Hoisin Sauce: What It Is, Flavor, Uses and Substitutes
Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark brown seasoning sauce from Cantonese cooking. It tastes sweet, salty and savory at once, consists at its core of fermented soybean paste, sugar, vinegar, garlic and spices, and serves as a glaze, marinade and dip, for example with Peking duck or summer rolls.
Fact sheet
- Also known as
- 海鮮醬 (kantonesisch hoisin jeung, Mandarin hǎixiān jiàng), Hoisinsauce, Hoisin-Soße
- Origin
- Südchina (Kanton, Hongkong), verbreitet in Vietnam
- Taste
- süß, salzig, würzig nach Knoblauch, leicht säuerlich, Hauch von Anis
- Substitute
- Sojasauce mit Erdnussbutter oder schwarzer Bohnenpaste, Honig, Reisessig, Sesamöl, Knoblauch und Fünf-Gewürze-Pulver
- Storage
- nach dem Öffnen im Kühlschrank, mehrere Monate
- Where to buy
- Asia-Regal im Supermarkt, Asialaden, online
Name and origin
The name comes from Cantonese. 海鮮醬, pronounced roughly “hoisin jeung”, means “seafood sauce”. The sauce still contains no fish or seafood. Several explanations for the name circulate, but there is no established derivation. In Mandarin it is called hǎixiān jiàng.
Hoisin comes from southern China, from the area around Guangzhou and Hong Kong. In Vietnam it now sits next to the chili sauce on many tables.
Flavor and ingredients
Hoisin is about as thick as ketchup. First you taste sweetness, then salt and a slight acidity. Garlic and sometimes chili add spice, and five-spice powder or star anise a hint of anise.
The label usually lists sugar, water, soybeans, salt, wheat flour or starch, vinegar, sesame, garlic, chili and spices. The order tells you how sweet a brand is.
Allergens: Hoisin contains soy and in most cases wheat, so gluten. Many brands also contain sesame. Gluten-free versions exist; look for the note on the package.
Hoisin, oyster sauce and plum sauce
Several dark, thick sauces sit side by side on the Asian shelf. Here is how to tell them apart:
| Sauce | Base | Flavor | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoisin | fermented soybeans, sugar | sweet and salty, spicy | glaze, dip, marinade |
| Oyster sauce | oyster extract, sugar, salt | salty, savory, little sweetness | wok dishes, vegetables |
| Plum sauce | plums, sugar, vinegar | fruity, sweet and sour | dip for fried food and duck |
| Sweet bean paste (tianmianjiang) | fermented wheat dough, often with soy | salty, less sweet | Peking duck, noodle sauces |
You can't swap oyster sauce and hoisin 1:1. Oyster sauce brings salt and depth, hoisin mainly sweetness. More on this under Oyster sauce.
Uses in the kitchen
- With duck: Restaurants outside China usually serve Peking duck with hoisin, cucumber and scallion in a thin pancake. In Beijing, sweet bean paste is more usual. With crispy duck, hoisin works as an alternative to plum sauce.
- Glaze and marinade: For Cha shao, the glossy BBQ pork, you mix hoisin with soy sauce, honey and garlic. The sugar caramelizes quickly in the oven and on the grill. Brush the glaze on only in the last minutes, or it burns.
- Dip: With Gỏi cuốn, Vietnamese cooks stir hoisin with peanut butter, a little water and chopped peanuts into a thick dip. Keep the peanuts in mind for guests with allergies.
- At the table: With Phở Bò, hoisin and chili sauce are set out in southern Vietnam. Put both in a small bowl and dip the meat in, so the broth stays clear.
- In the wok: 1 to 2 tbsp hoisin with a splash of soy sauce and water make a quick sauce for vegetables, tofu or chicken. Add it at the end so the sugar doesn't burn.
Homemade hoisin substitute
When the bottle is empty, you stir together a substitute from pantry ingredients. For about 100 ml:
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp peanut butter or black bean paste
- 1 tbsp honey or brown sugar
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 pinch five-spice powder, a little chili if you like
Stir until smooth and bring to the thickness you want with 1 to 2 tbsp water. The mix tastes a bit nuttier than the original and works well as a dip and glaze. Light and dark soy sauce explains which soy sauce to use for it, and you can read more about the oil under Sesame oil.
Buying and storing
Most supermarkets carry hoisin in the Asian aisle. At an Asian grocery store you find several brands in jars and bottles, often in larger sizes, and online you can also get gluten-free versions.
Once opened, the sauce belongs in the refrigerator. There it keeps for several months; the label gives the period. Take it out with a clean spoon. A darker, dried layer at the edge of the jar is only evaporated water. If mold shows, throw the jar away.