Sweet Hoisin Sauce; Three Recipes (Paid Partnership with Lee Kum Kee)

What do you associate hoisin sauce with? For me, it’s duck and pancakes and summer roll dipping sauces. I love it with rich meat and I love it with peanut - it's sweet and it's intensely savoury. 

The name “Hoisin” has so many interpretations, and one of the most popular is that the sauce was originally often paired with seafood, which is called “Hoisin” in Cantonese. It originated from the south of China and has a savoury soy-bean base, with a hint of sweetness and spice.

 

I’ve been using Lee Kum Kee sauces for as long as I’ve been cooking Chinese food, so when they asked me to develop some recipes for them, I had a lot of fun thinking of ways to use their new Sweet Hoisin Sauce. It is made from soybeans, sesame seeds and sweet potatoes - perfect for dipping, dressing and stir frying. I always prefer dishes you can share, that everyone can help themselves to - it’s the most Cantonese way of eating. Hands coming in at all angles, lazy Susans swinging round for chopsticks to pluck at dishes was the way I grew up around the dinner table. 

My first recipe is the Sweet Hoisin Roasted Cauliflower with Lettuce Cups. It’s a riff on the Cantonese Sang Choi Bao and I love the combination of charred, sticky cauliflower with the freshness of lettuce and a drizzle of rich peanut dressing.  Glazed with Lee Kum Kee’s Sweet Hoisin Sauce, the cauliflower is piled into lettuce cups with glass noodles.  I’ve also used their Seasoned Rice Vinegar, made from Zhenjiang vinegar which can be used on its own as a dipping sauce or in recipes to give some tang. This is a great DIY dinner, perfect for sharing. 

Serves: 4 

 

Prep time: 10 mins

 

Cook time: 25 mins

 

Ingredients: 

·       1 large cauliflower, broken into even sized florets

·       2 tbsp cooking oil

·       4 tbsp smooth peanut butter

·       2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Seasoned Rice Vinegar

·       100ml boiled water

·       1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chilli Garlic Sauce

·       120g Lee Kum Kee Sweet Hoisin Sauce

·       2 cloves of garlic, minced

·       100ml water

·       2 spring onions, sliced finely

·       1 cucumber, top, tailed and halved, and sliced thinly into 4cm lengths

·       Pickled red chillies 

·       140g dry weight glass noodles, cooked as per packet instructions

·       1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil

·       2 heads of Little Gem lettuce, leaves kept whole but separated

 

Method:

1.     Preheat oven to 220°C / 200C fan / gas mark 7. Line a tray with baking paper, add the cauliflower and drizzle with oil. Toss with your hands and roast for 15 minutes.

2.     Mix the smooth peanut butter with the Lee Kum Kee Seasoned Rice Vinegar and slowly add 100ml boiling water, stirring it thoroughly until you get to the consistency of double cream. You may not need all the water. Set aside.

3.     Mix the Lee Kum Kee Chilli Garlic Sauce, Sweet Hoisin Sauce, garlic, and water together. Toss in the cauliflower and return to the oven, turning it down to 200°C / 180°C fan / gas mark 6 and roast for a further 10 minutes. 

4.     Remove cauliflower from the oven, garnish with spring onions and serve with cucumbers, peanut sauce, pickled chillies, glass noodles tossed with sesame oil and lettuce leaves.

 

Sweet Hoisin Chicken Wings with Picked Red Chilli; These chicken wings combine my two must-have aspects of a decent wing; a crisp bite, and a sticky glaze. They’re cooked in the oven for ease and are even better than fried. I used Lee Kum Kee’s new Sweet Hoisin Sauce for the ultimate balance of sweet, savoury and tangy. This sauce uses a mix of spices, soybeans, sesame seeds and sweet potatoes to create a savoury sauce with a hint of sweetness and spice.

Serves: 4

 

Prep time: 10 mins

 

Cook time: 40 mins

 

Ingredients: 

 

·       1kg free-range chicken wings, jointed and wing tips removed

·       120g self-raising flour

·       2 tbsp baking powder

·       Egg fried rice

·       Cucumber 

 

Marinate

 

·       3 long red chillies, sliced into rings

·       2 tbsp rice vinegar

·       A pinch of sugar

·       A large pinch of salt

 

Sauce Mix:

·       120g Lee Kum Kee Sweet Hoisin Sauce

·       2 tbsp tomato puree

·       80g unsalted butter

·       2 cloves garlic, peeled & minced

·       1.5 tbsp rice vinegar

 

Method:

1.     Preheat the oven to 230°C / 210°C fan / gas mark 8.

2.     Mix the chillis with 2 tbsp vinegar, sugar and salt. 

3.     Add the flour and baking powder to a large bowl, add the chicken wings and toss well until coated.

4.     Place the chicken wings on a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving a space between each. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the pieces over and bake for another 20 minutes.

5.     Meanwhile, add all sauce mix to a saucepan. Place on a medium heat and stir every 30 seconds until the butter has fully melted and incorporated into the sauce. Bubble gently for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.

6.     When the wings are ready, place them into a large mixing bowl. Add the sauce incrementally, tossing the wings in between, until they are glossy and glazed. Drain, then spoon the pickled red chillies over the wings. Serve with egg fried rice and a cucumber salad.

These Pork and chive moneybags with Sweet Hoisin dip make a quick and easy starter or canape. Lee Kum Kee’s Sweet Hoisin Sauce can be used in so many ways –  and these moneybags are especially good during celebrations, as their gold pot symbolism will ensure you eternal wealth. Rope in someone with some dexterity to tie those chives 😉

 

Serves: 4 as a starter / canapé 

 

Prep time: 30 mins

 

Cook time: 12 mins

 

Ingredients: 

·       190g minced pork

·       2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

·       1 spring onion, sliced finely

·       3cm ginger, peeled and minced

·       4 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and diced finely

·       1 carrot, peeled and diced

·       A large pinch of white pepper

·       A pinch of sugar

·       1 Tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce

·       1 packet of filo pastry

·       1 packet of chives 

·       50g unsalted butter, melted

·       4 Tbsp Lee Kum Kee Sweet Hoisin Sauce

·       1 Tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chilli Garlic Sauce

·       4 Tbsp water

·       1 Tbsp rice vinegar

 

Method:

1.     Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas mark 4.

2.     Mix together the pork, 2 cloves of garlic, spring onion, ginger, mushrooms, carrot, white pepper, sugar and Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce.

3.     Cut a sheet of filo pastry into eight 10cm x 10cm squares. Brush four squares with the melted butter and lay the other four squares on top of each offset in a diamond shape.

4.     Add 2 tsp of mixture in the middle of the pastry. Gather the opposite edges together, until they’re bunched. Tie with a chive and place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Repeat with the remaining filo pastry and mixture aiming for 16. 

5.     Brush the outsides of the filo pastry with melted butter and bake for 12 minutes, until golden.

6.     Mix together the Lee Kum Kee Sweet Hoisin Sauce, Chilli Garlic Sauce, water and rice vinegar and spoon into a dipping bowl to serve. 

 

Lee Kum Kee’s Sweet Hoisin Sauce is available at Tesco.

 

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