8 Most Popular Traditional Chinese Sauces You Need to Try!

• The Most Popular Traditional Chinese Sauces

| Soy Sauce

Soy sauce should be come firstly since it is the basic for many stir-fry sauces. Soy sauce is a traditional seasoning for Chinese recipe which is made from soy beans, wheat and wheat bran. It has a mildly salty flavor and bright red color after fermentation.

Ubiquitous in Chinese cooking, soy sauce is used in marinades, sauces, as a dip and more. There are two types of soy sauces: light and dark. 

Light soy sauce (also called thin soy sauce) is lighter and saltier, and it mainly used for adding the flavor. So it is commonly used in stir fry dishes, salad, noodle soups and dipping sauces.  

While dark soy sauce has a darker color and richer flavor. Its main uses are to add color and deepen the flavor. At times, it can also help thicken the consistency. 

| Hoisin Sauce

Hoisin Sauce is a delicious Chinese stir-fry and dipping sauce that's also used to marinade and glaze meats. It's usually served with Mandarin pancakes, Peking duck, and Mu Shu pork. All of these are classic Chinese dishes that are popular in Chinese restaurants in Beijing.

This thick, dark brown sauce is known for its pungent, slightly sweet flavor with just a bit of heat. Although it does have a slightly spicy kick to it, hoisin sauce is beloved for the sweetness it lends to dishes, thanks to ingredients like sugar, sweet potatoes, soybeans and wheat flour. Garlic, chiles and five-spice powder are also common inclusions.

Although it's used as both an ingredient and a dip, it works amazingly well as a glaze. What it lacks in smokiness, it gains when you chargrill meats glazed with it. 

| Doubanjiang

Broad bean paste or doubanjiang is a common sauce in Sichuan recipes and is one of the spicier sauces on this list, with its savory heat courtesy of the crushed chili peppers. 

The silky consistency of the sauce comes from a broad bean paste that does two things. One, it softens the fiery hit of the red chilies, and two, it turns the fermented soybean tanginess into a more savory flavor.

It is the most important ingredients for lots of famous Szechuan dishes, including twice cooked pork belly, mapo tofu, and Sichuan style water boiled fish. After long time fermentation, doubanjiang has a unique spicy flavor.

| Oyster Sauce

Oyster sauce is a common condiment in several Asian regional cuisines. In terms of flavor, this sauce is as umami as it gets, with a distinct smokiness that you wouldn't find in most soy-based sauces. 

Known for its dark brown color and smooth consistency, the main ingredient of this flavorful sauce is minced oysters and the juices contained therein. Along with oysters it also normally includes soy sauce, water, sugar, garlic and wheat flour for thickening.

Most commonly, oyster sauce is used to add a briny twist to noodle dishes and vegetable stir-fries. What’s best about oyster sauce is that it works just like MSG, in that it enhances the flavor of whatever you add it to. For example, if you drizzle some over stir-fried chicken, it will highlight whichever spice or seasoning you put more of, whether it's palm sugar or soy sauce.

| Char Siu Sauce 

Those familiar with this sauce often call it "Chinese barbecue sauce". A staple in Cantonese cooking, "char siu" translates as "fork roast" (this refers to the fact that meat is cooked with the sauce on skewers). 

When it comes to Chinese sauces you can think of a jar of char siu sauce as a short-cut or ready made sauce. Similar to how you might have a ready made pasta sauce in the West.

It is a salty and sweet sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, chili, garlic, sugar and Chinese five spicy powders. It is a perfect sauce for chicken wings, char siu pork and ribs. You can buy store bough Char Siu Sauce or match one using other ingredients.

| Sweet and Sour Sauce

The sweet and sour sauce is one of the most popular Chinese sauces, and it can even be found in many non-Chinese restaurants as well as being prominently featured in Chinese American cuisine. 

Sweet and sour sauce awakens your taste buds by incorporating two strong flavor perceptions into one sauce. Thick, rich and often a vibrant cherry red color, sweet and sour sauce can minimize the greasy flavor of fried foods, enhance the delicate texture of vegetables and boost the flavor of mild meats.

But this sauce can vary widely in terms of its composition. In Chinese cookery, an ingredient list might contain onion, garlic, ginger, fruit, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and starch. The sweet and acidic flavor profile of this sauce pairs well with rich and succulent friend dishes. Sweet and sour pork, chicken, and fish are crowd favorites in modern establishments.

| Sha Cha Sauce

Sha cha sauce is a slightly spicy, savoury sauce that is used in Fujian, Teochew (Chaozhou) and Taiwanese cuisine. Sha cha sauce is often translated as "Chinese BBQ sauce", but it really bares little resemblance to American BBQ sauce.

Made from soybeans, aromatics such as garlic and shallots, and fish and/or dried shrimp, this sauce has a compelling flavor which is savory and a touch spicy.

Sha cha sauce is also very versatile. It can be a base in soups, a marinade for meats, a sauce for stir-fries and a dipping sauce for hotpot. Sha Cha sauce is savory with a hint of spice. It is used in sha cha noodles, this recipe for sha cha beef and more. 

| Hot Chili Oil

If you ever visit any Chinese restaurants, you will find chili oil or chili sauces on the table as a customer self-serve sauce. They can almost go well with everything Chinese. A dumpling dipping sauce, a bowl of congee, warm noodles soups or even steamed buns. 

Hot chili oil is made from vegetable oil that has been infused with chili peppers. In essence, any chili pepper can be used to make hot chili oil. The type and number of peppers used in making this sauce can lead it to vary wildly when it comes to its spiciness.

The most famous brand of this chilli oil is Lao Gan Ma. Lao Gan Ma is viewed by some people as a type of chilli sauce in its own right, even though technically it is a brand. However, one thing that is certainly true is that it's an essential condiment in most Chinese kitchens.

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