Authentic Hoisin Sauce
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Potently flavorful and fragrant, this is a central ingredient in many Chinese dishes and will work absolute MIRACLES for the foods you add it to! Drizzle this homemade hoisin sauce over rice, stir-fries, noodles, burgers, use it as a dipping sauce, and more. Made from scratch with an unrivaled depth of flavor that will “wow” your taste buds, look no further for the BEST hoisin sauce recipe!
What is Hoisin Sauce?
Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark, fragrant and flavorful sauce that is commonly used as a dipping sauce, a glaze for meats and added to stir fries. It balances both sweet, tangy and salty flavors and contributes an intense umami element to whatever food it’s added to. Although the name hoisin is Chinese for “seafood” it does not contain any seafood, rather the name likely refers to the fact that the sauce is a common accompaniment for seafood.
As with most things, store-bought hoisin sauce doesn’t even begin to compare to homemade. The flavor and potency of this authentic homemade hoisin sauce will absolutely wow your taste buds!
Hoisin Sauce Key Ingredients
You’ll find a lot of recipes online for hoisin sauce calling for things like peanut butter and molasses – neither of those belong in hoisin sauce and do not remotely resemble the right flavor. Leave those two items on the shelf and instead grab the two key ingredients you’ll need to make the real deal: Chinese Five Spice and Black Bean Sauce. You can find Chinese five spice in the spice section of most grocery stores. The black bean sauce may be a little more challenging to find. However in both cases we HIGHLY recommend making your own anyway in order to achieve the absolute BEST flavor results. Black bean sauce is a key ingredient to the best Chinese food, so you’ll want the ingredients on hand to make that anyway.
So now all you have to do is combine the Chinese five spice powder with the black bean sauce and a few other ingredients and you’ve got the best homemade hoisin sauce ever!
Can I Make This Sugar Free?
Yes! While there still be a little bit of sugar from the prunes, you can make this sauce low sugar by using a brown sugar alternative like Sukrin Gold.
Hoisin Sauce Recipe
Let’s get started!
There are just two steps to make this sauce:
- Place all the ingredients in a blender
- Puree until smooth.
That’s all there’s to it!
Pour the sauce into a glass jar with a lid and store it in the refrigerator.
It will keep for about a week.
You can also freeze this for up to 3 months if you have more than you’re able to use or if you want to make a larger batch to conveniently have on hand whenever you need it.
Ways to Use Hoisin Sauce
Think of hoisin sauce as an incredible all-purpose condiment. It has so many uses and will add depth, flavor and umami to a wide variety of dishes. Here are just a few ways you can use it:
- In stir-fries and on noodles, like our Shanghai noodles
- Slathered on chicken, pork, ribs, duck or tofu and baked or grilled
- Added to steamed and grilled veggies
- In marinades, vinaigrettes and bbq sauce
- A general substitute for ketchup
- A new twist for meatloaf
- Slathered on burgers, like our Shanghai burgers
- For pulled pork or pulled chicken
- Added to soup broths for a great flavor
- The base sauce for Chinese-style pizza
- Added to mayo for a Chinese twist on fry sauce
- As a dipping sauce for Chinese dumplings, egg rolls, wontons, chicken nuggets, etc.
For more phenomenal Asian sauces, be sure to try my:
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Yum Yum Sauce
- Plum Sauce
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Eel Sauce
- Kecap Manis
- Sweet Chili Sauce
- Ponzu Sauce
- Chili Oil
- Char Siu Sauce
- Ginger Sauce
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Authentic Hoisin Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- or alternative brown sugar (for low sugar option)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons Homemade Chinese Black Bean Sauce
- or use store-bought Chinese Black Bean Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 4 prunes
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Homemade Chinese Five Spice Powder (strongly recommended)
- or use store-bought five spice powder
- pinch of red pepper flakes or dash of sriracha sauce , optional for some heat
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Store in the fridge in a non-reactive airtight container. Chill overnight or preferable 24 hours before using. Will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet on April 26, 2016
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Where did the version with prunes go. The above mentioned it, and I’ve used it many times because it was absolutely incredible, but now there’s no link to it?
Hi Rebecca, I’m not sure I understand your question. This hoisin sauce does call for prunes. Are you referring to something else?
For reasons unknown, the gods of the internet randomly deleted prunes as an ingredient in your wonderful recipe!
I looked it over multiple times. Was there a different recipe because clearly, no prunes.
Handed my phone to a friend, and after several tries, she couldn’t find it either. (I was wondering if I was losing my mind!) hence wgat must have seemed an odd email question,
But today? It’s back!
btw, this recipe, your black bean sauce recipe and your char siu sauce are hands down the best versions of all three I’ve ever tasted, and I trained under a chinese chef!
Haha! I promise I didn’t change anything, but I’m also no match for the gods of the internet and their impish pranks, lol! Thanks so much for the compliment, Rebecca, I’m thrilled that you made and enjoyed the sauces!
Absolutely terrific hoisin sauce and very authentic tasting!
Fantastic, thank you so much Danielle!
Made your hoisin sauce, easy to make, delicious to taste love it.
Thank you so much, Dave, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed it!
I made your black bean sauce and then used it to make this hoisin sauce and omg the flavor is amazing! There is nothing from the store even comes close to the flavor of these homemade sauce.
That’s fantastic, Lorraina, I’m so glad you enjoyed them, thank you!
This is hands down the best hoisin sauce I’ve had, and that’s comparing it to a few recipes I’ve tried as well as a few different store-bought brands. There is no comparison in flavor, THIS IS IT. Look no further.
That’s fantastic, thank you so much Trenton!
This beats anything at the store! So flavorful and delicious!
Thank you so much, Brian!
Made this along with Chinese Five Spice recipe in pursuit of Hoisin Sauce recipe. All are superb!
This Black Bean Sauce is a keeper, and made for excellent Five Spice and Hoisin. Made as directed in all cases. We will back down on the star anise in the future but no demerits for that. Excellent!
Thank you so much, John, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed it and appreciate the feedback!
This is my go to hoisin sauce recipe. But instead of prunes I use dates and soak them in the hot water before blending. Only use dates as always have fresh in the pantry as a snack and never buy prunes. I may try too see what the taste difference is !?
Awesome, thank you so much, Steph and thanks also for the feedback about the dates!