Don’t by the stuff in the jar, make your own! For more great Chinese restaurants check out The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by Gloria Bley Miller.
Don’t you hate it when you take out Chinese food, and they don’t leave you with enough sweet and sour sauce? Well, know you can make your own and you will never have to run out. This is easy to make, and just think you can make up a large batch of wontons, and have plenty of sauce to dip your wontons in.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Chinese Imperial Palace Sweet and Sour Sauce
You can make sweet and sour sauce served just like it is in most Chinese restaurants.
Print Pin RatePrep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 59kcal
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon MSG
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- dash of White Pepper
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan add white vinegar, water, sugar, salt, MSG, and Tobasco. Cook over medium heat. Heat through. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water, and add to the saucepan. Add Worcestershire sauce and a dash of white pepper.
- Cook until it is bubbly and thick. Remove from stove and add 2 Tbsp. ketchup. This will stay good in the refrigerator for about a week
Nutrition
Calories: 59kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 92mg | Potassium: 9mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 0.3% | Vitamin C: 0.1%
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Karen H says
A FANTASTIC recipe!
Thanks so much.
Margo Haynes says
Thank you so very much for this recipe! Delicious!
craig says
outstanding…just made it exacly to your recipe and WOW..
Benjamin Ku says
For the record, the red color absolutely comes from red food coloring. I was raised in a Chinese restaurant. But the other ingredients are close.
hillary says
I made this sauce with just the sugar, water, corn starch and ketchup. I did add an extra tablespoon of corn starch and some grenadine for color and flavor. And it turned out amazing!
paintinc56 says
Tastes like $hit.
Janey says
What purpose does the msg offer? what happens if you leave it out?
stephaniemanley says
It is a flavor enhancer that you can buy. Some people are allergic to it, you may want to leave it out.
Mr. Po says
How it is become red in color? Many Thanks.
Dan Coyle says
Many recipes say they use a little red food coloring
stephaniemanley says
Well ketchup gets its coloring from tomatoes which some think is preferable to red dye.
Monkeyb00y says
Actually it’s the ketchup. The last instruction is to remove from the heat & add 2 tbsp ketchup. I added more but it did turn a nice red color. Perfect 🙂
Sharon Kay Mikesell says
My recipe calls for maraschino cherry juice…ABSOLUTELY NO ketchup!! Just store the jarred cherries in the fridge. Or I suppose you can cut them in half & use whatever amount in any entree of your choosing! Sounds pretty good in sweet & sour chicken. At any rate…the color of gorgeous jeweled red is the outcome, it as well as the taste of this sauce REALLY pop! I believe many accomplished/beginning chinese chefs cringe upon hearing about the addition of ketchup!!! Save the ketchup for your fries. Hope this helps…
stephaniemanley says
Great suggestion on the cherry liquid. There is a restaurant near me that makes a sauce using the juice from the cherries, I think they call it cherry chicken or something, its delicious.
Rich G says
Is the reference to the Imperial Palace (General Tso’s Chicken) the same as the one in Las Vegas?
No, it isn’t that one, and I have even stayed there before too! I was referring to a restaurant in the Houston area that had closed several years ago. ~Stephanie