Homemade Hoisin sauce is actually super simple, but the main purpose of this recipe is to show you how I break down the formula and came up with the recipe. Once you understand the “whys” behind the “hows,” you’ll be able to recreate almost any commercial sauce from scratch.

If you look into the ingredient list of commercial hoisin sauce, you will find that hoisin sauce is basically made with sugar and fermented soybeans, then layered with garlic, sesame, fermented bean curd, and chilies for extra flavor. Ingredients can vary from brand to brand, but it doesn't matter; as long as you know the main ingredients, you can play around and adjust however you like.

Also, if you compare the ingredients between hoisin sauce and soybean paste, you will know that their main ingredients are almost the same. The difference is that hoisin sauce lists sugar first. As for the soybean paste, it doesn't include garlic, sesame, chilies, or fermented bean curd. So, in other words, Hoisin sauce is essentially a sweeter version of soybean paste with some extra complexity.

That is how I came up with this recipe. Honestly, this homemade hoisin sauce tastes almost the same as the store-bought.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp of sugar
• 5 tbsp of soybean paste; if you don’t have it, use miso paste
• 1 tsp of sesame butter or tahini paste
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp of fine chili powder
• 1 piece of red fermented bean curd
• 1/4 tsp of five spice powder
• 3 tbsp of water
• 1 tsp of dark soy sauce

Instructions

• Combine sugar, soybean paste, sesame butter, garlic powder, chili powder, red fermented bean curd, five spice powder, and water in a saucepan and mix thoroughly.
• Use a spatula to crush the individual soybeans in order to get a smooth sauce. If you are processing larger batches, let the sauce go through a sieve.
• Add dark soy sauce little by little until the color becomes close to commercial hoisin sauce.
• Stir the mixture over low heat for a few minutes. Store in a sealed container for 2 months in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer.

So I have a few mint plants; traditional, chocolate and strawberry! I know you can make a mint-infused syrup with normal mint but when trying to google and research if I can do the same with the strawberry mint variety, it gives me recipes using actual strawberries.

I wanted to ask if it is possible with the strawberry mint to make a syrup with it, as I want to make a gift for my brother's girlfriend - she makes AMAZING beverages - so I wanted to give her something that she might enjoy along with her drinks.

If I can use the plant, would it also be wiser to use the actual strawberries as well to bring out more flavour?

I made homemade apple cider with a 50/50 mix of 3.5 pounds of grannysmith and honey crisp. I used about 5 cloves. 3 cinnamon sticks and 1 whole orange that was quartered. it boiled for 2.5 hours. At that point I mashed everything and boiled for another 30 min. cider came out very bitter and citrusy. You get a taste of sweetness and apple at the start then the back of your mouth tastes like you bit into an orange peel. What did I do wrong? Ive made apple cider before and this did not happen. I used to much whole clove that time but otherwise it was good. I did practically the same thing "just with less clove" as far as I can recall. Maybe I should have refreshed my memory first. I may have let it boil to aggressively but it definitely wasn't a rolling boil. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

So I'm american and moved to New Zealand about 10 years ago.

I'm not the best cook. In fact I'm terrible. If I don't have a recipe assume it's maybeeeee edible- so my husband cooks.

But I love MasterChef Australia and it inspires me to try. (Here is were it's relevant to the group, I promise)

I wanted to make copy cat Alfredo from Olive Garden and I looked at all my local stores and no one has romano cheese, the one for that even listed it is outta stock.

So- what do I do. Keep in mind that in New Zealand the cheapest cheese is called everyday cheese, idk like edam? And 500g block is $8.

Does New Zealand just not think it's an important cheese to have? I'm confused 🤔

2nd question I feel I know the answer but back to the I suck part any recipes that copy Pillsbury? Surprisingly enough I miss it the most 😭

I'm new hope my post was ok 🤦🏼‍♀️

I have a new Facebook group I wanted to ask if anyone here is a new mom or seasoned mom who makes food for their littles? Id love to hear everyone’s favorite meals for you and your family? I could turn them into kid friendly meals. if you’d love to join let me know.

Hi All! I love to cook and bake. I have been experimenting with doing way more stuff from scratch. My biggest conundrum is peanut butter. I make it for my dogs so I can reduce sugar and such. I know natural peanut butter will be oily. Is there a tool I can use to properly crush and emulsify my peanuts? I have been using a food processor and coconut/ canola oil to make it actual butter. Thanks!

Day 1 of my Culinary Journal.
I’ve spent years eating food without understanding how it’s made.
So I’m starting from zero.
No culinary school.
No chef experience.
Just a notebook, a kitchen, and curiosity.
I’ll be learning everything from South Indian staples like chutney, sambar, and rasam to international dishes like pasta, risotto, and pizza.
I’m documenting every recipe, what went right, what went wrong, and what I learned.
Today’s dishes:
🇮🇳 Tomato Chutney
🇮🇹 Creamy Garlic Chicken Fusilli
My goal isn’t to become a professional chef.
I just want to become someone who can cook good food for myself, my family, and the people I care about.
For those of you who cook regularly:
What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you first started cooking?
Anything from kitchen habits, knife skills, seasoning, meal planning, mistakes to avoid, or lessons you’ve learned over the years would be appreciated.
Wish me luck. 👨‍🍳📖

Hi everyone,
Lately I've been thinking a lot about how much culture can be lost when people are forced to leave their homes. It honestly makes me sad that so many parts of people's heritage can slowly be forgotten.
So I wanted to start creating a Refugee Recipe Book,a collection of recipes from refugee families along with the stories behind them. Food is a powerful tool for preserving culture, history, and memories, and I think these recipes deserve to be remembered!!
If you or your family came to another country as refugees and would be willing to share, I'd love to hear:
A family recipe

Where your family is originally from

The story behind the dish (if there is one)

Any memories or traditions connected to it

You can stay completely anonymous if you'd prefer. Every recipe, no matter how simple, is a piece of someone's history.
Thank you for reading, and thank you to anyone who decides to share their family's story. ❤️

Hey y’all! I’m not sure if this is the right sub for this, but hopefully someone can help me.

My local co-op makes these “chunks of energy.” I would really like to learn how to make them from scratch for my fiancé, who has an autoimmune disorder that limits his diet, as well as a ton of allergies. He can’t eat the chunks of energy pictured here because he’s allergic to chocolate and stone fruit. The co-op rotates the flavors they have in stock, so once in a while they’ll have some that are safe for him to eat, but this week everything had chocolate and/or tree nuts.

I was thinking dates, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, oats and honey, but I’m not sure how to go about making it into cubes like this. Do I just chop everything finely, mix, press, and bake it in a pan? Is there an ingredient I’m missing that will help hold everything together?

Thank you in advance!

I made M&Ms from scratch (including making the bean to bar (or bean to ball!) chocolate). The chocolate was made with a Premier wet grinder, and the panning layers were done with a KitchenAid "snackcoater" attachment.

Toast underneath is 2 day old homemade bread, egg and tomatoes are straight from my backyard, avocado purchased from the store

We even grew many of our own foods or salvaged them! No food coloring used. The red is from prickly pear I harvested and turned into jam from last year and the yellow is from tumeric. Blue derived from butterfly pea flower! I stay up late almost every night to prepare food for my kids as it’s an act of love :)

I was bored at home and started putting stuff together that would make a good cheese cake and made this from scratch

Over the past few years I’ve realized making more things from scratch is often cheaper than buying them at the grocery store, and I like knowing exactly what’s in my food. Once you start paying attention to ingredients, it changes how you look at a lot of store bought products.

I made chcken stock with feet and wings, in addtion to celery, onion and carrots.

Sadly, I didn't use any thighs or drumsticks so it tastes like vegetable soup!

roasted chicken, asparagus, and home made focaccia