All about hoisin sauce: taste, smell, composition and 5 delicious cooking recipes

Today we will talk about a sauce originally from China – Hoisin (Housin Souce). We will give you 5 step-by-step recipes for this sauce, all of which you can easily prepare at home.

Hoisin sauce: what is it?

Chinese Hoshin sauce is, according to connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine, one of the most famous sauces. It is used in preparing various dishes from meat, fish and vegetables. It is especially good as a marinade.

The famous Peking duck without it is not the same. It is quite possible to marinate meat for barbecue in it or use it as a sauce for smoking duckor chicken .

It is made from soybeans, or rather from a paste made after their fermentation. And of course, where without garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil and chili pepper.

Which is used more for aroma and taste, and not for spice. And cloves, star anise and cinnamon are some of the main spices included in its composition.

What does it taste and smell like?

The taste of the sauce, as they like in the east – salty, sweet and sour and not spicy, vaguely resembles soy sauce and teriyaki. The aroma is spicy, this is facilitated by sesame oil and star anise with cinnamon.

Garlic and vinegar give it a slight piquancy and sourness.

Benefits and harms

Hoshin sauce is an excellent source of protein, which is close in composition to protein of plant origin and contains essential amino acids.

The sauce also has anti-cancer properties because it contains substances from the group of flavonoids. Hoisin sauce has a beneficial effect on the immune system due to its vitamin E content.

It is also very rich in magnesium, selenium and potassium. In addition, it does not contain animal components, thanks to this it can be considered a lean and vegan sauce.

Recipes at home

Of course, not all recipes are authentic, but most taste very close to the original sauce.

Classic recipe

To prepare the original Hoshin sauce, you will need some rare ingredients and a Chinese five-spice mixture. Which includes ground fennel, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and star anise. All of them can be bought separately and ground in a mortar.

We will need:

Fermented beans – 50 gr.
Chili pepper – 0.5 pods
Soy sauce – 3 tbsp. l.
Rice vinegar – 2 tbsp. l.
Sesame oil – 1 tbsp. l.
Liquid honey – 1 tbsp. l.
Garlic – 2 cloves
Chinese spice mixture – 0.5 tsp.

How to do:

Remove the seeds from the chili, remove the peel from the garlic, and chop them a little.
Place all ingredients in a blender glass and blend thoroughly.
Let it brew a little and the sauce is ready!

As you can see, it is more difficult to find beans than to cook Hoisin. You can also add dried ginger and nutmeg, and adjust the spiciness with the amount of chili pepper.

Home

This is a simplified Hoisin recipe for home cooking.

Ingredients:

Soy sauce – 100 ml;
White wine vinegar – 2 tbsp. l.;
White balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp. l.;
Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
Liquid honey – 3 tbsp. l.;
Tomato paste – 2 tbsp. L.;
Sriracha – 1 h. l.;
Chinese 5 spice mixture – 1 tsp.
Dried garlic – 0.5 tsp;
Corn starch – 1 tsp;
Water – 50 ml.;
Salt and pepper to taste.

How to cook:

Heat the oil slightly and add dry spices to it, they need to be warmed up a little to release the aromas.
Then add tomato paste, all liquids except water and honey, stir until the honey dissolves.
Dissolve the starch in water and add a little to the sauce, it will begin to thicken.
Achieve the consistency you need, add salt and pepper and the sauce is ready!

Here you can do without starch, you just need to evaporate the homemade Hoisin longer. And of course Sriracha can be replaced with chili or even dispensed with.

Our respected Ilya Isaakovich Lazerson cooks Hoisin very similarly.

Recipe based on beans with honey

Another adapted recipe for home cooking. Here the beans are replaced with canned and red beans.

Composition:

Red beans – 200 gr.
Chinese 5 spice mixture – 0.5 tsp.
Garlic – 2 cloves
Honey – 2 tbsp. l.
Soy sauce – 2 tbsp. l.
Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l.
Rice vinegar – 2 tbsp. l.
Salt to taste

Cooking process:

Place beans without liquid and all ingredients in a blender.
It is advisable to cut the garlic into several pieces, you can even grate it and add it to the sauce.
Beat well, add salt and you’re done!

If it turns out very thick, add bean brine. That’s why we don’t recommend using it in tomato sauce, although try it and let us know how it turned out.

Peanut butter based

Ingredients:

Peanut butter – 100 gr.;
Liquid honey – 50 ml;
Soy sauce – 150 ml;
Rice vinegar – 20 ml;
Granulated garlic – 0.5 tsp;
Sriracha/chili sauce – 30 ml;
Chinese mixture of 5 spices – 0.5 tsp;
Sesame oil – 20 ml.

Cooking method:

First of all, melt the honey if it is thick.
Then add everything to a blender and blend until smooth.
Peanut butter hoisin is ready!

The mixture will be quite thick and can be used as dip. For example, as a sauce for French fries

or country-style potatoes.

Sauce with orange juice

Ingredients:

Orange juice – 30 ml;
Liquid honey – 1 tbsp. l.;
Soy sauce – 100 ml;
Sriracha/chili sauce – 1 tsp;
Vinegar 5 percent – 1 s. l.;
Coriander, ground ginger a pinch
Dried garlic – 0.5 tsp;

Step by step recipe:

Place all ingredients in a blender or beat with a mixer.
Pour into a saucepan and evaporate until thick, you can thicken with starch.
Let cool and the sauce is ready!

Orange flavor, as you know, goes very well with duck.

What do they eat with?

Hoisin sauce can be served with grilled meats, grilled fish, vegetables, seafood, omelettes, sushi, rice and noodles. It perfectly complements the taste of poultry meat.

When serving the sauce, you can add finely chopped green onions, sesame seeds or black mustard seeds.

Vegetables are baked under it, mushrooms are poured over omelettes, and added as a dressing to salads. It can also be used as a sauce for burgers or shawarma. Make a sausage sandwich and spread hoisin on it. Dip sausages, nachos or any other snacks into it.

And of course pasta, spaghetti and all pasta go perfectly with it. In addition, you can mix it with mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup and there you have it another ketchunese with hoisin.

And of course it is included in the marinade for Peking duck.

How to choose and where to buy

When choosing Hoisin sauce, carefully inspect the packaging to ensure it is not damaged. It should not contain components that are not included in its composition, which we described above. The presence of starch is allowed.

Ideally, the composition should consist of soy sauces and garlic, seasonings and spices, as well as salt, sugar and vinegar concentrate. a>

You can buy it in hypermarkets, mainly in the oriental spices department. And also in Asian food stores and online stores, it’s easiest there.

How to serve

Hoisin sauce is usually served like this: slices of vegetables are placed on a plate, a sauce based on soy sauce is poured on top and left to steep for 20-30 minutes. Hoisin sauce is served in bowls or bowls.

The main thing is that it is convenient to dip pieces of food into it. But it is also advisable to give it a spoon, for example, it is not always convenient to dip duck into the sauce. And for convenience, you can pour the sauce over it with this spoon.

Further in the video you can see an option for serving duck breast, vegetables with Hoisin sauce.

How and how much to store

It is recommended to prepare Hoisin sauce immediately before use. After cooking, the sauce must be refrigerated, then tightly close the container with the sauce with a lid so that no air gets into it.

Also, if you do not have the opportunity to immediately serve Hoisin sauce, it is better to put it in the refrigerator. It will stand quietly for about a week.

Store-bought sauce has its own shelf life and storage location, which are indicated on the jar. But keep in mind that after opening the sauce, the period decreases. In addition, each manufacturer has its own recommendations for product safety.

What can be replaced

Hoisin sauce can be replaced with sauces with various flavorings such as garlic, black pepper, red chili. Try sauces made from prunes or cherry plums, adding hoisin spices.

But we think, thanks to our recipes, you will prepare the sauce for yourself and will not have to replace anything.

And finally, a recipe for Chinese 5-spice seasoning.