Can someone tell me what Hoi Sin is please?

Answer 1

Hoi Sin is a kind of Chinese bean paste sauce. It is made from fermented yellow beans that are seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, salt, chilli, garlic and sesame oil. Flour is added as a thickening agent and the resultant "sauce" is more closely akin to a paste in consistency. Many versions also contain red food colouring, meaning hoi sin can vary in colour anywhere between deep brown to almost black.

The Mandarin word, haixian and the Cantonese hoisin both translate as sea-delicious, which is a little odd, as there is no seafood products in the sauce, and due to its pungent flavour is rarely used in fish dishes. The Szechwan term for this sauce is yuxiang, or fish-flavour, further compounding the issue. Perhaps the lingeringly complex salty flavour is comparable to salt water flavours. Although the Cantonese name is hoisin, the sauce is often sold in the west as "hoi sin", but they are exactly the same product.

Hoi sin is an extremely versatile sauce, finding a place in not only the Chinese kitchen, but as a table condiment as well. One of the common names for hoi sin is barbecue sauce, due to the inclusion of hoi sin in many Chinese BBQ marinades. Hoi sin sauce can also be used sparingly in stir fries, as not only a flavour enhancer but a thickening agent as well. Many Chinese BBQ dishes arrive at the table with a small bowl of hoi sin for dipping. The world famous dish, Peking duck uses a special sauce in its first course, wrapped up inside a mandarin pancake. This sauce, Tian Mian Jiang is virtually unknown outside of China, so hoi sin is often used as an incorrect, but tasty alternative.

The flavour of hoi sin is unmistakably pungent. Its beauty lies with the seamless harmony in which the separate flavour elements are brought together. Pungent garlic, the slow sting of chilli, a tantalizing background sweetness, all layered upon the deep mysterious flavour of the yellow bean base. As with many Asian condiments, quality varies markedly between manufacturers. Try to purchase a hoi sin sauce made in Mainland China or Taiwan. Lee Kum Kee brand is particularly reliable.

Answer 2

Hoi Sin is a pretty awesome tasting chinese barbeque sauce. If ur tryin to figure out how to use it, try this:
3 or 4 tablespoons of Hoi Sin
1 teaspoon crushed Garlic
1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce
Cracked Black Pepper to taste
Hot Water, to thin out marinade

Thin out marinade until it is the consistency of thin custard, allow to cool before placing chicken into marinade.Marinate strips of raw chicken, either tenderloin strips or breasts cut into strips or diced. At least for a couple of hours in the fridge in a sealed container. U can either cook the chicken in a fry pan or on the barbeque, individually or as kebabs. It makes great finger food for a party or as an accompaniment for fried rice.Good luck, have fun cookin this (if u like) n try adjusting amounts of ingredients to suit ur particular tastes. My two yr old daughter loves this recipe with home made fried rice.

Answer 3

It is Cantonese, means "Seafood",

Hoi = sea
Sin = fresh

The answers up there refered "Hoi Sin Sauce/Paste", that we serve Peking Duck or Roasted Baby Pig with or we use it very often as marinade of meat. Sometimes, we serve boiled / steamed seafood (usaully the shellfish) with soy sauce or Hoi Sin paste to serve, it also known as sweet bean paste (dark brown in colour).

Answer 4

Its a marinade for meat recipes from china

4 T Soy sauce,(usual/dark/light)
2 T Peanut butter/black bean paste
1 T Honey/molasses/white or dark sugar
2 t White vinegar
1/8 t Garlic powder
2 t Sesame seed oil
20 dr Chinese-style hot sauce, habanero, jalapeno
1/8 t Pepper

Answer 5

Hoisin is a chinese sauce.
It is an ancient sauce (3000 years old) made with rice vinegar, sugar, soy beans and herbs and spices. It is great as a marinade for meats or to serve the sauce in company of meats.
It is also used as a flavour base to many different chinese and asian foods. Have you ever had Mongolian Beef? Mmmm.

Answer 6

It is a dark brown sauce (almost a paste) that is simultaneously sweet and salty and is used primarily in Chinese cooking: Peking Duck, Moo Shu Pork.....

The primary ingredients are sugar, soybeans, salt, sweet potato, sesame seeds, garlic and chili pepper.

For those who are wheat/gluten-free be warned: this product contains wheat flour.

For purchasing, it is common enough that you SHOULD be able to find it in the "international" section of your larger chain grocery store. Obviously, you could find this sauce at an asian market as well.

Answer 7

its a sauce that the chinese use like the americans use ketchup, they put it on everything. The next time your having chicken noodle soup put a few drops in it and see if you like the flavor. If you do you will find yourself adding it to quite a few things just for a taste change.

Answer 8

its a lovely chinese sauce which tastes like a mix of plums and soy sauce

heavenly with duck, i serve it as a dip for duck parcels which are simply bits of duck mixed with some spring onions and a little soy sauce, wrapped in filo pastry and fried until crispy - yummy!

Answer 9

it's a chinese sauce, made by a blend of spices and soya beans. Its usually used as a marinate for BBQs and can be used as a dipping sauce.

Answer 10

Try a new kind of soy sauce? Kikoman, tamari and toyomansi are my favorites :)