**  **hoisin sauce**  First, toast the spices by tossing them all together in a hot, dry frying pan over a high heat for 0-0 minutes until fragrant. Remove from the heat and set the spices to one side in the pan.  For the broth, char the onions and ginger until the skin blisters all over and goes black, either by setting them on a foil-lined baking tray and blow-torching them or grilling them (under a high heat), or by holding them directly over a gas flame with tongs (be careful and wear oven gloves when doing this). This will take just a few minutes. Let the onions and ginger cool, then peel, removing the blackened bits. Rinse and set to one side.  