The sauce is necessary to give your food a complementary and contrasting flavor and pure taste bud euphoria. Do you try the La Choy sweet and sour sauce recipe at home? Not yet? Don’t worry; this article will give you the full ingredients list and cooking instructions for the sweet and sour sauce recipe.
This sauce recipe is easy to make, and that complements many dishes. The ingredients of this recipe are in your pantry so that you can whip up this sauce within a few minutes.
La Choy sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
6
servings5
minutes15
minutes126
kcal20
minutesAre you ready to prepare the La Choy sweet and sour sauce recipe? You can make this sauce in two ways; to get the sauce’s rough texture, you need to saute the ginger, onion, red bell pepper, and garlic. And if you prefer a silky smooth consistency, you will need to mix and liquefy all the ingredients in a blender. Then pour the mixture into a saucepan, bring the sauce to a boil and add the cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken the sauce.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups of water
7 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp ketchup
- Ingredients List for Cornstarch Mixture
2 tbsp water
2 ½ tbsp cornstarch
- Other Ingredients for Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
1 small peeled and minced onion
3 peeled and minced garlic cloves
Thumb-size peeled and minced ginger
2 tbsp oil
½ tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp chopped red bell pepper
- Tools
Cooking pan
Chopping board
Knife
Mixing bowl
Spoon
Measuring cup
how to make La Choy sweet and Sour Sauce
- Prepare the ketchup mixture: In a mixing bowl, combine vinegar, water, sugar, ketchup, and salt. Then give them a good mix and set them aside.
- Prepare the cornstarch mixture: In a small bowl, dilute 2 ½ tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water. Stir them until they become a smooth mixture and set aside.
- Saute ingredients: Place a saucepan on the stove and heat the oil to medium heat. Put chopped onion and saute them for 2 minutes. Then add ginger and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or until it turns into golden color. Add chopped red bell pepper and cook them until they become soft.
- Pour ketchup and cornstarch mixture: After saucing all the vegetables, pour the ketchup mixture and add garlic powder. Then allow them to bring to a boil. After a few seconds, lower the stove heat and pour the cornstarch mixture. It would be best if you stirred the mixture constantly until well blended. Allow the sauce to bring to a boil and cook them for 2 minutes.
- Serve the sauce: After 2 minutes of cooking, turn off the heat and keep the sauce aside to cool down at room temperature. Then serve the sauce with your favorite food.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Don’t forget to keep stirring the sauce until it becomes well blended.
- You can store this sauce for 3 to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight bottle or container.
- After cooling down, the sauce becomes thick. So, if you like a runny sauce, reduce the amount of cornstarch from this recipe.
- Keep stirring the sauce constantly and slowly pour the cornstarch mixture, so the sauce doesn’t clump up.
- This sauce provides a high amount of sodium. 7% is the recommended amount for the daily sweet and sour sauce intake.
Health Benefits of Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
- Usually, the health benefits of this delicious sauce depend on its ingredients. Some important health benefits of this sauce are given below.
- This sauce helps to improve dietary adherence.
- This sauce is rich in vitamin C, which helps to absorb both heme and nonheme iron. So, this sauce helps to prevent iron deficiency. Vitamin C is a potent immune booster that helps prevent infection and reduce the healing time of any injury.
- This sauce is rich in sodium which helps to conduct nerve impulses, maintain the proper balance of minerals and water, and contract and relax body muscles. 500 mg sodium is the risk-free amount of daily consumption.
Adverse Effects of Sweet and Sour Sauce
- If you have allergy problems with any ingredients in this recipe, you should skip that ingredient and can replace another ingredient if you want.
- If you are following a low sodium diet, you should reduce the intake of this sauce. This sauce is a good source of high sodium, so you should be careful about consuming sweet and sour sauce.
Varieties of Sweet and Sour Sauce
You may bring a wide variety of sweet and sour sauces, including low sodium, salt-free, sugar-free, preservative-free, gluten-free, vegan, and soy-free. So make anyone that suits your needs.
Storage and Food Safety
- If you store the sweet and sour sauce properly, this sauce will last for a long time. How long will homemade sweet and sour sauce last in the fridge? If the homemade sauce is stored in an airtight container, it will last for 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator and should be discarded after one month. But before storing, allow your sauce to cool down at room temperature.
- However, how long does sweet and sour sauce last unrefrigerated? The sweet and sour sauce may last for two months at room temperature with preservatives. But without preservatives, this sauce may last for one day a room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sweet and sour sauce good for you?
The sweet and sour sauce is neither healthy nor unhealthy. It can be a part of your nutritious meal plan. Usually, this sauce is used as the dipping sauce for deep-fried meat and fish.
How to use sweet and sour sauce?
You can incorporate this sweet and sour sauce with different food items like egg rolls, chicken nuggets, potstickers, wontons, fish sticks, sweet and sour chicken, shrimp or pork, Asian salad dressings, sweet and sour meatballs, seafood, pork, egg drop soup, soup, cauliflower fried rice, broccoli stir with ginger and sesame, kabobs, ribs, as a glaze for grilled chicken, and anything else your heart desires. However, you can also use this sauce as a marinade. This sauce is also perfectly paired with the meal packed with vegetables and vegetarian dishes.
What to do with leftover sweet and sour sauce?
You should not throw out the leftover sweet and sour sauce for several reasons, including using the leftover sauce in many different recipes, and it is delicious if you like to eat it with other food items. You can do many things with the leftover sauce, which are given below
- Stir fry is the best way to use the leftover sauce because it brings out its flavor, and you can add anything to it.
- You can add the extra sauce to stir-frying vegetables and fried rice.
- You can store the leftover sauce in the freezer for later use.
Do I have to use red food coloring?
No, it would be best if you did not use artificial food coloring in your sauce because it will make it unhealthy. However, you can add natural color to your sauce if you want.
How do I thicken my sweet and sour sauce?
Cornstarch is the best ingredient to thicken the sauce. You should mix a limited amount of cornstarch with water, and then you need to add the cornstarch with sauce slowly.
Nutrition Information
| Serving | 2 tbsp |
| Calories | 126 |
| Fiber | 0g |
| Fat | 4g |
| Potassium | 55mg |
| Iron | 0mg |
| Protein | 0g |
| Sodium | 825mg |
| Calcium | 9mg |
| Sugar | 15g |
| Carbohydrates | 20g |
| Cholesterol | 0mg |
| Vitamin A | 125IU |
| Vitamin C | 6mg |
Conclusion
The sauce provides moisture and flavor and improves texture and color. Hopefully, you like the copycat version of the La Choy sweet and sour sauce recipe. If you try out this sauce at home, leave a comment in the comment section.