Sweet bean sauce (甜面酱, tian mian jiang) is also known as Sweet Fermented Bean Sauce, and Sweet Flour Sauce. It is a thick, opaque, reddish dark brown sauce that tastes salty and slightly sweet, and has a savory umami that is similar to that of fermented soybeans. It is sometimes confused with hoisin sauce, because they have some common characteristics and Chinese restaurants might refer to it as hoisin sauce (since it sounds more familiar).
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What is Tian Mian Jiang?
Tian Mian Jiang is a thick, smooth, and almost molasses-like sauce. It is the key condiment for many northern Chinese dishes like Peking duck, Beijing Zha Jiang Mian, Beijing Shredded Pork (Jing Jiang Rou Si) Mantou, and braised dishes.
Tian Mian Jiang has a rich, umami flavor with a balance of sweetness and saltiness. It has a thick, smooth texture similar to hoisin sauce but is less sweet and more savory. The taste is deeply fermented, with hints of soy and a mild molasses-like sweetness.
How is Tian Mian Jiang made?
Tian Mian Jiang is made primarily from wheat flour and salt, and sometimes fermented soy beans and broad beans. Despite the name “sweet bean sauce,” it actually contains little to no whole beans—the sweetness comes from the fermentation of wheat. Here’s a general overview of how it’s made:
- Fermentation of Wheat and Soy – Wheat flour (possibly with soybean paste) is mixed with water and fermented for several months. During fermentation, natural enzymes break down starches into sugars, giving the sauce its characteristic sweetness.
- Salting and Further Fermentation – Salt is added to preserve and balance the flavor. The mixture continues to ferment, deepening its umami and slightly funky complexity.
- Aging and Processing – After fermentation, the sauce is strained, blended, and sometimes thickened to achieve a smooth, dark brown paste with a glossy texture.
Uses
Tian Mian Jiang is commonly used in northern Chinese cooking. It is a key ingredient in Zha Jiang Mian (Fried Noodle Sauce). It’s often used as a condiment for Peking duck, Jian Bing, and Ji Dan Bing (Breakfast Pancake). It can be used as a dipping sauce for vegetables (steamed or raw). And it can be used as a main ingredient to create sauces for stir fries and braised dishes.
How to shop for sweet bean sauce
Tian Mian Jiang is so commonly used in Korean, Japanese-Chinese, and Chinese cooking, it is found in most Asian supermarkets. It’s usually on the room-temperature shelves that display other sauces, near the soy sauce section. However, it often gets confused and mislabeled with other bean sauces like hoisin or sweet bean paste, so it might be easier to check the Chinese name, written as 甜面酱.
You will come across two versions of Tian Mian Jiang – the Northern version (made primarily from flour) and the Southern version (made from soybeans). I love the Northern version, but the Southern version will work just as well.
For a northern brand, I like the brand 六必居 (Liu Bi Ju), a brand from Beijing that was founded during the Qing Dynasty (in the 1600s). Sweet bean sauce is one of their most famous products.
The brand you’ll probably see most often is Lee Kum Kee, which is a southern Chinese brand that uses soybean paste. It’s a pretty good option as well.
For a higher-end sauce for special occasions, the Juan Cheng brand Sichuan Sweet Wheat Paste from our friends at the Mala Market is unbeatable. It contains no soybeans, sugar, or soy sauce, yet it lends an incredibly complex and rich umami flavor to any dish.
How to store
Once opened, keep it in the fridge and use it within a year. Although you can definitely store it for longer than a year.
Substitution
The substitutes for Tian Mian Jiang depends on the recipe you’re making.
If used as a spread, condiment, or dipping sauce (such as sauce for Peking duck), hoisin sauce is a good substitute, though it tastes much sweeter.
If you’re making a dish that uses sweet bean sauce as the main ingredient, homemade black bean sauce is actually a much better substitute. For example, Beijing Zha Jiang Mian and Beijing Shredded Pork (Jing Jiang Rou Si). Homemade black bean sauce has a similar fermented umami and a hint of sweetness, which makes the flavor profile of the dish closer to Tian Mian Jiang.
Is Tian Mian Jiang the same as hoisin sauce?
No. The main ingredient in hoisin sauce is sugar, with a small amount of soy bean paste to add a savory flavor. It also has added spices such as garlic and chili pepper.
Tian Mian Jiang is made with fermented flour (or sometimes soybeans) with little or no added sugar. It has a saltier taste and more umami, and a hint of sweetness. And it also doesn’t contain spices the way hoisin sauce does.
I recently developed a severe allergy to capsicum–peppers, chilies and paprika. I am learning which Chinese sauces I can still eat or I need to make from scratch. Does tian mian jiang contain any capsicum?