The market · Seasonings and ferments · East Asia

Shacha sauce

A savoury, garlicky paste of dried fish, shrimp, shallot, garlic and oil from Chaozhou and Taiwan — the dipping sauce for Teochew beef hotpot and the base of shacha noodles.

savoury · garlicky · shrimpy

What to do with it

Classics built on it
TeochewTeochew beef hotpotVery fresh beef, cut to order by the part, dipped for seconds in a clear broth and eaten with shacha sauce.No one here has made it yetFujianShacha noodlesYellow noodles in a rich, orange, peanutty broth of shacha sauce, topped with your choice of seafood, offal and tofu.No one here has made it yet

If you can't find it

Chinese and Taiwanese grocers; Bull Head is the usual one.

  1. 1Xo sauce
    Half as much
    You lose the garlicky, dried-fish body — XO is richer and pricier.

Goes with

beefnoodlehotpotgarlic

Knowing it

Where to buy
Chinese and Taiwanese grocers, in jars or tins. Despite the name it's unrelated to satay.
Worth knowing
Stir it well; the oil separates. A spoonful loosened with soy and hot stock makes a quick noodle sauce.

Kitchens that keep it in

Chaoshan, the far east of Guangdong, southern ChinaTeochewThe cooking of Chaozhou and Shantou on the coast of eastern Guangdong: seafood, clear broths and slow master-stock braises, each dish with its own little dip.7 classicsFujian province, south-eastern ChinaFujianThe cooking of China's south-eastern coast: clear soups, seafood, the sweet-sour red of fermented rice lees, and the street food the Hokkien carried across Asia.9 classics

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