Master Sauce Paste
Master Sauce Paste is a concentrate that reconstitutes a Chinese master stock, the lu shui or master sauce that is used to braise meat and offal and is then kept, strained and replenished so that it deepens across successive batches. Traditionally the stock is built from soy sauce, rock sugar, rice wine and a spice bag, and matures over months or years. The paste compresses that build into a single ingredient: a fermented soy base for salt, colour and glutamate, caramelised sugar for the sweet edge and the dark braising colour, a Maillard reaction base for the aged cooked meat depth, and a spice fraction of star anise, cassia, sand ginger, liquorice, clove, tangerine peel, bay and fennel held in a refined fat.
It reaches buyers as a dark brown to near black soft paste in pails or lined drums, and as a powder where a dry format is needed. The paste is dispersed into hot water at roughly 3 to 8 percent to make up a working braising liquor from a fresh charge, and at a lower rate to top up a stock already in use. The fat fraction releases the spice volatiles slowly during simmering, which is what allows one addition to season a long braise, and it is also what limits shelf life through oxidation.
We source bulk Master Sauce Paste from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shanghai. 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 soft paste, uniform |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic braised soy, spice and caramel, savoury sweet |
| Moisture | Not more than 20.0 percent |
| Fat | 15.0 to 35.0 percent |
| Sodium Chloride | As declared, plus or minus 2.0 percent |
| Total Sugars | As declared, plus or minus 3.0 percent |
| Amino Acid Nitrogen | Not less than 0.6 percent |
| pH at 1 percent dispersion | 4.8 to 6.0 |
| Peroxide Value | Not more than 5.0 meq per kg |
| 3-MCPD | Not more than 0.02 mg per kg |
| Aflatoxin B1 | Not more than 5 microgram per kg |
| Lead | Not more than 1.0 mg per kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 10000 cfu per gram |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades differ by profile region and by the balance between spice, soy and reaction base. Cantonese style grades are lighter and sweeter, with a heavier rock sugar and rice wine character. Sichuan style grades carry chilli and Sichuan pepper alongside the standard spice bag. Northern style grades lean on star anise and cassia with a darker soy load. Aged profile grades carry a heavier reaction base to imitate a long standing mother stock from the first batch.
Beyond profile, buyers specify salt content, which is high in catering grades where the paste also seasons and lower in industrial concentrates, colour depth, since a large part of the visual result of braising comes from the paste, fat type and content, whether monosodium glutamate is present or the umami comes from fermented soy and yeast extract alone, and whether the product is filtered clear of particulate or carries visible spice. Halal and vegetarian grades are built without animal fat or meat derived reaction base.
Applications
- Braised pork belly, trotter and shank production, making up a working stock from fresh water
- Soy sauce chicken and braised duck lines in the chilled deli category
- Braised beef shin, tendon and tongue
- Braised offal, where the spice fraction covers residual organ off notes
- Marinated eggs and dried tofu in the vegetarian braised category
- Vacuum packed retail braised snack products
- Topping up an existing master stock between production batches to hold the profile constant
- Prepared braising stock concentrates sold to catering kitchens
- Ready meal braised meat components requiring consistent batch to batch flavour
- Instant noodle topping sachets containing braised meat pieces
China Manufacturers of Master Sauce Paste
Top Master Sauce 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
In the United States the product is regulated as a mixture of its components. Soy sauce is a standard food, spices and their oleoresins are generally recognised as safe under 21 CFR 182.10 and 182.20, caramel colour is a colour additive exempt from certification under 21 CFR 73.85, monosodium glutamate is affirmed as generally recognised as safe under 21 CFR 182.1, and the reaction flavour fraction is handled as a flavour under 21 CFR 101.22. Hydrolysed protein must be declared by a name identifying the source protein under 21 CFR 102.22.
In the European Union the additive components carry E numbers under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, with the caramel colours as E 150a to E 150d, monosodium glutamate as E 621, disodium inosinate as E 631 and disodium guanylate as E 627, each with defined conditions of use. The reaction flavour falls under Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 with its conditions for thermal process flavourings. Fermented soy liquor is a food declared by name and is subject to the maximum levels for 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol set in the contaminants regulation where acid hydrolysed protein forms part of the base. Codex has adopted a regional standard for soy sauce, general standards covering the same additives, and general guidelines for flavourings, and JECFA has evaluated the caramel colours, the glutamates and the ribonucleotides. Soy, wheat, celery and sesame derived components trigger allergen declaration in both jurisdictions.
Manufacturing Process
The components are prepared in parallel. The fermented soy base is either bought in as brewed soy sauce liquor and concentrated under vacuum, or made from a koji fermented mash that is pressed and clarified. The caramel fraction is produced by cooking sugar under controlled heat until the target colour and bitterness balance is reached. The reaction base is made by holding hydrolysed protein, reducing sugars, cysteine and a portion of the fat in a jacketed pressurised reactor at controlled temperature and time. The spice fraction is prepared by cryogenic milling and steam sterilisation, or is bought in as oleoresin.
Compounding takes place in a heated jacketed mixer. The fat is melted, the spice fraction is added and held at temperature so that the volatiles migrate into the fat, and the soy concentrate, caramel, reaction base, salt, sugar, rice wine solids and any enhancer are then worked in until the paste is homogeneous. The mass is cooled to a fill temperature at which it remains pumpable, hot filled into pails or drums, cooled and packed, with nitrogen flushing where the fat load makes oxidation the limiting factor. Powder grades take the same blend through emulsification and spray drying, followed by sieving and metal detection.
