Try these tasty and authentic Chu Hou Paste Recipes! Chu Hou paste is an underutilized condiment that can be used in various Chinese dishes, from braised meats to stews and delectable stir-fries.
We have beef, pork, chicken, duck, and vegetable recipes available!
What is Chu Hou Paste?
Chu Hou paste, or Chee Hou sauce, is a condiment made from fermented soybeans, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds. It's a ready-to-use sauce that is designed for braising meats and vegetables.
What does it taste like?
Chu Hou paste is dark in color and thick in consistency. It has a very strong salty and savory flavor, subtle sweetness, and a nice tang from the fermentation.
It can be likened to a less sweet Hoisin sauce with a thicker texture.
Where to buy it?
It can be purchased at most Asian grocery stores or online.
Hong Kong-style Beef Brisket with Chu Hou Paste is a popular Chinese dish in Cantonese restaurants.
In this recipe, beef brisket is slowly cooked with cinnamon, star anise, fennel, and rock sugar until the meat is flavorful and tender.
This recipe requires about three hours to allow the meat to break down and become melt-in-your-mouth.
Serve on top of rice or noodles to absorb all the delicious braising sauce!
This Pork Rib Stew is a simple Chinese dish that takes about 2 hours to make! It features pork ribs, rehydrated dried bean curd, and Chu Hou sauce.
The pork ribs become incredibly aromatic and flavorful as they absorb the flavor of the ingredients. Additionally, the dried bean curd has a rich flavor from soaking in the braising liquid for so long.
This dish is a wonderful addition to the kitchen table, especially during cold winter!
This braised chicken wing recipe is a spin on the classic beef brisket dish! It's a quicker recipe, taking around 35 minutes, since chicken wings are naturally more tender.
Start by marinating chicken wings, then sautรฉ onions, shallots, and garlic. Add Chu Hou paste. Cook the chicken wings until they turn lightly brown, and then add water to simmer. Stir in some vegetables, and you're done!
Serve with rice or noodles.
This Instant Pot braised beef recipe is super easy; there are only two steps: blanch the beef to remove impurities, then throw everything in the Instant Pot!
Chu Hou paste is the secret fermented ingredient that adds saltiness, savoriness, and complexity.
My favorite cut of meat for this is beef finger meat! It has tons of fat and collagen, which breaks down and lubricates the meat after cooking for a long time.
This recipe is like a twist on the classic Chinese beef brisket dish! It adds beef tendons that turn gelatinous and soak up all the yummy flavors in the sauce.
It uses red fermented bean curd, which adds a cheesy and savory note.
To prepare, blanch the tendon and brisket, combine them with all the other ingredients, and simmer for three hours. Serve with steamed rice or noodles!
Braised Beef Honeycomb Tripe is a popular dish in dim sum restaurants, prepared with slow-cooking beef and tripe in a savory sauce.
Beef tripe doesn't have a strong flavor, but it turns super delicious when you slow-cook it in Chu Hou sauce.
I recommend using more bones in the broth so that it becomes richer.
Here's a quick and easy Choy Sum with Garlic Sauce recipe ready in just 20 minutes!
To make it, you'll rinse the Choy Sum, blanch it in boiling water, and then make a sauce by sautรฉing garlic and mixing it with soy sauce, Chu Hou Paste, and Shaoxing wine. Pour the sauce over the Choy Sum, and you're good to go!
It's a perfect side dish that's vegan-friendly and delicious.
This Cantonese-style Lamb and Daikon Stew takes about 1 hour to prepare! It features tender lamb chunks, daikon, and carrots cooked in a flavorful Chu Hou paste sauce.
The cooking process is similar to the other recipes but uses lamb instead. I recommend cooking the lamb an extra 30 minutes to achieve a more tender texture.
Serve it in a preheated clay pot or cast iron pot with steamed rice!
Curry fish balls are one of Hong Kong's most popular street foods.
To make these, stir-fry dried shrimp, shallots, ginger, and garlic. Add curry powder, turmeric, curry paste, chu hou paste, sha cha sauce, and Shaoxing wine. Simmer with daikon and season with salt, oyster sauce, and sugar.
Serve these Fish Balls on bamboo skewers, or eat them straight off the pan!
10. Braised Chicken
This is a simple recipe for Braised Chicken.
The dish is ready in about 45 minutes and features tender chicken wings cooked with carrots and potatoes!
I recommend adding one teaspoon of dark soy sauce at the end to impart a smoky flavor and darken the color of the sauce.
Garnish with scallions, and serve the dish immediately with steamed rice!
This recipe features mushrooms in Chu Hou sauce; talk about an umami bomb!
It's incredibly simple to make and takes only 20 minutes.
To prepare, marinate pork or chicken, stir-fry with mushrooms and wolfberries, then add the sauce ingredients and simmer for one minute.
This dish pairs perfectly with freshly steamed rice. You can omit meat or use minced firm tofu if you don't want meat.
12. Braised Duck
This Braised Duck recipe takes about one hour and is from the official Lee Kum Kee website!
It features tender duck meat bathed in a savory Chu Hou paste sauce.
First, marinate the duck with Dark Soy Sauce, pan-fry until golden, sautรฉ aromatics, drizzle in wine, and add the seasoning mix. Bring it to a boil, add the duck back, and simmer for 30โ45 minutes.
Cut the duck into pieces and serve hot with steamed rice!
13. Stir-fried Beef
Looking for a super quick Chinese meal? Try this one โ it only takes 15 minutes!
Start by cooking minced garlic and onion until fragrant, then stir-fry the shredded beef tenderloin until done. Next, add the bell peppers and the sauce mix, and stir until everything is hot and combined!
Serve over steamed rice for a tasty meal.
Did you enjoy these Chu Hou Paste Recipes? Be sure to check out the other delicious recipes on this blog by checking out our Recipe Index.
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