MONDAY RECIPE POST - CHINESE BROWN SAUCE

                                   (photo from pixabay.com)

I forgot to take a photo of the meal I made with this sauce, so borrowed the photo from Pixababy.  It is very close.  

I was looking for an Asian stir-fry sauce for a vegetable dish we were putting together.  I found this recipe on The Spruce Eats.  It was written by Liv Wan.  This is a very fast recipe and can be ready to use in 15 minutes.  I always recommend you taking a look at the original recipe for the great tips given, and for the photos, plus other delicious recipes to try.  

We mixed our sauce into a simple pork, green onion and bok-choy stir-fry.

Chinese Brown Sauce - serves 2 

3/4 cup beef broth

1 1/4 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (look for the dark as it adds a rich flavor)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch (corn flour, or potato starch)

 

Add the broth, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch to a saucepan.

Mix evenly and make sure there are no lumps of cornstarch.

Bring it to a boil while stirring and simmer until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. 

Use immediately in your favorite stir-fry or other dish.

 

Recipe Variations

Chicken broth version: Combine 1 cup chicken broth (or chicken stock), 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or potato starch) in a saucepan.

Mix evenly and make sure there are no lumps. Bring to a boil and keep stirring during cooking. Simmer until the sauce reaches the thickness you like.

Add 1 finely chopped garlic clove

Add 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Add chili sauce or chili oil if you'd like your brown sauce spicy

Liv Wan's comments:

"Is Chinese Brown Sauce Healthy?

Chinese brown sauce is low calorie, making it a decently healthy choice when saucing your stir-fries. 

It does not contain much in the ways of vitamins or nutrients. 

To reduce the sodium, use low-sodium beef broth and soy sauce.

Because brown sauce contains cornstarch it is not appropriate for a keto diet.

Is Hoisin Sauce the Same as Brown Sauce?

Hoisin sauce is a flavorful condiment made of a variety of ingredients depending on the maker. Hoisin is often made with soybeans, garlic, chili, sugar, and spices. Brown sauce is a slightly thinner, simpler sauce that is broth-based. It has a less complex flavor than hoisin sauce."

What we did think?  This is a good brown sauce and was just what we needed for our stir-fry.  We found it a bit bland to our food tastes.  If you like it relatively bland then it would be perfect.  We thought we would add the garlic and ginger next time, also some hot Chile paste to give it a bit of a kick.

The address below will take you straight to the recipe.  

Here is the link in case the one above doesn't work.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/chinese-brown-sauce-4065294

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your week.