It is noteworthy that Chinese hoisin sauce, the name of which literally translates as “gift of the sea,” does not contain any seafood. Most likely, this name was born thanks to the taste of the seasoning, as beautiful and limitless as the sea element.
If you decide to make hoisin sauce, the composition includes adzuki beans, garlic, ginger, and chili pepper. You will also need to stock up on Chinese spices, lemon and tangerine zest, rice vinegar, sesame oil and other spices. Finding the entire set of ingredients is not so easy! However, every exotic product has its own domestic counterpart. If desired, you can replace sesame oil with sunflower oil, use wine vinegar instead of rice vinegar, and red beans instead of adzuki. The only thing you have to “hunt” for is the Chinese five spices, because they give the seasoning a unique taste.
Hoisin sauce: homemade recipe
The process of preparing the sauce is simple. The main thing is to be able to find all its components. To prepare an adapted version of the seasoning, take: - 140 ml of soy sauce; - 400 g red beans; - 3 tbsp. l. black molasses; - 10 ml or 2 tbsp. l. wine vinegar; - 1 tsp. granulated sugar; - 1 clove of garlic: - a little soy paste; - 1 tbsp. l. sunflower oil, brown sugar and Five Spice.
The latter can be purchased at a Chinese grocery store, or you can prepare it yourself. To do this you need to take one cinnamon stick, 10 cloves, 1 tbsp. l. fennel seeds, 2 star anise (star anise), 1 tbsp. l. ginger (or Sichuan pepper). Thanks to these ingredients, the sauce will acquire a characteristic spicy taste. But the seasoning gets its unusual dark red hue by adding brown sugar, vinegar and black molasses. Ordinary honey will add variety and “floral notes,” while cloves and cinnamon will add warm tones.
Preparation technology: 1. Grind anise, heat in a hot frying pan along with cloves and fennel seeds until a lasting aroma appears.
2. Grind the resulting mixture with cinnamon. 3. Pour soy sauce into a container, add 1 tsp. soy paste. Add spices with sugar and wine vinegar. Heat until sugar is completely dissolved. 4. Peel the garlic, crush it, mix with chopped beans, add to the sauce. 5. Hoisin is served chilled. Thus, hoisin sauce is easy to prepare at home. Its production time is only 20 minutes. Preparing the ingredients requires minimal effort. It is noteworthy that even a young, inexperienced housewife can make this exotic dish.
Taste characteristics and composition
We owe the appearance and spread of this dressing to Chinese chefs - it was there that this wonderful recipe originated. The name in translation will sound like “seafood”, but you won’t find seafood in the composition! But you will be captivated by the rich taste of hoisin sauce - multifaceted, original and incredibly versatile.
Let's talk about the main characteristics of the gas station - in our market it is still a rather exotic product that not everyone has tried.
- The consistency is thick, homogeneous - reminiscent of paste or jam;
- The smell is rich – sweetish with spicy notes;
- The color is deep dark red;
- The taste is unusual - it combines sweet and spicy notes, a slight sourness. You can taste the garlic and pepper, soybeans.
Different cooks prepare hoisin dressing differently, so you can find variations in the sauce - thinner or thicker, with different notes in aroma or taste.
Hoisin sauce contains several ingredients that are found everywhere in China, but for us some of them are quite rare:
- Chilli;
- Adzuki soybeans;
- Garlic;
- Rice vinegar;
- Liquid dark honey;
- Sesame oil;
- Soy sauce;
- Five spice mixture.
The spice mixture found in Chinese hoisin sauce is sold in spice stores and large grocery chains - look for it in the appropriate section. If you couldn't find the coveted bag, you can make your own spice mixture - it's easy! You will need the following components:
- Cinnamon stick;
- 10 cloves;
- A tablespoon of fennel seeds;
- Two star anise;
- A tablespoon of ground ginger.
We also recommend: Grape vinegar
All ingredients need to be heated in a frying pan, then grind thoroughly. All that remains is to combine and mix. Ready!
Let's try to figure out how to make hoisin sauce yourself in your home kitchen - believe me, this is a completely feasible task.
Chinese Hoisin sauce: what dishes does it go with?
Traditionally, hoisin is served with Peking duck. Chinese chefs often add honey to the seasoning and coat the poultry with it. The result is a real masterpiece - duck with a golden-brown, crispy crust. Tender, nourishing, appetizing meat is obtained by marinating kebab in hoisin sauce. American housewives practice it with barbecue, but in Vietnam the aromatic sauce is served with chicken noodles.
There are many versions of the famous sauce, but only the Chinese version has a truly enchanting subtle taste.
Video recipe for making Chinese Hoisin sauce (girl)
The benefits and harms of hoisin sauce
The benefits and harms of hoisin sauce
An absolutely logical question: is this product healthy or harmful? Now we are all trying to eat at least a little correctly, and avoid harmful foods on our family table. So, what benefit or harm can haisin sauce bring?
Let's start with the benefits, there are many of them. The Chinese love healthy foods and live to a ripe old age; they are fans of healthy food, so they won’t offer anything bad. Indeed, look: hoisin sauce contains a sea of beta-carotene, calcium, potassium, zinc, magnesium, a lot of iron, vitamins PP, B1, B2, B5, B6, B9. K, E, a lot of vitamin C, manganese, sodium, phosphorus. The product contains many essential amino acids, complex compounds of microelements, and antioxidants. This product is useful at any time of the year, especially between seasons, as its components have a beneficial effect on the immune system, improve mood, and help prevent viruses. The sauce improves vision, the gastrointestinal tract, the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
But, like any healthy product, hoisin sauce is good in moderation. There is a lot of vinegar in it, and it is useful only in modest doses. Excess acetic acid negatively affects the gastrointestinal tract and is not allowed for people with ulcers or hyperacidity. If you suffer from heartburn, this product will also be too acidic for you. There is not much sugar in the sauce, and soy sauce is used instead of salt, so you don’t have to worry too much about this. But you should still consume it in moderate doses, then you will be extremely healthy!
As for calories, they are also few, especially if you are not going to eat hoisin with a spoon, snacking on white bread. So it won’t interfere with your diet, and it certainly won’t add extra centimeters. But remember: the salty-spicy taste of the sauce improves your appetite, so after it you can eat more at lunch than usual.
Hoisin sauce: a classic recipe
This seasoning has a spicy, spicy taste and goes well with chicken, turkey, and duck. For cooking you will need: - chili pepper - 1 pc.; - adzuki beans - 3 tbsp. l.; - garlic - 2 cloves; - rice vinegar - 2 tbsp. l.; - honey (liquid, dark) - 1 tbsp. l.; - sesame oil - 1 tbsp. l.; - soy sauce - 3 tbsp. l.; - 0.5 tsp. Five spice mixture. Preparation technology: 1. Peel and grind the garlic. 2. Peel the chili from seeds and membranes, cut in half, chop one half with garlic and adzuki. 3. Pour in honey, add vinegar with soy sauce and sesame oil. 4. Add spices, hoisin sauce - ready!
Lifehack for housewives! To better reveal the aroma of seasonings, you need to heat them in a hot frying pan.
It is better to use gloves when chopping chili peppers and garlic to avoid damaging the skin of your hands.
You can melt honey to a liquid consistency if you preheat it in a steam bath.
Compound
Hoisin sauce is made from:
- fermented soybean paste;
- garlic;
- vinegar;
- sesame oil;
- chili pepper;
- sweetener.
Prepared without animal products and therefore suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
Store-bought sauces contain preservatives, flavor enhancers, stabilizers and coloring agents. Wheat or potato starch is often added to them to give them a thick, sticky texture.
How to prepare sauce for Peking duck?
There are many recipes for cooking duck, but Peking duck is considered a recognized delicacy. It began to be prepared back in the 14th century at the imperial court, then the dish became more democratic. The Chinese fried it in closed ovens or cooked it over open fires. They also invented a homemade version of preparing this masterpiece.
Delicious duck: hoisin and the subtleties of its preparation for poultry
For the dish, take: - 200 ml hoisin; - 50 ml soy sauce; - 1 tsp. honey; - 1 clove of garlic; - 1 tsp each rice wine and ground ginger.
Preparation technology: 1. Pour hoisin with honey into a medium-sized container and heat over low heat. 2. Add rice wine, soy sauce, a little ginger and garlic to the mixture. Boil. Boil three times over low heat. 3. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for several days.
What is hoisin sauce and what is it eaten with?
Hoisin (huasin) is a thick, flavorful sauce made from fermented soybean paste and spices. It is dark in color and tastes sweet and salty. Most often found in Southern Chinese and Vietnamese cooking.
“Hoisin” is translated from Chinese as “seafood”, but it does not contain any. The sauce is called so because it was intended as an addition to seafood dishes.
It is commonly used as a glaze for meat, served with spring rolls, Peking duck (because of this, hoisin is often called Peking sauce), french fries, added to wok noodles and pho soups.
What does hoisin look like - photo
The sauce is red-brown in color and has a viscous consistency.
How to make hoisin sauce for shrimp
The universal Chinese seasoning is prepared for juicy chicken and tender pork, but a particularly tasty dish is obtained if you season rice noodles with shrimp with it. For the dish, take: - 400 g of rice noodles; - 3 tbsp. l. soybean paste, sesame oil, rice vinegar;
- 2 tbsp. l. brown sugar; - 1 tbsp. l. garlic and ginger paste; - 50 ml hoisin; — 1 kg of shrimp; - 2 sweet peppers; - 1 carrot; - green onions; - 60 g peas.
Cooking technology: 1. Dip the noodles in heated water for ten minutes, stir. 2. Wash and chop the vegetables. Clean the shrimp. 3. Stir soybean paste with sesame oil, vinegar, hoisin, granulated sugar, garlic and ginger pastes. Dilute with water (1 tbsp.). 4. Heat a deep round frying pan and fry the shrimp in oil until pink. 5. Remove the shrimp, fry the noodles for three minutes, and then the vegetables for two minutes. 6. Stir in noodles and add sauce. 7. Serve warm; you can use onions for decoration.
Hoisin with orange juice
You can prepare the famous Chinese sauce with the addition of orange juice. This recipe encourages you not to rack your brains over what can replace rice vinegar. You can use a common table product in a 5% concentration.
Ingredients:
- soy sauce - eight tablespoons;
- chili sauce – forty drops;
- 5 percent vinegar - four teaspoons;
- garlic powder - a quarter teaspoon;
- orange juice - two tablespoons;
- honey (liquid) – two tablespoons.
Cooking method.
Place all ingredients in a mixer bowl and beat until completely smooth.
Pork with hoisin sauce
A win-win option for welcoming guests is pork with vegetables with hoisin sauce. The dish is prepared quickly, the main thing is to stock up on the necessary ingredients in advance. Ingredients of the dish: - 500 g pork neck; - 150 g mushrooms; - 1 sweet pepper; - 150 g sweet peas; - zucchini; - 1 orange; - hoisin; - 2 pcs. Luke; - peanuts; - 2 tbsp. l. ginger juice.
Cooking technology: 1. Wash the pork, cut into pieces (large), fry in oil. Transfer to a plate. 2. Peel the vegetables and slice thinly. Mushrooms - large, zucchini - thin stripes, onions - cubes. 3. Fry the mushrooms, then add all the other vegetables and fry for another three minutes. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. 4. Squeeze orange juice, mix with hoisin and ginger juice. Add to vegetables. Stir. 5. Add meat. Fry well until done. Sprinkle with herbs on top and serve.
As you can see, hoisin sauce goes well with meat and game. Experiment, and the “melody” of your favorite dishes will take on a new, vibrant sound.
Video recipe for making Chinese Hoisin sauce (guy)