Chef Jose Mier and the Sublime Taste of Hoisin
One of the best things that ever happened in my life is that my mother, who had never cooked try her to getting married, decided to take a Chinese cooking class after I was born. I remember tasting her sweet and sour pork when I was two or three years old and it was as if the heavens opened in a bright light shone down on me. This was some of the greatest food I had ever had.
Of course over the next few years my mother would make many more Chinese and Japanese recipes for us to try. This exposed me to even more Asian flavors and one thing in particular made its mark on my taste buds forever. That’s hoisin sauce.
If you’ve never tasted hoisin sauce you’re in for a treat. It is at the same time tangy, sweet salty and spicy. If you’ve ever had Mu Shu chicken or Peking Duck you know that hoisin sauce adds that extra touch of perfection to both dishes. As you know from my José Mier post about Chinese spareribs I adore the flavor. With apologies to Texas, the flavor of hoisin sauce is what puts Chinese spareribs a notch above regular barbecued meats for me.
Yes you can easily buy hosin sauce did any grocery store. But this site is all about the most delicious foods around and making things the best that they can be. That’s why I recommend making hoisin sauce yourself whenever possible. The Daring Gourmet is a website about food and they have a great recipe for hoisin sauce that you can make yourself–in fact they urge you to make your own Black bean sauce, the basis for hoisin sauce, and your own five spice powder.
Five spice powder is another key Chinese ingredients that I go crazy about. But don’t get me started on that. Let’s just say I’m in love with many different Chinese flavors.
The ingredients for your homemade poison sauce include: dark brown sugar, black bean sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, prunes, sesame oil and five spice powder. There’s something about homemade and the freshness of the ingredients you use. The same could go for anything that I talk about on these pages.
There are other recipes online and you can try anyone of them and see which one you like best. I do like the Daring Gourmet recipes a lot. I’m also including a video to show you visually how to create hoisin sauce. Once you have it use it in any Chinese recipe that calls for it. I recommend trying your own Mu Shu chicken or, if you’re daring, your own Peking duck. Whatever you choose your going to love this homemade hoisin sauce.
If you’re in my area you’ll be looking for the best and closest Asian food market you Get the ingredients you need if you’re going to make everything yourself. Unfortunately for me in Sun Valley, California there is no handy Chinese market but it just a short distance away I can find the 99 Ranch Market at 6450 Sepulveda Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91411. They have all the ingredients I need to whip up my own hoisin sauce, which I should do very soon.
