I love Chinese/Asian foods! And I love to make them at home where I can control the flavors! Over the years I noticed that a lot of Asian dishes used Hoisin Sauce and for many years I bought it at the store and have always loved the flavor!! I love making things from scratch and most of the time the end result is way better than anything I can buy, and this Hoisin Sauce is one of those things!
What is Hoisin Sauce?
So what the heck is Hoisin Sauce? Hoisin sauce is an Asian Sauce, that’s very fragrant with a strong flavor. It has the perfect balance between salty and sweet. It is used in Asian dishes for marinades, basting, stir-fry sauces, and dipping sauces. It is sometimes called a Chinese BBQ Sauce because it is used in so many things and is usually the key ingredient that gives the dish the most flavor. It tastes a little bit like our traditional American BBQ sauce but has a more salty, less tangy flavor.
It’s traditionally made with fermented soybeans (or black bean paste) and can have molasses to sweeten it and Chinese Five Spice for seasoning. But I never have these ingredients on hand!
I googled hoisin sauce, looked at a lot of hoisin sauce recipes and gave a lot a try. My end result was bits and pieces from several recipes and I ended up with the recipe below. Now it doesn’t taste exactly like a fresh real-deal, fermented soybean Hoisin Sauce, but the flavor profile is pretty close. It’s yummy salty, sweet and is perfect for a Hoisin Sauce!
Ingredients in Hoisin Sauce
For my Hoisin Sauce I use Peanut Butter (in place of fermented soybeans or Black Bean Paste), honey, cider vinegar, garlic powder, garlic salt, brown sugar, sesame seed oil, sriracha, black pepper, and ground ginger.
This sauce is easy to make. Just add all the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until fully incorporated! You can add or eliminate seasonings to your liking.
If making homemade sauces is not your thing, buy bottled Hoisin Sauce. There are many delicious brands out there and surprisingly most don’t taste bottled and full of preservatives!
But if you love fresh sauces and love being able to control the flavor and seasonings, then give this sauce a try!
Uses for Hoisin Sauce
I use it for my stir-fry’s, lettuce wraps and as a dipping sauce for my Egg Rolls! This Hoisin Sauce is great as a meat marinade or as a glaze for meat!
This recipe makes about 3/4 cups Hoisin Sauce.
For some other delicious Asian Inspired recipes try my : Sweet and Sour Chicken, my Mongolian Chicken, Mongolian Beef and Broccoli, Firecracker Chicken, Easy Chicken Stir Fry, Chicken Broccoli Ramen Stir Fry and my Egg Rolls!
Here are some products I used to make this recipe!
“As an Amazon Associate I earn on qualifying purchases.”
Hoisin Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1/8 tsp sesame seed oil
- 1/2 tsp sriracha
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
- Mix/Whisk all of the ingredients together. (Whisk vigorously, as it takes a minute to completely blend.)
- This can be used for Lettuce Wraps, stir-frys, dipping sauce, basting meat and all types of Asian dishes.
- Store the Hoison Sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
