Hoisin sauce facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hoisin sauce |
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Deep-fried Jiaozi with hoisin sauce
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 海鮮醬 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 海鲜酱 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | seafood sauce | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese | tương đen | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | black sauce | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hoisin sauce is a thick, tasty sauce. It is often used in Chinese cuisine, especially Cantonese cuisine. People use it to add flavor to meat, in stir-fried dishes, or as a dipping sauce.
This sauce looks dark and tastes both sweet and salty. While different types exist, hoisin sauce usually contains soybeans, fennel, red chili peppers, and garlic. Other common ingredients are vinegar, five-spice powder, and sugar.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The word hoisin comes from Chinese words meaning "seafood" (simplified Chinese: 海鲜; traditional Chinese: 海鮮; pinyin: hǎixiān; Cantonese Yale: hói sīn). This might seem strange because the sauce does not contain any seafood. Also, it is not usually eaten with seafood.
The name actually means "seafood flavor." This is a common way to describe flavors in Chinese cooking. For example, Sichuanese food has a "fish fragrant" flavor, which also does not mean it contains fish.
What is Hoisin Sauce Made From?
The main ingredient in hoisin sauce is fermented soybean paste. This paste is made from soybeans that have been aged.
Other ingredients can include starches like sweet potato, wheat, or rice. Water, sugar, sesame seeds, white vinegar, salt, garlic, and red chili peppers are also common. Sometimes, preservatives or coloring agents are added. Traditionally, hoisin sauce is made using soybeans that have been toasted and mashed.
How Hoisin Sauce is Used
Hoisin sauce is used in many different ways across various cuisines. It adds a unique sweet and savory taste to dishes.
In Chinese Cooking
In Cantonese cuisine, hoisin sauce is often used as a marinade for meat. A marinade is a sauce that meat soaks in before cooking to add flavor. It is also a popular dipping sauce.
For example, you can use hoisin sauce to marinate meats like char siu, which is a type of Chinese barbecue pork. It is also a common dipping sauce for steamed or pan-fried rice noodle rolls (chángfĕn 肠粉).
In American Cooking
Hoisin sauce is also popular in American versions of Asian dishes. It is often served as a dipping sauce for Peking duck wraps. It is also used with lettuce wraps.
Another popular use is as a dipping sauce for moo shu pork. This is a dish with shredded pork and vegetables, often served with thin pancakes.
In Vietnamese Cooking
In Vietnamese, hoisin sauce is called tương đen, which means "black sauce." It is a very popular condiment for phở, a famous Vietnamese noodle soup. In southern Vietnam, people often add hoisin sauce directly to their bowl of phở at the table. They might also use it as a dip for the meat in phở dishes.
When used with phở, hoisin sauce is often served with Sriracha sauce or tương đỏ (red sauce). Hoisin sauce is also used to make a dipping sauce for Vietnamese gỏi cuốn (fresh spring rolls) and similar dishes. In cooking, it can be used to glaze broiled chicken, giving it a shiny, flavorful coating.
Images for kids
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Hoisin sauce on a Peking duck wrap
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Plain cheungfan with hoisin sauce and sesame seed sauce
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A robot friend.
See also
In Spanish: Salsa hoisin para niños
