In an interview with the Food Network, Chinese food expert Nadia Liu Spellman explained hoisin sauce, a condiment that is new to my refrigerator as of this week.
“I would call it the ketchup of Chinese cuisine, because it’s used as an ingredient but also as a finishing sauce and condiment,” Liu Spellman said in the interview. “Hoisin sauce looks like dark brown ketchup but not as viscous; it’s thicker and pastier. It’s sweet at the start and savory at the end.”
I purchased my first bottle of hoisin for this week’s recipe, and since I had not knowingly ever tasted it before, I was going in blind on what the flavor profile would be.
Of course, knowing that I like soy sauce, garlic and ginger didn’t hurt anything.
The good news is I really liked hoisin, and now I’m excited to see what other applications it has—although I’ll likely be using it to make this week’s recipe again, because it was great.
This recipe was posted on Instagram by Kirk Muenzenberger. His page is @kirkscookingandcocktails, if you want to see the original. I added extra garlic and pasta in my version.
Mongolian Beef Noodles
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 16 ounces long pasta I used whole wheat spaghetti
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons ginger paste
- 8 to 10 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- sesame seeds and green onion for garnish
Sauce Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup beef broth/stock
- 5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Boil the pasta according to package directions and drain.
- While the pasta cooks, brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat until it is cooked through. Strain off as much fat as possible, and add in the ginger paste and garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Add the sauce to the skillet, stirring to combine. (The sauce will look very loose at this moment. Don’t worry. It will thicken up.) Continue to stir until the sauce bubbles gently and begins to thicken.
- Stir in the cooked pasta until it is well coated, and continue stirring until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Add additional salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Serve with sesame seeds and fresh sliced green onion, if desired.
I will absolutely be making this again. It came together in well under 30 minutes, all told, and it was just slightly sweet, a bit spicy and very good. The next time, though, I will dice up a red bell pepper and cook that down with the ground beef. I think it would be a great addition for flavor, color and vitamins.
And now that I have “the ketchup of Chinese cuisine” in my refrigerator, the world is my oyster.
Actually, I’m not sure it’s good on oysters. I might have to do some more research.
This piece first appeared in print on May 16, 2024.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
