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Sweet Bean Sauce substitute

Best substitute

Hoisin Sauce, Slightly Thinned

Use the same amount or 3 parts hoisin to 1 part water as the sweet bean sauce you are replacing

Best for Peking duck

Close match

Hoisin sauce thinned with a little water is the workable swap at roughly 1:1, and for Peking duck almost nobody will notice; hoisin is more perfumed because of its garlic and five-spice. For a more accurate rebuild, mix 1 tablespoon yellow bean sauce with 1 teaspoon sugar per tablespoon of tianmianjiang. Dark miso plus sugar is the best pantry version, and soy sauce with molasses is the last resort.

Other sweet bean sauce substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

Substitutes for Sweet Bean Sauce with ratios

  1. 2Yellow Bean Sauce or Ground Bean Sauce Plus Sugar

    Different texture

    Use 1 tablespoon sauce plus 1 teaspoon sugar for every 1 tablespoon tianmianjiang

    A related fermented soybean paste, adjusted for sweetness.

    What changes
    Best for
    zhajiangmian, stir-fries, braises, noodle sauces

    The most accurate flavour rebuild available. It is saltier and thinner than tianmianjiang and lacks the wheat maltiness, so the sauce tastes more bluntly savoury and less caramel-like. Taste before adding any soy sauce, because the salt adds up quickly.

  2. 3Dark or Red Miso Plus Sugar

    Different taste

    Use 2 teaspoons miso, 1.5 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon water for every 1 tablespoon of sweet bean sauce

    A Japanese fermented paste doing the same salty-sweet-savoury job.

    What changes
    Best for
    noodle sauces, glazes, stir-fries, dipping sauces

    Good body and real fermented depth, but flatter and less complex, with none of the malty wheat character. You will need more sugar than feels right; taste and keep adding until it reads clearly sweet, because tianmianjiang is sweeter than most cooks expect.

  3. 4Chunjang (Korean Black Bean Paste) Plus Sugar

    Different taste

    Use the same amount plus 1 teaspoon sugar per tablespoon

    A dark fermented wheat-and-soybean paste from the same family.

    What changes
    Best for
    noodle sauces, zhajiangmian, stir-fried noodle dishes

    Darker and more bitter out of the jar, and it must be fried in oil for a minute or two before use. The result tastes like Korean jjajangmyeon rather than Chinese zhajiangmian, which is a different dish rather than a failed one, and many people prefer it.

  4. 5Doenjang Plus Sugar

    Taste and texture differ

    Use 2 teaspoons doenjang plus 1.5 teaspoons sugar for every 1 tablespoon of sweet bean sauce

    Korean soybean paste, coarser and funkier.

    What changes
    Best for
    noodle sauces, braises, stir-fries

    Considerably funkier and saltier than tianmianjiang, with a coarse texture, so a noodle sauce made with it tastes sharper and more aggressive. Add the sugar generously and finish with a teaspoon of sesame oil to round it out.

  5. 6Soy Sauce Plus Molasses or Dark Brown Sugar

    Taste and texture differ

    Use 2 teaspoons soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon molasses for every 1 tablespoon of sweet bean sauce

    The pantry-only version when nothing fermented and sweet is available.

    What changes
    Best for
    emergency glazes, quick noodle sauces, dipping sauces

    Honest assessment: this gets you colour, salt and sweetness and nothing else. It is thin, so it will not cling to a pancake or coat noodles the way a paste does, and it has none of the fermented complexity. Simmering it with a teaspoon of cornstarch slurry at least fixes the body.

What is Sweet Bean Sauce?

Sweet Bean Sauce is Sweet bean sauce, known as tianmianjiang, sweet flour sauce or Chinese sweet bean paste, is a thick dark glossy paste fermented mainly from wheat flour, sometimes with soybeans, that is sweet, malty and gently savoury.

Cooking tips

  • Fry it briefly before adding any liquid. Thirty to sixty seconds in a little oil caramelises the sugar and cooks off the raw flour taste, which is the difference between a flat sauce and a deep one. Add the oil first, keep the heat medium, and stir constantly because it scorches almost instantly.
  • It is much thicker than it looks in a photograph. Thin it with water, stock or Shaoxing wine to something like heavy cream before it goes on a pancake or into noodles.
  • Salt levels vary enormously between brands, so taste it straight from the jar before adding any soy sauce to the dish. Some are barely salty and clearly sweet, others are the reverse.
  • Check the ingredient list rather than the English name. Real tianmianjiang lists wheat flour first or high on the label; jars labelled sweet bean sauce that list only soybeans are closer to a yellow bean sauce and will be saltier and less sweet.
  • Hoisin is not the same thing, whatever a recipe tells you. Hoisin is sweetened, spiced and garlicky; tianmianjiang is clean, malty and simple. Hoisin still works as a substitute, but if you have both, use the right one.
  • A jar keeps for a year or more in the fridge. It darkens and stiffens over time, which does no harm; loosen it with a little warm water.

Frequently asked questions

Is hoisin sauce the same as sweet bean sauce?

No, though they are constantly conflated. Hoisin is sweetened and flavoured with garlic, five-spice and often chilli and sesame. Tianmianjiang is a plainer fermented wheat paste, sweet and malty without the aromatics. Hoisin is the best easy substitute at roughly 1:1, thinned slightly, but it will make the dish more perfumed.

What is the best substitute for tianmianjiang?

For convenience, hoisin thinned with a little water. For accuracy, yellow bean sauce or ground bean sauce with a teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon. For a pantry-only version, dark miso with sugar. All three are workable; the differences are in how much extra aroma comes along for the ride.

Can I use sweet bean sauce and yellow bean sauce interchangeably?

In a pinch, with adjustment. Yellow bean sauce is saltier and much less sweet, so add about a teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon when using it in place of tianmianjiang, and cut back on the sugar if you are going the other way.

Do I need to cook sweet bean sauce before using it?

For a dipping sauce, no; it is ready from the jar, thinned a little. For a noodle sauce such as zhajiangmian, yes. A short fry in oil deepens the flavour considerably and removes the raw flour edge. Keep the heat moderate and stir constantly, because the sugar burns fast.

Can I just leave it out?

Not really. In Peking duck pancakes and in zhajiangmian, this sauce is the flavour of the dish, not a background note. If you have none of the substitutes above, hoisin plus a little water is the answer most people already have in the fridge.

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