Zhaotong Sauce

Zhaotong Sauce

　　    Zhaotong Sauce is a local specialty of Zhaotong City and a favorite seasoning among locals. With its bold, spicy, and savory Yunnan-Sichuan flavors, the brownish, glossy sauce is suitable for both meaty and light dishes. It can tone down the greasiness of meat dishes, while adding a rich umami touch to vegetarian ones. As a result, it’s not only a cooking ingredient but also served as a small side dish to enhance flavor and stimulate appetite. Zhaotong Sauce is made primarily from premium soybeans and chili peppers, with supporting ingredients such as Sichuan pepper, star anise, fennel, cardamom, sesame, and salt. It undergoes multiple production steps over the course of a hundred days. The production is typically carried out during the coldest period of winter, known as the "counting-nine" days, using mineral water from the nearby Dalongdong Spring in the northern suburbs of Zhaotong. The sauce is carefully fermented through repeated sunning and airing, enabling biochemical decomposition that fully preserves nutrients like amino acids, reducing sugars, and lactic acid. The resulting Zhaotong Sauce is not only delicious and suitable for all ages but also beneficial to health. (Zhaotong)

　　     When Zhaotong locals visit relatives or friends, bringing a homemade gift is essential. What do they bring? Naturally, Zhaotong Sauce. Those unaware might think this gift is too modest, but for fellow Zhaotong natives, nothing is more genuinely appreciated and heartwarming. Nostalgia plays a big part, but Zhaotong Sauce is indeed an extraordinary "delicacy."

　　 　　    Zhaotong Sauce is brownish, glossy, richly flavored, and features a bold mix of spice, saltiness, savoriness, and a hint of sweetness. Used in meat dishes, it tones down greasiness; in vegetarian ones, it adds a meaty richness. Eaten alone, it enhances flavor and boosts appetite with a long-lasting aftertaste. The origins of Zhaotong Sauce are hard to trace. Some believe that most residents in Zhaotong are descendants of migrants from various provinces, who brought their own regional sauce-making techniques. Through mutual exchange and refinement, along with Zhaotong’s unique ingredients, climate, and water quality, the distinct local product—Zhaotong Sauce—was born.

　　 　　    The process of making Zhaotong Sauce is not overly complicated, but it requires high-quality ingredients and a long fermentation time.

　　 　　    The first step is making bean flour. Premium soybeans are roasted over low heat until crisp, then ground into fine powder and sifted for later use. The second step is making “sauce flour.” Bean flour is mixed with spring water and stirred evenly until the mixture reaches a consistency that allows it to be formed into clumps. In folk practice, forming these clumps follows a saying: “tighten three times, loosen three times, and then even out three times,” ensuring the clumps are uniform and compact. These clumps are placed in bamboo baskets lined with straw and covered with more straw for fermentation. During this time, the clumps are periodically rearranged to ensure even fermentation. Once a yellowish-white mold layer appears, the clumps are removed, broken into smaller pieces, sun-dried, and ground into fine flour. The third step is commonly called “making the sauce.”

　　 　　    In the finely ground “sauce flour,” appropriate amounts of salt, chili peppers, Sichuan pepper, star anise, fennel, cardamom, sesame, and other seasonings are added and mixed evenly. The mixture is then placed in an earthenware basin with spring water, stirred thoroughly, and left to ferment outdoors. The basin is covered only with a ventilated, pointed bamboo-weave lid to keep out rain while allowing airflow. The mixture is stirred every other day or every three days and left to ferment for 100 days before becoming the final product. Each winter, the sight of households sunning “sauce flour” and making sauce has become a folk tradition and a distinctive scene across Zhaotong’s urban and rural areas.

　　 　　    Folk-made Zhaotong Sauce places great emphasis on ingredient selection. The soybeans, chili peppers, and salt must be locally sourced; the salt specifically comes from Zigong well salt, the Sichuan pepper must be “Jinhe Pepper,” and the water must be from the Dalongdong Spring in Zhaotong. It may sound mystical, but authentic, genuine Zhaotong Sauce can seemingly only be produced in Zhaotong—clearly due to its unique climate and water conditions. During the Republican era, some merchants from other regions invited Zhaotong masters to produce the sauce elsewhere. Though the ingredients and processes were identical, the resulting flavor, aroma, and color were far from those made in Zhaotong. Likewise, Zhaotong natives living abroad who tried to finish the final “sauce-making” step elsewhere using “sauce flour” made in Zhaotong were disappointed with the results. “An orange grown south of the Huai River is an orange, but one grown north of the river is a trifoliate orange—the leaves may look alike, but the fruits taste different. Why? Because the soil and water differ.”

　　 　　    As society progresses, adhering strictly to traditional production methods for Zhaotong Sauce has become challenging. To meet consumer demand and adapt to market changes, the time-honored Zhaotong Wanhe Sauce Factory has integrated new technologies while preserving traditional craftsmanship. Their mass-produced Zhaotong Sauce meets national standards and has won multiple awards for quality and distinction. The factory has also developed a variety of derivative sauces, including popular ones like fresh meat sauce, oil sauce, Sichuan pepper sauce, Chinese toon sauce, osmanthus sauce, and ham sauce. These sauces have a long shelf life, are convenient to carry, delicious, and continue to enjoy strong sales.