I've always wondered what sauce they served with Peking Duck at various Chinese restaurants (at least in Australia anyway). Whenever I order Peking duck as takeout, they normally provide a cute little container with a dark liquidy sauce which has a rather sweet taste.
I'm inclined to believe that it could be sweet bean sauce as suggested at various places on the internet but from what I can tell, it's supposed to have a thick consistency. However, this is not the case here. Any ideas what it could be?
It's consistency and colour is very reminiscent of soy sauce but the taste is sweet, like black bean.
Best Answer
Okay, all these answers have strange spellings, it should be spelt Hoisin sauce, and should say 海鲜酱 on the bottle, it means "Seafood sauce" though contains no seafood, it's about 50% sugar.
In Australia this is what you'll find in restaurants, and you'll be able to find the Lee Kum Kee brand at Chinese shops, and probably also in Coles:
Actually, traditionally, 烤鸭 (originally called 烧鸭子) was served with sweet bean sauce (甜面酱,) not Hoisin sauce (海鲜酱) and you will find the restaurants in Beijing still serving it with the traditional sauce. Pretty sure Hoisin is used in Chinese restaurants in Australia because they're mostly Cantonese (not Beijingers) and used a sauce familiar to them. North vs South, you know. Also, Hoisin sauce is sweeter than sweet bean sauce, and so more closely aligns with the Caucasian Australian palate.
Note: Peking = Beijing.
Furthermore, since it's less viscose than it's supposed to be, I believe it could have to do with one of two things: the heat has made it less thick, and/or they water it down so it doesn't cost as much. I probably wouldn't eat there lol >_<