ISO sweet and sour sauce recipe

[mhadam]

Need a sweet and sour sauce recipe. I searched but couldn't find anything. Thinking about making sweet and sour shrimp with rice for dinner and didn't want to use a packaged sauce and I really don't feel like experimenting tonight.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Jason Perlow]

The genuine article doesnt taste anything like the bright red sauce you get with that american cantonese lunch special. The Cantonese banquet dish that the american one originates from is very vinegary and not sticky sweet at all.

The one you are referring to is mostly ketchup and sugar.

See:

http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blrecipe010.htm

http://www.melborponsti.com/easy/easy0202.shtml

http://appetizerrecipe.com/AZ/SwtndSrSc.asp

[mhadam]

I don't recall the sauce being sickly sweet or made with kethcup. When we would get sweet and sour pork from our old chinese place it wasn't red. It was thin, tangy and lightly coated the veggies and the pork, as oppossed to a corn syrup like consistency.

Nevermind then..but thank you.

Ketchup?

[Jason Perlow]

Actually ketchup is used a lot in cantonese cooking. Its not that weird.

[mhadam]

I hate ketchup. The color, the smell, the taste. I get nausated thinking about it.

[guajolote]

This sounds kinda gross but it is actually quite good:

1 part ketchup

1 part vinegar

1 part sugar

1 part soy sauce

I saw jean-George Vongerichten maje it on Ready! Set! Cook! a few years ago. He said it was his favorite sauce to make at home.

[stefanyb]

Do any of you remember the chili sauce and grape jelly concoction of the 70's?

[mhadam]

Do any of you remember the chili sauce and grape jelly concoction of the 70's?

eeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Was it a spread or a sauce?

[SobaAddict70]

I don't have a recipe for sweet and sour "x" ("x" being chicken, pork, shrimp or your favorite protein/protein substitute), as I never cook it....but my mom does.

However, whatever you do, please consider using water chestnut powder as part of your breading/coating when you prepare the dish. Water chestnut powder, a product that you can find in some Chinatowns (depending on where you live), is far far superior to panko and will result in a light, crispy coating.

The version my mom makes incorporates ketchup...but we're talking banana ketchup, which is slightly less gloppy than the Heinz version, and a little fruitier/spicier. Its mostly bananas, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and spices. Check it out.

SA

[SobaAddict70]

Do any of you remember the chili sauce and grape jelly concoction of the 70's?

Stefanyb:

reminds me of a Swedish meatball concoction I got from a friend's relatives a few years ago. the sauce was, and I quote, "half a jar of Welch's grape jelly and an excess of Tabasco" mixed together.

Needless to say, I took one taste and almost retched.

SA

[Jinmyo]

I hate ketchup. The color, the smell, the taste. I get nausated thinking about it.

I agree. But it's an often used component in much French haute cuisine.

[stefanyb]

Do any of you remember the chili sauce and grape jelly concoction of the 70's?

eeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Was it a spread or a sauce?

It was a sauce usually for meatballs blech. I just realized that blech and belch are very similar

[stagis]

This is the new millennium - jelly has been replaced by cranberry sauce........

[Spoonful]

Do any of you remember the chili sauce and grape jelly concoction of the 70's?

Yup! I do. If I remember correctly, it was used for meat balls. Not as gross as it sounds! But we have evolved so much since!

[Suvir Saran]

I hate ketchup. The color, the smell, the taste. I get nausated thinking about it.

I agree. But it's an often used component in much French haute cuisine.

Ketchup and Curry!

Ketchup is used more than we think. In fact in my cookbook I came out clean and share 2 recipes that have ketchup in them. More kitchens and chefs use ketchup than you would believe.

[Spoonful]

I haven't bought a bottle of ketchup in years

What have I been missing?

[MaggieW]

I got my recipe for Thai-style fried rice from a Thai woman. It calls for ketchup, although not a lot. And it is very good.

[Suvir Saran]

What have I been missing?

A spoonful of Ketchup that can often make all the difference in some recipes.

[torakris]

What have I been missing?

A spoonful of Ketchup that can often make all the difference in some recipes.

I have found ketchup does work well in some recipes.

The Japanese make what they call a dry curry (ground meat with no sauce) and it is seasoned with ketchup, worchestire sauce (I know I messed that one up!) and curry powder, it is really good. Usually with minced onions, carrots and green peppers and topped with a fried egg.

There are aslo disgusting things that I can't eat:

A spaghetti they make with sliced sausages, green pepper, and onions and the sauce is ketchup, JUST ketchup!

Then there is the ketchup rice, like fried rice but with only ketchup as the seasoning.

Back to sweet and sour, my favorite is one that a famous chain restaurant (in Japan) sells. It has no ketchup and is based on basalmic vinegar, wish I new exactly how to make it though.

[Rhea_S]

The Japanese make what they call a dry curry (ground meat with no sauce) and it is seasoned with ketchup, worchestire sauce (I know I messed that one up!) and curry powder, it is really good. Usually with minced onions, carrots and green peppers and topped with a fried egg.

I think there's a box somewhere in my fridge for this Japanese "mirepoix" curry blocks. I've use bits of the stuff a few times and it's not too bad once you add fresh veggies, meat and additional seasoning.

As for ketchup in sweet and sour sauce, it really doesn't taste much like ketchup once it's cooked with the vinegar, sugar and soy sauce. If you really don't want to use ketchup, here's a recipe from epicurious.com that uses pineapple juice. My mom used to make something very similar to this and it was delicious. Click

[Susanwusan]

has anyone got a nice recipe for a chicken sweet and sour sauce?

[liuzhou]

On 12/11/2021 at 3:15 AM, Susanwusan said:

has anyone got a nice recipe for a chicken sweet and sour sauce?

 

Sweet and sour sauce as such, really doesn't exist here in China. Although many dishes do utilise sweet and sour tastes, they are nothing like sweet and sour sauces served internationally.

 

In a quarter of a century living in China, I have never seen sweet and sour chicken. Kung-po chicken (宫保鸡丁 - gōng bǎo jī dīng) does have sweet and sour elements, but they are only a small part of that dish. (Incidentally, when sour is used, it is nearly always in the form of rice vinegar - white or black depending on the dish. Also, the protein is rarely battered, but when it is, it is a very light batter.)

 

In my large collection of Chinese language cookbooks, there isn't a single recipe for a sweet and sour chicken dish and I've never seen it on a restaurant menu.

 

The sweet and sour dishes I have seen have nearly all been fish, but none of them are called sweet and sour. The most common is 松鼠鳜鱼 (sōng shǔ guì yú), the so-called 'squirrel fish' mentioned before. One notable exception to fish is my favourite, that being 糖醋里脊 (táng cù lǐ jǐ, literally 'sugar vinegar (pork) tenderloin') from Sichuan, although it does not resemble western 'Chinese' sweet and sour in any way.

Edited December 19, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

I think you are referring  to  Americanized-Chinese or other out of country. Here  it is generally a tender pork that can be quickly cooked with unfortunately usually a gloppy sweet/sour sauce. Where is your interest  coming from - a particular experience or?

[liuzhou]

Here is my take on a Shanghai style sweet and sour spare ribs. The Chinese chives on top are wilting in the residual heat. No gloop or day-glo orange

 

saucing.

[liuzhou]

and...

 

Shandong style Sweet and Sour Carp.