Talk:Hoisin sauce

healing potential, fedal asprin???
first of all no link cited for this and what is a "fedal asprin"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Reliefappearance (talk • contribs) 21:49, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Hoisin vs Hoi Sin
What is the correct name of this sauce? Google Fight gives hoisin a clear victory over "hoi sin", but that doesn't mean it's correct. Any help on this issue is most appreciated. &#8594;Vik Reykja 04:09, 18 May 2005 (UTC)


 * As a romanisation of a Cantonese word, there is no "correct" English spelling. The OED gives it as "hoisin sauce", as does Merriam Webster, but that does not in any way make "hoi sin" any less correct. Both are correctly romanised English renditions of Cantonese. --Pomax 17:20, 14 April 2017 (UTC-8)

More dipping
Hoisin is also the usual dipping sauce of Moo Shu Pork (Chicken, etc.)

Hoisin Sauce also known as Plum Sauce...?
I don't know anyone who's ever made this mistake. Restaurant menus distinguish between the two readily where I live (Scotland.) Is this a US thing? Nach0king 19:38, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Hoisin sauce originated in China
Hoisin sauce originated in China and is used mostly in Chinese cuisine. The other translation for Hoisin sauce is not prominent. RevolverOcelotX


 * And as I said, neither is the translation haixianjiang. And it's certainly used in Vietnamese cuisine to a greater extent than the regions of China that use the term haixianjiang? Hoisin sauce is mostly from Cantonese or southern Chinese origins, it doesn't have much prominence in Beijing cuisine, Shandong cuisine, or the cuisines of other Mandarin speaking areas, so if anything the Vietnamese reference is more relevent than haixianjiang. --Yuje 10:43, 28 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Hoisin sauce is widely used throughout Northern and Southern China, hence the haixianjiang translation. Many other countries might use Hoisin sauce but that doesn't mean it is prominent enough to warrant a translation. It is recognized as Chinese influences even in those countries that may use it. Besides the Hoisin sauce originated in China and the Chinese translation can be used to research more about its origins. And Hoisin sauce is a sauce, not a "condiment". RevolverOcelotX


 * Sauce and condiment are not mutually exclusive categories. And as for cultural monopoly, even patents last for only 17 years and copyrights don't last for more than 100 years. How long do you want to maintain a monopoly of "ownership" over a food? Hundreds of years? Thousands of years? Are you going to try to supress the Japanese and Vietnamese names from tofu and ramen next? What makes you a judge, jury, and executioner of whether or not the cuisines of other cultures are prominent? As I've said, hoisin sauce is used to a greater extent in Vietnamese cuisine than in the Mandarin-speaking areas of China, it certainly is relevant to include information on such cultural aspects of it. With Hoisin sauce used in Vietnam, the Vietnamese name can be used to research more on its use in Vietnamese cooking and cuisine. Unless, of course, you're denying such a thing exists.--Yuje 11:13, 28 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Wheres your PROOF that the translation hǎixiānjiàng is not prominent? That is wild speculation on your part. Hoisin sauce originated in China and ALL Chinese translation are prominent, whether you like them or not. This is not a "monopoly" but rather giving credit where it is due. You need to research the origins of Hoisin sauce before editing. RevolverOcelotX
 * Ah, but where did I take out the sections that say it was invented in China or that the word is Chinese or that it's used in Chinese cuisine? I removed none of that, only restored the article from your stubborn insistence that hoisin sauce place in Vietnamese food doesn't deserve to be mentioned. As for prominence, even a simple Google search will show it.


 * 1,310 hits for tương đen
 * 34 hits for hǎixiānjiàng
 * And as for the prominence of the use of hoisin sauce in Vietnamese cuisine (as opposed to the name), surely a simple exercise for you to Google the terms "Vietnam" and "hoisin sauce" together. --Yuje 13:16, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Is this resolved? It seems to me that there is no reason to exclude the Vietnamese name, although having six different Chinese names seems excessive? —Centrx→talk &bull; 03:31, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

the United States as the original place of recipe concocted for hoisin sauce
Lacking cuisine which makes extensive use of the 'black bean', which leaves a black residue on the lips and teeth similar to black licorice, welfare aid clients in San Francisco, California envisioned a black bean flour which is used as a basis for the sauce [all in response to Clinton Administration pressure to seek work]. During the same time period, black beans were also added to Mexican restaurant cuisine. beadtot 21:13, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Seafood
So if it doesn't contain seafood, can anyone provide a reason why it translates as seafood sauce? Was it originally supposed to go with fish or shellfish? Rojomoke (talk) 11:52, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Same reason why hot dogs are called such when they don't contain dogs; and toad in the hole is called such when it doesn't contain toads, perhaps? Life's greatest mysteries. 203.211.71.133 (talk) 09:25, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

History and origin of Hoisin sauce needed
There is insufficient information on Hoisin Sauce on the web.

Much of what is on the web about Hoisin sauce is posted by people from USA/Canada/UK. Hoisin sauce has been bottled and sold to the "West" since the late 1970s due its popularity in stir fries found the the Western Chinese restaurants. This food that is labeled "Chinese" is not authentically Chinese. You won't find it in Hongkong, China, Taiwan, Malaysia or Singapore.

Hoisin sauce is found in the older Cantonese communities in Asia - the migrant Cantonese settlements in Malaysia, Vietnam and other pockets of Cantonese migrants which preserve some of the original food and culture that came from villages of Guangdong in Southern China. In these places, Hoisin sauce is nothing like the ones that are bottled in Hongkong. It was the popularity of a sweet bean sauce in the Western Chinese restaurants that prompted the sauce producers in Hongkong to come up with their own concoctions; usually a sweetened soy bean paste.

The Hoisin sauce available in Malaysia and Singapore are made by independent sauce manufacturers and sold in provision stores packaged in unlabeled containers. In the old days the stores had a large earthenware jar containing the sauce and the store keeper would scoop out the quantity you wanted and packed it in a little plastic bag. Thus it is difficult to determine the ingredients though the flavour is quite consistent between the manufacturers. The sauce is dark red suggesting that a key ingredient is red too - fermented red rice perhaps?

Within the Cantonese community, Hoisin sauce is mostly used as a dipping sauce and sometimes a meat marinade, but rarely ever used for stir frying. The name Hoisin means seafood and the sauce was originally used for enhancing the flavour of boiled or steamed seafood. It became a popular sauce for mixing with "dry" (soupless) rice noodles that was garnished with boiled prawns (shrimp).

During my childhood in the 1960s, many restaurants in South East Asia had small dishes of Hoisin sauce and mustard sauce on the tables for dipping. This practice ended in the early 1970s when Hongkong chefs became popular. Not sure why - possibly because Hoisin sauce was regarded by the Chefs as peasant food not fit for the table where Haute Cuisine was served.

I would like to know more about the origins of Hoisin Sauce, so I encourage people who have knowledge of the subject from Cantonese communities to post their findings here.

Researchmore (talk) 11:16, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

This article has been viewed more than 1 million times in April 2013?
I just happened to see this: http://stats.grok.se/en/latest/Hoisin_sauce. ??? Ottawahitech (talk) 18:59, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Peking Duck...?
I don't think I have ever seen Hoisin sauce used in any Peking Duck sold in Beijing, which is where it gets its name. If the intention is to say that Hoisin sauce is used for, say, Hong Kong-style Peking Duck, may we label it as such? I don't like cultural monopoly, and I am fine that regional variants of Peking Duck are different from each other. But if the original variant found in its namesake city does not feature Hoisin sauce, should we at least talk about the regional variation rather than saying in blanket terms? Ahyangyi (talk) 04:37, 21 December 2018 (UTC)


 * FYI, the “default/original” sauce for Peking Duck is based on Sweet bean sauce. Ahyangyi (talk) 04:41, 21 December 2018 (UTC)