Hongzao or Red Sediment

Hongzao (hungjo in Cantonese) is a favourite ingredient of the Fujianese, who use it as a seasoning sauce for chicken, duck and pork and for making soups. Sweet and alcoholic, it adds a rich and distinctive quality to the main ingredients that is all its own. In Fujian, Taiwan and Hong Kong, one buys this basic ingredient from a shop, but as it is not easily available in Chinese shops abroad, we have to make our own.