Hong Shao Sauce

Name: Hong Shao Sauce
Yield: Makes about 1 quart (946 ml), enough for braising 3 to 5 pounds (1.4 to 2.3 kg) of meat
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons (28 ml) sesame oil; 1 knob fresh ginger, 1 inch (2.5 cm), sliced; 1 garlic bulb, unpeeled; 3 star anise, whole; 1 cinnamon stick, 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm); 3 cloves, whole; 2 dried bay leaves, whole; ½ cup (120 ml) dark soy sauce; ¼ cup (60 ml) Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine); ¼ cup (60 ml) Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine); ½ cup (120 ml) Lee Kum Kee Brown Braising Sauce; 2 tablespoons (36 g) oyster sauce; 2 to 4 cups (475 to 946 ml) water; 2 cubes rock sugar or 1 to 2 tablespoons (13 to 26 g) granulated sugar, to taste; 2 cubes rock sugar or 1 to 2 tablespoons (13 to 26 g) granulated sugar, to taste; Salt to taste

Red Braising Sauce

Preparation info

Makes about
1
quart

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Chinese-American Barbecue

By Winnie Yee

Published 2026

About

You can use this sauce to braise any raw meat, or you can use it to braise a smoked meat, as I do in several recipes in this book.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (28 ml) sesame oil
1 knob fresh ginger,

Sauce
Vegan

Method

In a heavy-duty pot, heat up the oil and fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Add all the whole spices and fry another 30 seconds. Remove the spices and ginger and garlic and place them in a cotton spice bag. If you’re unable to find this, omit it. You’ll just need to strain the sauce at the end of the cooking process.
Add the dark soy sa