1 pot for fermenting. I'm using a clay pot, a saucepan is fine too
1 jar with 1 litre (4 cups) capacity
Ingredients
200gsoybeans
2litreswateryou may need more
125mllight soy sauce
1Tbspdark soy sauce
½Tbspsalt
1tspwhite sugar
Instructions
Day 1
Toast the soybeans in a wok or large frying pan over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. When done, tip them out into a large bowl.
Top with 1 litre (4 cups) of the water, ensuring that the beans are covered by at least 2.5cm/an inch at the top. Use more water, if necessary. Leave to soak overnight.
Day 2
Pour out the soaking liquid and fill with more room temperature water.Remove skin by rubbing the beans between your fingers or palms. This should be a relatively easy process. The loose skins will float to the top for easy removal.If you find this too much hard work, don't worry about it. Spend 2 minutes doing this, then leave the skin on the rest. It's not going to ruin your homemade taucheo.
Rinse the soybeans, getting rid of any loose skin. Drain and tip into a large saucepan.Fill with the second litre of water, once again, ensuring that the beans are topped by at least 2.5 cm/1 inch of water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, half cover the saucepan and leave to simmer for 2½ hours. At the end of this time, the beans should be soft.To test for doneness, just take one bean, and mash between 2 teaspoons, it should quash down easily. You could do it with your fingers too, but the beans will be hot, so be careful.
Drain the cooked soybeans, saving the cooking liquid.Then place the beans in a cheesecloth or muslin over a colander. Fold the cheesecloth over to cover. Now, place the whole thing into an opaque container. This could be a saucepan, a cake tin, whatever fits. Cover and leave for 3-5 days.The batch here was done in autumn in the UK. I had to go a full 5 days before I was happy with the amount of white mould. I could have gone another 2 days for a stronger flavour if I'd wanted.
Pour the cooking liquid in a sterilised jar (how to sterilise in the article above). Leave to cool completely, then cover tightly with its lid and leave on your kitchen counter until needed. It won't go bad.
Day 5 Onwards
After 3 days, check to see if you have a layer of sticky, white mould. If not, leave for another day. Keep doing this until you are happy with it, see video. It doesn't have to be the whole 5 days. Or, it might need 7 days, if it's cold where you are.See article above for warm places in the house.
Transfer to a glass jar, fermentation jar or crockpot.Pour in the soy sauces, salt, sugar and the cooking liquid from earlier. Stir to mix. Make sure that the soybeans are fully submerged, with a clear layer of liquid above.Cover with the lid and leave on the kitchen counter for another 5 days for it to ferment a little more. This will once again, depend on the temperature where you are, see article above.If you are using a fermentation jar with a stopper, you can release the stopper daily, if you like.
Then, place it in the fridge to prevent further fermentation. Technically, it will still keep on fermenting but very little, and very slowly. The flavour and colour will deepen with time.Your taucheo is ready to be used, as in many of the recipes on this site. Use within 6 months.
Video
Notes
Amount made depends on the liquid added when fermenting.Total time is relative depending on room temperature.