Chinese Brown Sauce

Like many products of the Chinese American immigration experience, it can be difficult to trace the true origins of Chinese brown sauce, at least the version best known by Chinese food take-out fans in the United States. In the United States, Chinese brown sauce can be traced back at least to the 1917 Chinese Cook Book by Shiu Wong Chan, one of our first Chinese cookbooks, when it appeared under the name “Chinese Gravy,” but the truth is, it likely goes back even earlier. The Shiu Wong Chan’s recipe for "Chinese Gravy" is made from a chicken- and pork-flavored stock, cornstarch, and soy sauce, with a bit of salt, sugar, and sesame oil.

Chinese immigrants began coming into the United States when the Gold Rush brought Americans across the country to the treasures of California. By the mid-1850s, Chinese immigrants had set up many services for the miners, including restaurants. "Chinese Gravy" was perfect to pour over the ever-popular Egg Foo Yong, probably one of the first dishes in the United States to utilize Chinese brown sauce, and egg foo young is still served with Chinese brown sauce today.

In its most basic form, Martin Yan says, “There’s broth, soy sauce, sugar, a touch of wine, and some sort of thickener.” He adds that said thickener can be corn, tapioca, or potato starch—whatever will help the sauce “lightly cling onto proteins and vegetables.” For Yan’s own recipe (see below) for an all-purpose Chinese brown sauce, he suggests stir-frying any meat, vegetable, or tofu, then adding it into the wok to finish. You can also use this over noodles or rice.

As Americans became (cautiously) more adventurous, they discovered beef with oyster sauce, a Cantonese stir-fry covered with thick gravy. Instead of using a little soy sauce and a lot of stock, this sauce consisted of a half cup stock to a quarter cup of pungent oyster sauce with cornstarch to thicken, sugar, and pepper.

This sauce is also the basis for Cantonese brown sauce stir-fries such as Beef with Broccoli, Chicken and Snow Peas, and Happy Family (made with vegetables, meats, and seafood).

Brown sauce derivatives:

- Oyster
- Mongolian, such as in Mongolian Beef - fried beef with scallions or white onions in a spicy and often sweet brown sauce
- Hunan
- Black bean
- General Tsao's
- Sichuan
- Orange

Chinese Brown Sauce
from http://chinesefood.about.com/

A lot of Chinese stir-fry dishes for takeout include "brown sauce." One of the best-known dishes that uses brown sauce is the takeout classic beef and broccoli. The sauce usually contains beef stock or beef broth to give the dish extra flavor, but you can use chicken broth or stock if you like.

This is a very basic brown sauce which uses beef broth, but you can use chicken broth. If you like, you can add grated or minced ginger or garlic. Serve your homemade brown sauce with a beef, chicken, or pork stir-fry or chow mein dish.

3/4 cup beef broth (beef bouillion cubes can be used)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine the above ingredients in order and bring to a boil, stirring until thickened.

A person who commented on this post said: "I added the following to give the sauce some depth: Chop one teaspoon of ginger and one teaspoon garlic. Saute both in a teaspoon sesame oil until light brown colored. Then add the sauce ingredients as listed in the recipe. Voila! You have that multi use Asian brown sauce everyone loves so much... And which makes a lovely beef & broccoli."

Chinese Brown Sauce
from https://www.recipetineats.com/

A secret weapon for mid week meals - an All Purposes Chinese Stir Fry Sauce, a versatile base that makes a wonderfully glossy sauce for any stir fry, including stir fried noodles. Store it in the fridge in a jar for when you need it - just make sure to leave sufficient headroom in the jar so you can give it a good shake before using. This makes 1½ cups of sauce which is enough for around 12 servings.

1/4 c light soy sauce (see notes)
1/4 c dark (normal) soy sauce
1/2 c oyster sauce (sub with hoisin for vegan)
1/4 c Chinese Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
1/4 c cornstarch / cornflour
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 - 2 tsp. ground white pepper

Combine ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Store in fridge and shake before use.

Amount to Use:

I use 2 tbsp of the Stir Fry sauce + 4 tbsp/ ¼ cup water per serving - around 3 - 4 cups of the combined stir fry (vegetables - packed, proteins + noodles - if using). Or put another way, around ¼ cup per 1 lb / 500g of combined ingredients (proteins + vegetables + noodles if using) plus ½ cup water. But you should adjust to your own taste.

To Use:

Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok over high heat. Add your choice of Base Flavourings (see below)

- fry for 10 seconds or so to infuse oil.

Add stir fry ingredients in order of time to cook (starting with ingredients that take longest to cook), leaving leafy greens, like the leaves of bok choy, until when you add the sauce (otherwise they will wilt and overcook).

Add noodles (if using), sauce and water, your choice of Additional Flavourings and any leafy greens. Gently toss to combine and to let the sauce cook for around 1 minute. The sauce will become a thick, glossy sauce that coats your stir fry.

Serve immediately.

Base Flavourings

Garlic, minced or finely sliced
Ginger, minced or finely sliced
Fresh chillies, minced or finely sliced

Additional Flavouring Suggestions

Sriracha, Chilli Bean Paste or other Spicy addition
Sweet chilli sauce
Substitute the water with pineapple or orange juice
Rice vinegar - for a touch of tartness
Fresh cilantro / coriander leaves, or thai basil - for freshness
Garlic or ordinary chives, chopped
Pinch of Chinese five spice powder

Martin Yan’s All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce
Recipe courtesy of Martin Yan’s China.

“This is the Chinese mother sauce,” says Martin Yan, America’s most-recognizable ambassador to Chinese food and host of public television’s Yan Can Cook.

Variations on the gravy abound throughout China, from a darker soy used around Beijing to a white pepper and light-dark soy combination in the Cantonese South to Sichuan’s addition of chili and sesame oils. But in its most basic form, Yan says, “There’s broth, soy sauce, sugar, a touch of wine, and some sort of thickener.” He adds that said thickener can be corn, tapioca, or potato starch—whatever will help the sauce “lightly cling onto proteins and vegetables.”

½ cup canned chicken broth
¼ cup Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. light soy sauce
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground white pepper
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. minced ginger
1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp. water

Combine the broth, wine, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, salt, and white pepper in a small bowl and mix well.

Place a wok or stir-fry pan over high heat. Add the oil, swirling to coat the sides. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Pour in the seasoning from the bowl and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook until the sauce boils and thickens, about one minute. Store in a covered container in the fridge; the sauce will keep for up to one week.

Makes one cup

A Chinese Staple: Basic Brown Sauce

Brown sauce, is used mostly to finish quick stir-fries. This recipe uses hoisin sauce and rice vinegar.

2 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons firmly-packed cornstarch
6 tablespons Lee Kum Kee premium dark soy sauce
8 tablespoons Lee Kum Kee hoisin sauce
1-2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar (also known and labeled as Chinkiang vinegar)
2 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons sugar, more or less, to taste
2 teaspoons white pepper, more or less to taste

Step 1. In a small bowl, whisk together the cold water and cornstarch until smooth.

Step 2. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine all remaining ingredients. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is "drizzly" and slightly thickened, about 30-60-seconds. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside to come to room temperature, about 1-2 hours.

Step 3. Use as directed in specific recipe, or: Transfer to a food storage container with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate almost indefinitely or:

Make a double or triple batch and freeze it in 1-2 cup containers to have whenever you need it!

Recipe yields 1 1/2 cups Chinese brown sauce.