46 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
Beautiful! How is the sweet bean sauce similar to or different from hoisin sauce? Or are they the same thing?
They are not the same thing. I'd say the only similiarities are that they are sweet and Chinese.
Sweet bean sauce, from the north of China, despite the name, is largely made from fermented wheat, with only a tiny bit of soy bean. It gets its sweetness from a type of musk melon used in the manufacturing process. It is thick, black and yes, sweet. It is the traditional sauce with Beijing duck.
Hoisin sauce (海鲜酱 - hǎi xiān jiàng), from the south of China, 1,171 miles from Beijing, literally means 'seafood sauce' as it's mainly used in Cantonese / Hong Kong cooking to accompany seafood. It contains no seafood, but is made from soybeans with fennel seed, red chili peppers, garlic. wine vinegar, five-spice powder and gets its sweetness from sugar.