The sweet flour sauce, also called Tianmian sauce (甜面酱), is a thick, smooth, dark brown paste with a mild savory and sweet flavor. It is commonly used in Northern Chinese cuisine. Some of the most popular ways of enjoying this sauce are: 1) as a condiment for noodles salad; 2) as a dipping sauce for Peking duck and fresh vegetables; 3) in cooking meat for a strong umami taste.

The sweet flavor comes majorly from the fermented ingredient. Some region uses fermented wheat flour, some uses fermented soybeans (for this reason this sauce is also known as sweet bean sauce). Certain northern provinces in China add more sugar to enhance the sweetness.
This recipe gives you a short cut to replicate this sauce, saving you from the long fermentation by using sugar and salsa di soia. Follow the below recipe and prepare your own Tianmian sauce.
Sweet Flour Sauce 甜面酱
Course: BASIC PREPARATIONSCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Low8
persons5
minutes5
minutes10
minutesThe sweet flour sauce, also called Tianmian sauce (甜面酱), is a thick, smooth, dark brown paste with a mild savory and sweet flavor.
INGREDIENTS
Water: 300ml
Sugar: 2 tbsp
Soy sauce: 3 tbsp
Dark soy sauce: 2 tbsp
Oyster sauce: 2 tbsp
Flour: 30g
Preparation
- Put all the ingredients in a nonstick pan. Mix them well making sure there is no lumps in the mixture.
- Put the pan on high heat. Continue to stir the mixture in order to heat it up gradually and evenly.
- After around 2 minutes the mixture is thickening. Lower the heat and keep stiring.
- After 4 minutes, there would be big bubbles raising from the bottom of the padella. At this point the mixture should have turned into a cream with smooth and dense texture.
- Turn off the heat and let it cool.
- Conserve the sauce in a jar and keep it in the fridge. Use it whenever you want.
VIDEO RECIPE
Simple like this! And now you can add a kick of flavor from the northern China cuisine into your dish!

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