Hoisin Sauce (Better than Store-Bought)
- PREP 5min
- COOK 10min
- TOTAL 15min
Hoisin sauce is a thick, flavorful condiment popular in Chinese cuisine, particularly Cantonese cooking. It’s added to stir-fries, marinades, and glazes (think Peking duck!). I find store-bought hoisin sauce too sweet, salty, and thick. Once you try this homemade hoisin sauce recipe, you’ll never need to buy it from the store again.
You Will Need
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
One 1-inch thumb-size piece fresh ginger, finely minced or grated
2 green onions, whites and light green parts only, finely minced
5 tablespoons (65g) light tamari or light soy sauce, plus more to taste
5 tablespoons (65g) pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons (30g) molasses
1 tablespoon (20g) peanut butter, try homemade peanut butter
1 ½ teaspoons Gochujang, see notes
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice, see notes
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
Directions
Heat sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and green onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Set the saucepan aside to cool.
Stir in soy sauce, maple syrup, molasses, peanut butter, Gochujang, rice wine vinegar, and the Chinese Five Spice. Return the saucepan to medium heat and, while stirring, slowly bring to a simmer. Taste the sauce and adjust with 1/2 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon of soy sauce if necessary.
Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch with 2 teaspoons water. Whisk the slurry into the sauce. As it simmers, the sauce will thicken. Once thickened, remove it from the heat and let it cool. Refrigerate homemade hoisin sauce for up to one month.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Gochujang: Gochujang is a spicy Korean condiment made with rice and fermented soybeans. Substitute miso paste, and if you’d like to add some spice, add a dash or two of hot sauce or chili paste like sambal oelek.
- Adjusting to your taste: Feel free to adjust the spice level, saltiness, and sweetness to your taste. I love the heat from Gochujang, but you can substitute it with miso paste if you’d prefer.
- Thickness of the sauce: I like to keep this on the thinner side, which makes it more saucy when tossing it into stir-fries or slathering it over ribs. Increase the cornstarch for a thicker sauce.
- Gluten-free: Double check that all products are labeled gluten-free (especially the soy sauce or tamari) for gluten-free hoisin sauce.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.