Lu wei 滷味, which translates to "braised flavor," refers to stewing ingredients in a soy sauce-based brine with a mix of toasted spices and dried herbs. Its openness to interpretation is also the appeal of the lu wei night market stall, the choose-your-own-adventure game of the Taiwanese foodscape. Take your pick from a cornucopia of ingredients—all kinds of vegetables, tofu, pig's blood rice cake, cuts of meat and offal—and everything gets simmered in a flavorful master stock.

The key to good lu wei, as detailed in our recipe and in Episode 02 of Cooking With Steam, is all in that master stock, or brine. A high-salinity, aromatic brine imparts not only the right balance of flavors, but also the right deep brown color. To make a perfect master braising stock, two things are non negotiable: great herbs and rich soy sauce.

A good lu bao 滷包 (braise pack) adds warm, herbal dimension and removes gamey flavor from the braise. This bundle includes the Thirteen Spice Braise Pack developed by popular Taiwanese food blogger Joe Deng of Foodie Goodie 食貨誌. Deng uses licorice-scented star anise and numbing Sichuan peppercorns to create a robust base flavor. Three kinds of ginger—common ginger, sand ginger, and galangal—add earthy, citrusy, and floral warmth, acting as a bridge to the remaining 11 aromatics, each of which add their own piquant, sweet, and even herbal touch to the bouquet.

This bundle also contains the two kinds of soy sauces needed to make your lu wei master stock: Vat Bottom Soy Sauce for its high salinity and rich body, and Caramelized Sugar Soy Sauce for its rich caramel scent and its ability to impart color on the braise.

Finally, dip your braised meats and proteins in the sweet and mildly hot Spicy Soy Paste for the finishing touch.

Bundle Contents:

• Thirteen Spice Braise Pack: this fragrant sachet filled with over 15 spices like star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, and three kinds of ginger is essential for flavoring Taiwanese lu wei


• Vat Bottom Soy Sauce: extracted from the bottom of the fermenting vats, this gluten-free soy sauce contributes high salinity and rich body to your master stock


• Caramelized Sugar Soy Sauce: this gluten-free soy sauce, made from two types of caramelized Taiwanese sugars—san wen sugar 三溫糖, which adds soft sweetness, and Hu Wei white sugar 虎尾糖, which adds caramel aroma and deep color—is the key to coloring your braises deep red-brown


• Spicy Soy Paste: a condiment made by thickening soy sauce with starch, this spicy soy paste gets its heat from heaven-facing chilis and extra umami from tomatoes, and is the perfect dip for your lu wei

Tasting Notes and Usage

Caramelized Sugar Soy Sauce: hickory syrup, toast, port wine

Vat Bottom Soy Sauce: salty, fragrant, full

Spicy Soy Paste: bell pepper, molasses, with a kick

Thirteen Spice Braise Pack: licorice, wet earth, citrus oil/menthol

Try our Lu Shui Master Stock Recipe.

Ingredients and Instructions

Caramelized Sugar Soy Sauce: water, non-GMO black soybeans, sea salt, white sugar, Taiwan Huwei sanonto sugar, mirin (glutinous rice, rice koji, sugar), licorice

Vat Bottom Soy Sauce: water, non-GMO black soybeans, sea salt, sugar

Spicy Soy Paste: water, non-GMO black soybeans, glutinous rice, sea salt, sugar, licorice, ground tomatoes, facing heaven chili powder, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, xantham gum, alanine

Thirteen Spice Braise Pack: star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, sand ginger, galangal, Dahurian angelica (bai zhi), Chinese black cardamom (tsao ko), nutmeg, cumin, fructus amomi (sha ren), bay leaf, cinnamon, ginger, licorice, cloves, dried tangerine peel, and cardamom

Specifications and Dimensions