How To Make Hakka Nam Yee (Fermented Red Beancurd) Red Sauce | Easy Asian Cooking

Fermented red beancurd (南乳 in Mandarin, "nam yee" in Cantonese or "ang tau ju" in Hokkien) has a distinct flavor that is often used in Hakka cuisine to impart saltiness and to assuage greasiness associated with massive consumption of multiple super fatty meats, such as Hakka steamed pork belly with yam (客家芋头扣肉) , stewed Hakka fried pork belly with black fungus (客家炸肉), nam yee spare ribs (南乳排骨), nam yee fried chicken wings (南乳炸鸡翼), fried fish in nam yee sauce (南乳酱干烧鱼) and etcera. You can find here how fermented red beancurd looks like, it's usually sold in glass jars in Asian market. Differ from typical fermented white beancurd (beancurd that have been fermented in rice wine) that goes well with porridge, fermented red beancurd made with red yeast rice (紅糟) and commonly used in cooking.

Many hawkers' stalls in Malaysia usually prepare Hakka nam yee red sauce in advance by combining fermented red beancurd with other pungent spices in order to cope with hoards of patrons with the rumbling stomachs. Similarly for home cooking, Hakka nam yee red sauce can be prepared prior to cooking Hakka cuisine, with storage period up to one month if it's kept refrigerated properly.

Variations to Hakka nam yee red sauce and cooking methods :

(i) Fried fish in nam yee sauce (南乳酱干烧鱼)

• Pan-fry fish until cooked and dish up. Heat up a dab of oil, stir fry minced meat until fragrant. Add in nam yee red sauce, water, fish and cook until the gravy thickened.

(ii) Nam yee spare ribs (南乳排骨)

• Mix spare ribs with nam yee red sauce, water and egg to marinate for three hours. Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown and cooked.

Learn how to make Hakka nam yee (Fermented Red Beancurd) red sauce with below ingredients and spices, with truely simple steps providing you offer all the trimmings!

Ingredients :
8 pieces fermented red beancurd ("nam yee" 南乳)
3 tbsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp chopped shallots
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 star anise (八角)
5cm long cinnamon stick (桂皮)
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
250ml water
50ml oil

Method :
1. Heat up 5 tbsp oil, saute chopped shallot and garlic until fragrant.
2. Add in the remaining ingredients and bring to boil until the sauce thicken.

After cooling down, Hakka nam yee red sauce can be kept refrigerated until one month for cooking use to create a versatile of dishes.

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