Hoisin Jeong in Cantonese, or haixian jiang in Mandarin, means seafood sauce. Hoi or hai means sea and sin or xian is fresh. The two Chinese characters combined, hoisin or haixian, has the connotation of delicious fresh seafood.
However, there is no seafood ingredient in Hoisin Sauce. According to the label on my favorite brand as shown in photo, it’s a blend of soy bean paste, garlic, sesame seed paste and sugar. Hoisin Sauce has a red tinge to it. It is more known by its Cantonese name.
Use combined with other pastes for stir fry, braising or roasting pork. This Cantonese sweet sauce may also be used on its own as a condiment or accompaniment. I mix it with water and use it in lettuce wraps and over fried noodles or steamed rice noodles, Chee Cheong Fun.
To make a quick dipping sauce, blend 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce with 2-3 tablespoons of boiled water. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and stir to combine.
Hoisin sauce is found in most Asian supermarkets, and also in some mainstream supermarkets.
