Taiwanese people may place a high value on shacha sauce, but its origins are undeniably from outside the island. Shacha sauce originated in the culinary culture of the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, gradually becoming a widely accepted part of Taiwanese dining habits following a large influx of immigrants from Chaoshan following World War II. Over time, Taiwan came to develop its own distinctive shacha culture.

Angeline Tan, a researcher of spices from Malaysia and of Chaoshan descent herself, has been living in Taiwan for over 20 years. Shacha sauce is a source of tremendous nostalgia for her. At the end of each year, when the spices are at their freshest, she takes the opportunity to buy ingredients and personally make enough shacha sauce for the coming year. This tradition comes from her family, who migrated to ­Penang from Chaoshan four generations back. Making shacha sauce is an annual event that involves the whole family, with even visiting friends and relatives joining in.

If we take a closer look, we find that the shacha sauce favored by Chaoshan people is actually not original to them either. Its antecedent is the well-known Southeast-Asian satay sauce. Satay is a grilled meat dish originating from Java, Indonesia, which has spread throughout Southeast Asia and developed into different versions. The soul of satay is the satay sauce, which is made from common Southeast-­Asian ingredients such as peanuts, turmeric, coconut milk, palm sugar, galangal, tamarind, and cumin. In the 19th century, adventurous, business-­savvy Chaoshan people came to Southeast Asia and got a taste of satay. They then made a few adjustments to it to fit Chinese tastes, and thus the Southeast-Asian satay became shacha in Chinese.

Shacha, Taiwan style

From satay to shacha, the flavor has undergone changes and innovations, and the way it is consumed has also changed. Chinese people don’t use satay sauce as a dip for meat skewers, but instead have developed a wonderful shacha-based cuisine building on Chinese dishes. Today, the Chaoshan region is famous for its shacha noodles and shacha beef cakes, and its shacha beef hot pot is a renowned showcase for locally produced beef. After WWII, this shacha cuisine spread to Taiwan with migrants coming out of Chaoshan. Taiwanese-style stir-fry has incorporated shacha in ways that befit its emphasis on intuition and speed, and Taiwan has also developed a form of shacha hot pot different from Chaoshan’s.

Singaporean and Malaysian shacha hot pot still retains the traditional flavors of the Chaoshan region. Angeline Tan shares her hometown’s approach, using shacha sauce as the base for the hot pot, mixed into a rich and flavorful broth made from pork or chicken bones. Taiwan’s version, meanwhile, often uses a clear soup base (some restaurants even add flatfish), with shacha sauce served separately as a dipping sauce. The two could barely be more dissimilar.

Why is there such a difference? Tseng Lin-yi, an associate professor at the Center for General Education at Taipei Medical University and author of the book The Untold Story of Shacha Sauce, has delved into Taiwan’s dining culture surrounding shacha sauce. She points out that Taiwanese eating habits have been heavily influenced by Japan, and compared to the intricate and elaborate nature of Chinese cuisine, Taiwanese people tend to prefer lighter flavors that highlight the natural taste of the ingredients.

Bryan Wu, the second-generation owner of the well-known Taipei restaurant Yuan Xiang Shacha Hot Pot, has proposed an interesting theory. He believes that the eating style of Chaoshan shacha hot pot may have been inspired by the popular Southeast-Asian noodle dish laksa. Wu also speculates that in the past, restaurant owners would serve the shacha sauce separately from the broth base not only to cater to Taiwanese taste preferences, but also to cut down on the use of the sauce due to limited resources in the early postwar period.

Stashed away in almost every family fridge in Taiwan, you’ll find a jar of the all-conquering condiment known as shacha sauce.

Angeline Tan, from Malaysia and of Chaoshan descent, makes her own shacha sauce each year as a way of remembering her home.

Shacha sauce can include up to 30–50 different ingredients, which may vary slightly depending on local produce and personal preferences. Here we see some of the main ingredients used.

Angeline Tan’s shacha sauce is known as being the “most flavorful shacha.” The ingredients are processed from scratch, such as the flatfish that provides a touch of umami, which must be roasted, then crushed with the bones in to achieve a rich flavor. (courtesy of Angeline Tan)

Setting down roots

Due to shacha sauce’s popularity in Taiwan, food writer Chen Jingyi has dubbed it the “king of Taiwanese condiments.” However, looking back at the history of shacha’s development in Taiwan, one finds it isn’t a particularly long one. Back in the postwar era, the vast majority of Taiwanese people not only didn’t know what shacha was, but also didn’t eat beef, which is often associated with shacha, due to traditional beliefs in the agricultural society of the time.

Besides shacha hot pot in restaurants, easily stored canned shacha sauce has been another driver of its popu­larity. Liu Laiqin from Chaozhou introduced the well-known, globally marketed Bull Head brand, while Du Xiang from Shantou introduced the Chih Niu, Huang Niu, and Hei Niu brands, all of which have also become iconic.

“The way that Taiwanese people started to embrace shacha sauce was closely tied to the economic boom and to urban and rural development.” Tseng Lin-yi points out that Ximending in Taipei and Yancheng District in Kao­hsiung are both old city areas with histories going back to the Japanese colonial era and are now battlegrounds for numerous shacha restaurants. As society shifted from agriculture to industry and commerce, young people left their hometowns to seek a living in the cities. After work, they would gather at shacha restaurants located in bustling areas, making them an excellent choice for socializing and dining. The aversion to eating beef also gradually faded with the changing times and circumstances.

Though shacha hot pot may seem old-fashioned today, it was actually very trendy from the 1960s to the 1980s. According to Bryan Wu’s recollection, going to see a movie in Ximending and then moving on to shacha hot pot place for a meal was a common “package deal” back in the day.

Aside from regular customers, the presence of celebrities at restaurants added to the excitement and created a trend. Shantou Everyday Shacha Hot Pot in Kaohsiung has been visited by famous singers Fei Yu-ching and Teresa Teng, while Yuan Xiang Shacha Hot Pot gained widespread recognition due to its popularity among stars such as Brigitte Lin, Chin Han, and Chang Hsiao-yen.

Compared to the past, shacha hot pot’s trendiness has significantly faded, but in today’s Taiwan, one will still almost invariably find shacha sauce provided by hot pot restaurants, whether they be shacha ones, Japanese-style ones, Hong Kong-style ones, or others. For many Taiwanese, a hot pot meal feels incomplete without it.

One of Taipei’s top hot pot restaurants is Yuan Xiang Shacha Hot Pot, which originally opened on Emei Street in Ximending. (courtesy of Bryan Wu)

Tseng Lin-yi, author of The Untold Story of Shacha Sauce, has visited various shacha restaurants throughout Taiwan, carefully researching the history and background behind this popular condiment.

Shacha is a common ingredient in Taiwanese stir-fry dishes. It is used to fry noodles and rice, and is paired with vegetables such as kai-lan or cabbage.

Chin Hsiang Shacha Hot Pot, which started out as a streetside stall, has recently launched a bottled version of their signature Chin Hsiang Shacha Sauce, getting a warm welcome from the market. Pictured is second-generation owner Kuo Yin-ming.

One of the most popular dishes in southern Taiwan is shacha beef hot pot. The hot pot is made with a clear broth and includes ingredients such as Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, and tofu. For dipping sauce, Taiwanese people typically mix shacha sauce with soy sauce, white vinegar, scallions, garlic, and chili peppers. Some older diners even add raw egg yolk to the mix.

A gustatory picture of migration

Just like satay sauce, shacha sauce is a condiment that has taken on different forms through migration, differences in local produce, and local food preferences. Many in the industry say that shacha has developed into two major “schools”: Chaoshan and Fujian. The Chaoshan version has a stronger seafood flavor, such as the Bull Head brand’s emphasis on the addition of Taiwan mauxia shrimp. The Fujian version, meanwhile, has a stronger peanut flavor, such as the recently popular Chin Hsiang brand of canned shacha, whose recipe comes from the old Taipei restaurant Chin Hsiang Shacha Hot Pot.

Angeline Tan notes that Taiwanese people like to eat shacha sauce with additional seasonings such as soy sauce and white vinegar, making the overall taste less salty. Additionally, Taiwanese satay sauce has a more prominent five-spice flavor and is often enhanced with ingredients like coriander seeds and coconut powder.

A single recipe for shacha sauce can use up to 30–50 different ingredients, leaving plenty of room for adjustments based on local produce and personal preferences. While there is no universally recognized standard recipe, Titan Wu, the head of the upmarket Chin Hsiang brand, has proposed a set of guidelines from a food processing perspective. He believes that high-quality shacha sauce must be made from scratch using original ingredients, rather than relying on pre-made. In terms of flavor, the sauce should not only be salty, but also have some sweetness from peanuts, a touch of umami from flatfish, and a spicy kick from chili peppers. The ingredients should be distinct yet blend together seamlessly.

The diverse and ever-­evolving world of shacha sauce is still going strong. Take for example the recipe from the Bull Head brand, which boldly elected to stop using peanuts out of food safety considerations. Additionally, to cater to the growing vegetarian population, they also introduced a vegetarian version of the sauce. Another example is Angeline Tan’s homemade shacha sauce, which strives to recreate the taste of her hometown while also prioritizing the use of local ingredients. Even though she often uses common ingredients from Southeast Asia, she prefers to use locally sourced Taiwanese ingredients whenever possible. In her 2022 recipe, she even added a distinctive Taiwanese ingredient, Taiwanese shell-ginger seeds, which have a refreshing flavor and also aid digestion. “Taiwanese shell-ginger seeds have a cooling effect and can help to relieve any feeling of bloating,” says Tan.

How can one type of sauce have such a rich range of expressions, conveying people’s feelings for their homeland, their migratory journey, and their efforts to integrate into a new land? What is shacha sauce really? In the end, it’s hard to explain it in just a few words based on its name or ingredients. But isn’t this kind of complexity and uniqueness precisely what makes shacha sauce so special?

Taiwanese people love hot pot, and stepping into a shacha hot pot restaurant one is struck by the strong “downhome” atmosphere.

Ximending, an area of Taipei that developed during the Japanese colonial era, is filled with restaurants serving delicious shacha sauce dishes.