Certain websites claim that S: 叉烧酱; T: 叉燒醬 (chā shāo jiàng), char siu sauce and S: 烧烤酱; T: 燒烤醬 (shāo kǎo jiàng), Chinese barbecue sauce are the same. One well-known site claims S: 海鲜酱; T: 海鮮醬 (hǎi xiān jiàng), hoisin sauce and char siu sauce are the same.
No, they aren't.
Although char siu sauce is a barbecue sauce, barbecue sauce isn't char siu sauce. Dog ≠ animal.
But it's more complicated than that. There is no standard recipe for any of the three. Different manufacturers differ. Many sauce manufacturers make all three to different recipes.
Are American BBQ sauces made to one standard recipe? Why would Chinese?
My advice (in all aspects of life) is look at the ingredients; find one you like the look of; try it; repeat until satisfied.
For the record, I only ever buy this one and that rarely.
It's barbecue sauce.
Incidentally, the Chinese name for hoisin sauce literally means 'seafood sauce'; it neither contains any seafood nor is it normally used with seafood.
I never make cha siu. Seldom eat it.
Cha siu sauce
