Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Hoisin Sauce

Analysing hundreds of thousands of recipes uncovers hoisin sauce's optimal flavour pairings.

Hoisin sauce instantly conjures the evocative embrace of glutamate and the bracing kiss of caramel. But look beneath its obvious umaminess and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of liquorice, a hint of molasses, and subtle accents reminiscent of honey, giving it remarkable depth. The key to an exceptional harmony lies in understanding how these accents harmonise and interact.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our analysis reveals, for example, how salad greens's leafy tones carry hoisin sauce, and how broccoli's brassica notes create a surprising synergy with its warm sweetness.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. spice, acidic, and herbal) enhanced by layers of subtle aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim for a mix of core traits to build balance, and select complementary aroma notes to create harmony.

The Flavour Code

To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Caramel Notes

Our analysis reveals a strong connection between caramel and cabbage flavours. Since hoisin sauce has a distinct caramel flavour, try pairing it with the cabbagy flavours of broccoli.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing hoisin sauce with broccoli.

Harmonious Flavours Of Hoisin Sauce

Just as our analysis highlighted that caramel and cabbagy flavours combine harmoniously, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the notes present in hoisin sauce. E.g. the liquorice accents of hoisin sauce are often used with oceanic and copper notes.

The aromas complementary to the various accents of hoisin sauce can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of salad greens offers many of the aroma accents complementary to hoisin sauce, including leafy and brassica notes. Because the flavour profile of salad greens has many of the of the features that are complementary to hoisin sauce, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of salad greens across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with hoisin sauce.

Recipes That Pair Hoisin Sauce With Salad Greens

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the accents that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of hoisin sauce, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of hoisin sauce, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the notes complementary to hoisin sauce.

What To Drink With Hoisin Sauce

The brassica notes in kale juice make it a perfect pairing with hoisin sauce. Likewise, the bay leaf flavours in perricone create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of hoisin sauce below.

Which Vegetables Go With Hoisin Sauce?

Choose vegetables that ground its sweetness or anchor its sharp acidity. Salad greens and pak choi offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Kale add a gentle, oniony brightness, while baby bok choy introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with hoisin sauce's sharpness. The addition of green leaf lettuce, with its subtle hexenal notes, can complement the vinegar beautifully, while green cabbage lends a fresh leafiness.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Hoisin sauce), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.