hoisin sauce

noun

A thick, pungent, dark, sweet and salty sauce made from soy, garlic and chili, used in Chinese cooking.

Similar
duck sauce
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Meanings

nounhoisin sauce (countable and uncountable, plural hoisin sauces)

plural hoisin sauces

  1. countableuncountableA thick, pungent, dark, sweet and salty sauce made from soy, garlic and chili, used in Chinese cooking.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna thick sweet and pungent Chinese condiment

Similar
duck sauce
Broader
condiment
Also see
duck saucehoisin

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Partial calque from Cantonese 海鮮醬／海鲜酱 (hoi2 sin1 zoeng3, literally “seafood sauce, sauce for seafood”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 海鮮醬 /海鲜酱
  • 海鮮醬 /海鲜酱 (hoi² sin¹ zoeng³)sauce used in Chinese cooking
Chinese Mandarin 海鮮醬 /海鲜酱
  • 海鮮醬 /海鲜酱 (hǎixiānjiàng)sauce used in Chinese cooking
Finnish hoisin-kastike
  • hoisin-kastikesauce used in Chinese cooking
Japanese ハイセンジャン
  • ハイセンジャン (haisenjan)sauce used in Chinese cooking
Korean 해선장
  • 해선장 (haeseonjang)sauce used in Chinese cooking
Latvian Pekinas mērce
  • Pekinas mērcesauce used in Chinese cooking
Polish sos hoisin
  • sos hoisinsauce used in Chinese cooking
Russian Хойсин
  • Хойсин (Xojsin)sauce used in Chinese cooking
Spanish salsa hoisin
  • salsa hoisinsauce used in Chinese cooking
Thai ซอสฮอยซิน
  • ซอสฮอยซินsauce used in Chinese cooking
Vietnamese tương đen, tương ngọt
  • tương đensauce used in Chinese cooking
  • tương ngọtsauce used in Chinese cooking
Cite this entry
APA

hoisin sauce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoisin%20sauce

MLA

“hoisin sauce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoisin%20sauce. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hoisin sauce,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoisin%20sauce.

Source: hoisin sauce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.