Sweet and Sour Sauce - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

FAQs

What is a substitute for sweet and sour sauce? ›

Alternative Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 cup pineapple juice. 1/3 cup water. 3 tablespoons vinegar. 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

While sweet and sour can be found in diverse forms in China, the American version builds upon the simple mixture of sugar, vinegar, and spices with the addition of fruit juice—most commonly pineapple—and ketchup, giving the sauce both its red hue and uniquely Western flavor.

Transfer sauce to a heatproof dish. If not using immediately, allow the sauce to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate, in an airtight container, until ready to use. Sweet and Sour Sauce will keep up to two weeks.

White wine vinegar has a slightly fruity taste, which is similar to the slightly sweet taste of rice vinegar. They are also similar in color. When it comes to taste, white wine vinegar may be the best substitute for rice vinegar.

Regular distilled vinegar is usually more acidic than rice vinegar so you will need to add a bit of water to substitute it for rice vinegar. White wine vinegar will work as well, again with a touch of water.

However, if you're making this for someone who can't have malt vinegar (i.e ceoliac) you can replace with white wine vinegar. Garlic and ginger - use fresh minced garlic or ginger, or you can replace with the minced garlic and ginger that comes in a jar. Both work equally well.

If you're using it to thicken a sauce you can substitute just about any type of fine flour made into a slurry and whisked into the sauce. You will need to cook it for several minutes to get rid of the taste of raw flour. What Does Cornstarch Taste Like?

Use Flour and Water

Combine 2 tablespoons flour with every 1/4 cup cold water and whisk until smooth. Add the mixture to your sauce over medium heat, and continue to stir and cook until you've reached your desired consistency. Test with a spoon.

If the sauce isn't thick enough, you can add one more tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk it in. But remember, the sauce will thicken even more as it cools down. So only add more cornstarch if the sauce is way too thin.

Ingredients: Water, high fructose corn syrup, distilled white vinegar, sugar, tomato paste, modified corn starch, pineapple juice concentrate, salt, FD&C Yellow 5, FD&C Red 40, citric acid, FD&C Yellow 6, xanthan gum, natural flavor, sodium benzoate added as a preservative.

Do Chinese restaurants make their own sweet and sour sauce? ›

I'm sure they mix a sweet sauce with soy and vinegar. You could easily look this up on line- how to make your own sweet & sour. The Chinese do not buy it. They know how to make it.

To determine whether or not sweet and sour sauce has gone bad, you can look at it and smell it. The color may change from red to dark brown as it goes bad. White or grey mold may start to grow on top of the sauce or in the container.

If a sauce or marinade has expired but was never opened and is still sealed, is it safe to eat (2 months past expiration date)? Anything that was air-tight sealed in a bottle, jar, or can can be safely eaten for years after the expiration date.

Does sweet and sour sauce need to be refrigerated? Yes - you must refrigerate it after opening.

Summary Apple cider vinegar has a mild flavor that is similar to rice vinegar. You can substitute apple cider vinegar for rice vinegar in a 1:1 ratio, and add 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) of sugar per tablespoon (15 ml) of vinegar to add sweetness.

The short answer is: yes, you can easily substitute rice wine vinegar with another vinegar in most recipes. Depending on the recipe there may be some negligible (or even interesting) changes in flavor. If you want to do a slightly deeper dive into rice vinegar, where it comes from and what it's used for, keep reading.

The cleaner taste of white balsamic vinegar may make it a suitable substitution for rice vinegar in some recipes, such as salad dressings. A 2019 review indicated that fruit vinegar, such as balsamic, is a rich source of polyphenols and organic acids and can be a good dietary source of antioxidants.

Yes. You can substitute apple cider vinegar for rice wine vinegar 1:1. Rice wine vinegar is a little sweeter than apple cider vinegar, so to account for this you can add a small amount of sugar to make up the difference – about ¼ teaspoons sugar to every 2 tablespoons of vinegar.