Multi-Purpose Sweet and Sour Sauce

I got this recipe for sweet and sour sauce more than 10 years ago, from a long-forgotten source. But I have used it for many dishes, and it has been pretty much fool-proof. This is a basic recipe that can be scaled up, and used as a base for dishes.

First, I’ll give you the basic recipe, then some tips, and then a couple of examples of what you can do with it:

Basic Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons ketchup
2-3 drops hot pepper sauce, or a dash of ground pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tablespoon water

In a small pan, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, sater, and ketchup. Boil for 2 minutes. Add hot pepper sauce (or ground pepper) and corn starch. Stir continually for 3 minutes over medium heat, until the cornstarch is cooked.

Here are my tips to make sure that this turns out perfect every single time:

• The key is in the proportion of the first 5 ingredients. Do not vary this. Do not eyeball. Use proper measuring tools (remember that cups for wet and dry ingredients are different).
• The amount of hot pepper sauce (or ground pepper) can be varied to a degree. If you like it hot, add a few more drops. Just don’t add tablespoonfuls of the stuff.
• Likewise, the amount of cornstarch can also be varied. If you want the sauce to be runny, add a little more water. For a thicker sauce, add more cornstarch.
• Never ever add the dry cornstarch to the boiling sauce. Always dissolve cornstarch in water before adding to any dish. This keeps your sauce smooth and free of clumps.
• Be careful when scaling up the recipe to make sure that the proportions are maintained. So, to double, use 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup water, 4 tablespoons ketchup.

The basic sauce is great for dipping egg rolls in. If you don’t care for those bright red sauces that come with take-out egg roll, you can whip this up in a few minutes. Or make your own egg rolls to go with the sauce.

This is also my base sauce for sweet and sour dishes like meat balls, pork chops or escabeche (sweet and sour fish). When we have leftover breaded pork chops, turning them into a sweet and sour dish is very simple. I follow this basic recipe for all my sweet and sour dishes:

Sweet and Sour Dish

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup ginger, cut in big chunks
first 6 ingredients of the basic sweet and sour sauce
green pepper and/or red pepper, cut in strips or 1 inch pieces
carrots, cut in strips or 1/3 inch pieces
Fried pork chops, meat balls or fish
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tablespoon water

In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic, onion and ginger until the onion is starting to become transparent. Add the first 6 ingredients of the basic sweet and sour sauce. You can make a double or triple batch, and you don’t even have to pre-mix these 6 ingredients. You can add them directly to the pan with the garlic, onion and ginger. Boil for 5 minutes. Add the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes. Add the fried meat or fish and heat through. Finally, add the cornstarch dissolved in water, and mix well to prevent clumping. Spoon the sauce over the meat/fish to make sure everything is covered.

Enjoy with rice, of course.