Hoisin sauce is a central ingredient in many Chinese dishes, but it’s one of those things you may not always have on hand. Fortunately, not only is it easy to make yourself, this hoisin sauce recipe is also very authentic and tastes WAY better than store-bought. Quite simply, there is no comparison!
After some experimenting, I’ve finally cracked the case for the ultimate hoisin sauce!
Hoisin sauce and Chinese food – the two go hand in hand. And if you’re like me there have been too many times when you wanted to make a Chinese dish, scanned the ingredients, and realized you didn’t have any hoisin sauce. And unless you have a Chinese store right around the corner it’s not like you can simply jump in the car and go grab some. Some grocery stores with really well-stocked Asian sections carry it, but most don’t. So you either have to get it at an Asian grocery store (if you have one locally) or order it online (and pay a premium).
For Authentic Hoisin Sauce You Need the Right Ingredients
That said, making good hoisin sauce isn’t simply a matter of grabbing commonly stocked ingredients from your pantry (unless your pantry is less than common). Most of the ingredients in this you’ll readily have on hand, but are there a few you’ll have to make it a point to stock if you want to be able to make hoisin sauce on a whim.
What Are the Key Ingredients to Making Authentic Hoisin Sauce?
You’ll need Chinese five spice powder and black bean sauce (aka black bean paste or black bean garlic paste – and no, black bean paste is not made out of black beans, it’s made out of fermented soy beans. See my recipe for black bean sauce. Also, 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.). You simply cannot make proper hoisin sauce without these ingredients. You can find Chinese Five Spice in the spice section of most grocery stores. However, like hoisin sauce, the black bean sauce may be a little more challenging to find. And in both cases, the store-bought stuff just isn’t nearly as good as homemade.
I’m telling you, just like our Best Homemade Teriyaki Sauce, there simply is no comparison.
Fortunately, I’ve got ALL your bases covered!
Below are the homemade versions for everything you’ll need to make THE best hoisin sauce!
Homemade Chinese Five Spice Powder (nothing compares to the flavor of freshly ground spice blends!)
Homemade Black Bean Sauce (this stuff is the BEST!)
Black bean sauce is a key ingredient to the best Chinese food, so you’ll want the ingredients on hand to make that anyway (of course you can also use store-bought black bean sauce as well. But honestly, this black bean sauce is seriously the best stuff!)
So now you just combine the Chinese five spice powder with the black bean sauce and a few other ingredients and you’ve got the most amazing hoisin sauce ever!
How Do I Use Hoisin Sauce?
Hoisin sauce is kind of all-purpose condiment. Here are just a few ways to use it:
- In stir-fries
- In noodles
- Slathered on chicken, pork, ribs, duck or tofu and baked or grilled
- Added to veggies
- Marinades
- Vinaigrettes
- Barbecue sauces
- A general substitute for ketchup
- A new twist for meatloaf
- Slathered on 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
- As a dipping sauce for Chinese dumplings, eggrolls, wontons, chicken nuggets, etc.
It’s just plain awesome stuff!
BEFORE WE GET TO THE RECIPE,
DON’T FORGET TO TRY THESE OTHER GREAT CHINESE CONDIMENTS!
Homemade Chinese Plum Sauce (Duck Sauce)
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
LET’S GET STARTED!
Get ready, this is pretty labor intensive and time-consuming:
Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Yep, that’s it, you’re done!
*NOTE: We’re adding a few prunes for sweetness and texture. However, hoisin sauce is not the same thing as plum sauce. Get the recipe for the BEST Authentic Chinese Plum Sauce.
Store the hoisin sauce in the fridge in a non-reactive airtight container for at least a week.
The BEST Homemade Hoisin Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons Homemade Chinese Black Bean Sauce
- OR use store-bought Chinese Black Bean Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 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
- If you prefer a little heat add some red chilies or sriracha to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Store in the fridge in a non-reactive airtight container. Will keep for at least a week.
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R says
Hi there, sounds great! What could be substituted for the prunes, if anything?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi, you can use either raisins, dates or dried apricots.
E says
Thank you! Sorry, one more question: what is the serving size for the nutritional values listed? Trying to figure out how the sugar/carb content stacks up against a commercial mix.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
No problem! A serving is one tablespoon.
David Lever says
I’ve made this sauce a couple of times now. So much more subtle than the bought stuff, and was greatly improved by making fresh 5 spice powder and with the addition of Belazu Harissa.
Solveig says
Hi Kimberly!
I see that this recipe is for approx 14 servings (tbsp). I am making a sort of crispy duck in pancakes-dish and want to try to make this sauce. We’ll be 10 adults eating.
How many servings hoisin sauce would you recommend? Meaning – by which factor will I need to multiply this recipe?
I have never made the dish itself before, so I don’t even know how much sauce you would use for 1 pancake, nor how many pancakes per person – but thats a different problem. (Perhaps not the best idea to try when having my boyfriends family and mine meet for the first time!)
Also, how many tablespoons are in your black bean sauce recipe? It says 1 cup/18 servings, does that mean 18 tbsp?
Being european the cup-measurements got me all confused.
Thanks in advance, can’t wait to try it!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Solveig, the crispy duck pancakes sound fabulous. The hoisin sauce makes approx 14 tablespoons. I don’t know how you’re planning on serving the hoisin sauce but if it’s to spread on the pancakes then you probably wouldn’t use a whole tablespoon per pancake. If you’re serving one pancake per person then one batch of hoisin will be more than enough. If you’re serving more than that then you might want to double the hoisin recipe just to be safe.
Yes, the black bean sauce makes a little more than a cup, roughly 18 tablespoons, give or take. If you’re making the black bean sauce in order to make the hoisin sauce then one batch of that is all you’ll need in order to make a double batch of hoisin (6 tablespoons total). If you’re serving the black bean sauce separately, on the side, then the same thing applies as the hoisin sauce – it just depends on how much you’ll need per person.