Tacho

Macanese Fusion·Medium·40 min active + 1 hour 50 min resting

The Luso-Cantonese winter hotpot — Portuguese cured meats (chorizo, pork) and Chinese vegetables (cabbage, turnip) slow-simmered together into a rich, layered one-pot, a Macanese cold-weather feast.

Tacho is the Macanese winter hotpot, layering Portuguese sausages and pork belly with Chinese cabbage and roots — a literal pot of the city's two cultures.

Spoon up tacho and the broth is rich and savory, full of meltingly soft pork belly, smoky chorizo, flakes of salt cod, and sweet cabbage and root vegetables. Bite: the Portuguese cured meats give smoky, paprika depth, the Chinese vegetables sweetness and the broth balance, the salt cod a briny note. A warming, layered one-pot — two cuisines simmered into one comforting bowl.

Long simmering of the pork belly builds a rich broth; the cured meats (chorizo, Chinese sausage) and salt cod lend concentrated smoky-briny flavor, while the cabbage and roots add sweetness and soak it up. It's a true fusion stew — Iberian charcuterie meets the Cantonese clay-pot.

Variations

With pork trotter. With more bacalhau. With Chinese mushrooms. Spicier. With turnip-heavy 'Chinese' lean. With blood sausage (morcela).

On the Palate

Where Tacho sits in the Macanese flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 8

How it's made

8 steps · 40 min active + 1 hour 50 min waiting

1
10 min
Blanch 400 g pork belly and 150 g chorizo; cut into pieces.
2
8 min
Soak and flake 150 g salt cod (bacalhau).
3
62 min
In a large pot, simmer the pork belly in water with ginger 60 min.
Watch out
Simmer the pork belly low and slow, skimming the scum, until the broth turns milky-rich — a hard boil muddies it and toughens the meat.
4
4 min
Add the chorizo, salt cod, and a Chinese sausage if available.
Watch out
Add the salt cod and cured sausages only after the pork base is built — they're intensely briny-smoky, so taste before you add any more salt.
5
5 min
Add 1/2 napa cabbage, 1 sliced turnip/radish, and 2 carrots.
6
2 min
Season with a little soy sauce and white pepper.
7
42 min
Simmer 40 min until everything is tender and the broth is rich.
Watch out
It's ready when the roots are fork-tender and the cabbage has slumped and drunk up the broth — the flavors should read as one, not separate.
8
2 min
Serve the layered hotpot hot, with rice.