This Chinese mahogany-dark, thick sauce is made from fermented wheat and salted soya beans, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil and red rice for colouring. It is flavoured with five-spice powder.

It is used in marinades, as a glaze for meat or poultry.

For dipping, it is often thinned down with sesame oil and black vinegar.

And it is used for spreading on small thin coriander pancakes to wrap around crispy pieces of Beijing (once Peking) duck.