1. •Finely chop the chili and spring onion. Use all the spring onion, the green bits at the top are full of flavour.
   

2. •Saute the spring onion and chili in the butter over a moderate heat until they soften well and the onions start to caramelize.
   

3. •Turn the heat up to high and add the sherry. Cook off the alcohol in the sherry.
   

4. •Add the chicken stock, peanut butter, star anise, hoisin, 1 tsp 5-spice and 1/2 tsp sugar.
   

5. •Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
   

6. •Remove the star anise and transfer mixture to a food processor. Blend it until smooth then return to the pan.
   

7. •Simmer uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken.
   

8. •At this point taste it. You might want to add more sugar or 5-spice but it will depend on the hoisin you’ve used. I use a Chinese brand from my local Chinese supermarket, it’s really tangy so I need to add another tsp of sugar at this point. But some hoisin sauces are a lot less tangy so you might want a bit more 5-spice to give the sauce more punch. The sauce shouldn’t need any salt but a quick hit of freshly ground pepper will work if you fancy it. Let your taste-buds judge it.
   

9. •Transfer the sauce to your storage container, let it cool and store in the fridge for up to a month. If you sterilize a jar for storage then it should keep a lot longer.

I love this sauce, I got it right first time and I don’t really want to mess with it, but I am a tinkerer so...

1. •Try adding some fresh ginger in when cooking the sauce up.
   

2. •Whack a bit more chili in and don’t deseed the chilies, this sauce would work hotter.
   

3. •For a different experience, you could try using a good quality stock cube dissolved in a cup of Kriek Beer instead of fresh stock. I’ve not done this myself but I reckon it could add a new dimension to the flavour, and at least you get to drink the rest of the beer!
   

This is like a supercharged hoisin sauce with a robust nutty undertone. It was a byproduct of creating the Peking Glazed Lamb recipe. But I tell you what, I wouldn’t have minded the lamb turning out crap just to get this sauce out of the process.

Is this a BBQ sauce or a glaze? Well I cooked it up the first time meaning it to be a glaze, but it tastes so good on its own that I have to class it as a BBQ sauce. Try dipping chips in it or make up some Peking Glazed Lamb then use some leftovers for a butty with tomato, spring onion and this stuff mixed 50/50 with mayo - trust me it’s good!

- Steve

Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for a small jar:

1. •1/2 cup hoisin sauce
   

2. •1 cup fresh chicken stock
   

3. •3 tbsp dry sherry
   

4. •2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
   

5. •1 tbsp butter
   

6. •1 star anise
   

7. •1/2 fresh red chili pepper (deseeded)
   

8. •1 clove of garlic
   

9. •2 spring onions
   

10. •1-3 tsp brown sugar
    

11. •1-2 tsp Chines 5 spice