Easy Chinese Sweet and Sour Sauce
A quick and easy, homemade Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe that tastes just like the ones at your Chinese takeout restaurants and is made without pineapple, ketchup, or food coloring.
- Prep time
- 3 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1+1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp neutral oil ((vegetable, canola, corn, avocado etc))
- 1 clove garlic ((peeled and smashed, but kept whole))
- 1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- 1
In a small bowl, mix the 1½ tablespoons of corn starch with ½ cup of cold water and mix well until it is combined. Then mix in ½ cup of white vinegar, ½ cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mix well.Make sure not to mix the oil and tomato paste into this.
- 2
(Optional) If you are using garlic for flavor, peel it and use the side of a knife to smash it open but keep the clove whole so you can remove it easier at the end.
- 3
Set a small pot over medium-low heat.
- 4
Add in 2 tablespoons of oil, garlic clove (optional), and 4 tablespoons of tomato paste, and cook it for approximately 5 minutes until the oil turns to an orange color and the tomato pastes turn a slightly darker red.
- 5
Stir the bowl with the rest of the ingredients with a utensil to re-mix the corn starch with the sauce (starch usually settles on the bottom), and pour it into the pot with the tomato paste.Whisk everything quickly until the sauce turns thick. (approx. 5 minutes.)**Make sure you keep stirring quickly during this step to prevent clumps in your sauce
- 6
If you used a garlic clove, fish it out with a spoon and remove it.
- 7
If you like the sauce thinner, add an additional 1-3 tablespoons of water to it.
- 8
(Optional) Add ¼ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce to it if you want some additional flavor
- 9
Once it has thickened, pour it out into a bowl and enjoy with some snacks!