Hoisin Around

Thick and sweet, hoisin is about to become one of your new favorite sauces if it's not already. A traditional Chinese dipping and glazing sauce, hoisin is made from water, sugar, soybeans, distilled vinegar, salt, wheat flour, garlic, and red chili peppers, amongst other necessary things like preservatives.

It’s pretty widely available (I spied two brands at Publix) and is incredibly easy to work with. I like to doctor mine up a bit, but it’s perfectly fine on its own—straight out of the jar—as a glaze for chicken, fish and shellfish. Just slap it on your protein of choice and grill or broil away.

Hoisin Glazed Salmon with Roasted Vegetables
Serves 2

1/3 c. hoisin sauce
1 tbsp. tamari, dark soy sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder
½ tsp. ground ginger
2 tbsp. water
2, 5 to 6-oz. filets of salmon, with skin
8 baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half
8 asparagus stalks, ends trimmed and cut in half
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
Cooked white or jasmine rice, for serving

Position an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the broiler.

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a small bowl. Place the salmon, skin-side down, on a heavy, foil-lined baking sheet and season each side with salt and pepper. Using a pastry brush, brush about half of the sauce onto the fish. Pour the remaining sauce into a small saucepan and set aside.

In a small bowl, toss the mushrooms and asparagus with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange evenly around the fish. Broil until the fish is opaque, about 8 minutes depending on the thickness and your preferred doneness.

While the fish is cooking, add two tablespoons of water to the reserved sauce. Heat over medium, stirring occasionally, until it simmers and begins to thicken.


To serve, slide a spatula between the skin and the fish, and discard the skin. Arrange one filet and half of the vegetables on each plate and pour sauce over the fish. Serve with rice.