing to call it an “all-purpose Chinese meat sauce,” but there’s a lot more in it than just meat! In fact, this recipe is a great example of how the Chinese stretch a piece of meat to make it go a long way.
You’ll get about 3 cups of sauce out of this recipe, with only 12 ounces of meat. By adding lots of oil, spices, strong flavors like ginger, garlic, and chili, as well as umami from fermented black beans and mushrooms, you only need a few spoonfuls to spread across an entire bowl of noodles or rice.
(By the way, you can use any ground meat in this recipe. Pork is the most traditional, but you could also use ground beef or ground dark meat chicken.)
The concept is similar to a breakfast of pao fan, or rice porridge, in which you eat plain cooked rice in hot water with small amounts of salty, spicy, and other strongly flavored condiments.
In fact, you should think of this sauce as a condiment rather than a main dish. It is quite oily and salty, which is by design. You should only need a few scoops to lubricate and flavor a hearty bowl of noodles!
How to Make a Meal Out of It
Here are a couple easy formulas for making a meal out of this all-purpose Chinese meat sauce:
- Boil some noodles–whatever you have on hand. Add a handful of leafy green veggies in the last 1-2 minutes of cooking the noodles. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of relish to taste. Mix well and enjoy!
- Eat it with porridge (like our multigrain congee) or pao fan, along with other ready-to-go add-ons like fermented bean curd, preserved mustard stems, chili bamboo shoots, or a can of Eagle Coin brand canned fried dace with fermented black beans, a classic on any Cantonese table.
- When dinner is on the sparse side, have it with a bowl of steamed rice. You can make a little stir-fried vegetable and some scrambled eggs with sesame oil (or just a fried egg) to go with it and round out the meal!
Storing Chinese Meat Sauce
Because of the high oil content in this meaty relish, you can store it in the fridge for a few days longer than normal—up to 1 week.
To keep it around even longer, freeze the relish in small containers. Then you can take it out and thaw it as needed when you want to enjoy it again!
All-Purpose Chinese Meat Sauce Recipe Instructions
In a clean, dry wok over medium-low heat, add the neutral oil, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and black cardamom pods.
Allow the oil to heat up, and cook the aromatics until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Take care not to burn the spices—adjust the heat level as needed. Turn off the heat. Let the oil cool off and continue to infuse in the wok while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for the sauce.
Once all the ingredients are chopped/prepared, use a strainer to remove the toasted spices from the oil in the wok. Discard. Turn the heat back on to high. To the flavored oil, add the ginger, garlic, shallots, white parts of the scallions, and the chilies. Cook for a minute or so, until the garlic and ginger turn lightly golden, stirring often to prevent burning.
Next, add the ground meat.
Break apart any large chunks and cook until the meat turns lightly crisp around the edges.
Then add the fermented black beans and mushrooms.
Cook, stirring often, until all the liquid has cooked out of the mushrooms and they’re slightly caramelized.
Reduce the heat to medium, and add the hoisin sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir and cook for 10 minutes to let the flavors meld.
Add the green parts of the scallions, and cook for another 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat, stir in the toasted sesame seeds, and the sauce is ready to use.
How to Toast Sesame Seeds
You can buy sesame seeds already toasted, but if you have raw sesame seeds, simply add them to a dry pan, and toast over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until they turn light golden and fragrant!
Enjoy with rice, noodles, or porridge, and store any leftovers for later—refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months at best quality.
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Recipe
Chinese Meat Sauce
Ingredients
To infuse oil:
- ¾ cups neutral oil
- 4 whole star anise
- 1 cassia cinnamon stick
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns
- 2 black cardamom pods
For the rest of the dish:
- ¼ cup fresh ginger (minced)
- ¼ cup garlic (coarsely chopped)
- ½ cup shallot (finely chopped)
- 5 scallions (finely chopped, white and green parts separated)
- 1 – 3 tablespoons fresh Thai chilies (chopped, to taste)
- 12 ounces ground meat (pork, beef or chicken)
- ¾ cup fermented black beans (rinsed and drained)
- 12 ounces fresh king trumpet, oyster, or shiitake mushrooms (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a clean, dry wok over medium-low heat, add the neutral oil, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and black cardamom pods. Allow the oil to heat up, and cook the aromatics until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Take care not to burn the spices—adjust the heat level as needed. Turn off the heat, and let the oil cool off and continue to infuse in the wok while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for the sauce.
- Once you have all the ingredients chopped and prepared, use a strainer to remove the toasted spices from the oil in the wok, and discard. Turn the heat back on to high. To the flavored oil, add the ginger, garlic, shallots, white parts of the scallions, and the chilies. Cook for a minute or so, until the garlic and ginger turn lightly golden, stirring often to prevent burning.
- Next, add the ground meat. Break apart any large chunks and cook until the meat turns lightly crisp around the edges. Then add the fermented black beans and mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until all the liquid has cooked out of the mushrooms and they’re slightly caramelized.
- Reduce the heat to medium, and add the hoisin sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir and cook for 10 minutes to let the flavors meld.
- Add the green parts of the scallions, and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the toasted sesame seeds, and the sauce is ready to use.
