Braising Paste
Braising paste is a concentrated compound seasoning that reproduces the flavour of a Chinese red braising liquor, the master stock in which meat, poultry, offal and bean curd are simmered. It is a blend rather than a single substance, built from soy sauce solids, sugar or caramel, salt, meat or bone extract, and the spice complex of star anise, cassia, fennel, clove, Sichuan pepper and dried tangerine peel, carried in a viscous paste.
The paste exists to replace a spice bag and a long established stock pot with a single dosed addition. Braising flavour is dominated by heavy, heat stable aroma compounds such as anethole from star anise and cinnamaldehyde from cassia, which survive hours of simmering, so a paste built on spice extractives and reacted savoury base holds its profile through the cook where a light top note flavour would not.
It is a dark brown to nearly black paste, viscous at ambient temperature and pourable when warmed, with visible spice particles in unfiltered grades. It disperses in hot water and is dosed as a percentage of the braising liquor volume. Salt and sugar content give it ambient stability in sealed pails, and the colour it contributes is part of its function.
We source bulk Braising Paste from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Henan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Dark brown to near black viscous paste, spice particles visible in unfiltered grades |
| Odour and taste | Characteristic braised spice and soy, matching retained standard |
| Total solids | 60 to 75 percent |
| Salt as sodium chloride | To declared value, typically 15 to 30 percent |
| Total sugars | To declared value, typically 10 to 25 percent |
| pH, 10 percent solution | 4.5 to 6.0 |
| Viscosity at 25 degrees Celsius | Within agreed range against retained standard |
| Total nitrogen, dry basis | 1.5 percent minimum |
| Water activity | 0.85 maximum |
| Lead | 1 mg per kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.5 mg per kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 1000 cfu per gram maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 50 cfu per gram maximum |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 grams |
Common Markets Grades
Grades divide by physical form and by flavour direction. Paste is the dominant form, with liquid concentrates used where dosing equipment favours a pumpable product and dry compound granules used in retail sachets and dry rub applications. Flavour lines follow regional braising styles, with a red braise built on soy sauce and caramel, a white braise built on salt and spice without dark colour, a spicy line carrying chilli and Sichuan pepper, and a five spice line weighted to the classic spice set.
Formulation grades separate on how the spice contribution is made. Whole spice and ground spice grades give a particulate paste and a slower flavour release, oleoresin and essential oil grades give a clear paste with a stronger and more immediate aroma at a lower dose, and most industrial products combine both. Clean label lines replace hydrolysed vegetable protein and added flavour enhancers with soy sauce powder, yeast extract and concentrated bone broth, and halal certified lines are built on beef or poultry extract with no pork derived fat.
Applications
- Braised meat production for pork belly, beef shank, trotters and ribs, dosed directly into the simmering liquor
- Braised poultry and offal, including chicken feet, wings, duck necks and gizzards
- Braised bean curd, dried tofu and gluten products, where the paste supplies both colour and savoury depth
- Marinated eggs and vegetables, dosed into a cold or warm holding brine
- Central kitchen and chain restaurant production, where a single paste replaces a spice cabinet for batch to batch consistency
- Retort packed and vacuum packed braised snacks, chosen for spice notes that survive sterilisation
- Instant noodle and convenience meal sauce sachets in a braised flavour direction
- Foodservice master stock replenishment between cooking batches
- Retail cooking pastes sold for home preparation of braised dishes
China Manufacturers of Braising Paste
Top Braising Paste manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Braising paste is a formulated food ingredient rather than an additive, so it has no E number of its own and its status is decided component by component. In the United States each ingredient must be generally recognised as safe or an approved food additive for the intended use, spice and spice extractives are covered by the relevant generally recognised as safe listings, and caramel colour is a permitted colour additive that must be declared. Products containing meat or poultry extract above the relevant threshold fall under Food Safety and Inspection Service labelling, and soy and wheat present through the soy sauce component are major allergens requiring declaration.
In the European Union the paste is a mixture of ingredients, additives and flavourings. Additives such as caramel colour, thickeners and any preservative must be permitted for the relevant food category and declared by function and E number, flavouring components must be permitted flavouring substances or preparations, and soy and cereals containing gluten must be emphasised in the ingredient list. Where the savoury base contains animal extract, the supplying establishment must be approved for products of animal origin. Codex covers the product through its general standards on food additives, contaminants and labelling rather than any commodity standard for braising seasoning.
Manufacturing Process
Manufacture starts with the spice contribution. Whole spices are cleaned, milled and either dosed directly or extracted, most often by simmering in water or in oil so that anethole, cinnamaldehyde, eugenol and the pungent principles of Sichuan pepper transfer into the carrier phase. Bought oleoresins and essential oils are used alongside or instead of that step. Separately, a savoury base is prepared by blending soy sauce or soy sauce powder with meat or bone extract, sugars and amino acid sources, and reacting them under heat so that Maillard browning develops the cooked depth and part of the colour.
The spice phase, the savoury base, salt, sugar, caramel colour and any fat are combined in a jacketed vacuum cooker and mixed under high shear while the batch is reduced to the target solids. Hydrocolloids such as xanthan gum or modified starch are dispersed in to hold viscosity and to stop the spice particles settling. The batch is standardised for salt, solids, viscosity and colour against a retained standard, sterilised or pasteurised in the vessel or in line, and hot filled into pails, drums or retort pouches before cooling. Dry compound grades are diverted before filling, spray dried or vacuum dried on a carrier, then dry blended with milled spice and packed.
