Having trouble with the sweet & sour sauce recipe
Recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/19670/sweet-and-sour-sauce-i/
Ingredients:
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Directions:
Place the sugar, vinegar, water, soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened.
I did everything as said in the instructions, weighed in all the ingredients correctly and the problem is with the vinegar. I don't know if I'm using the wrong vinegar or something, but as soon as I smelled the sauce when it was cooking, I thought my lungs was about to explode in my chest, I could barely taste the sauce as the vinegar felt really really strong in it.
Is it something wrong with my choice of vinegar or is the recipe faulty? I don't understand. On the bottle it says "Food vinegar acid (9%)".
Really need help.
Best Answer
5% is the acid content of most common vinegars, and if a recipe doesn't explicitly state to use a stronger one, assume a 5% type is intended. There seem to be versions of white distilled vinegar in both 5% and 10%, an even stronger version called Essigessenz at 25% (!!!) is common in Germany. You likely bought the 9% version by accident, you should dilute it 1:1 with water or only use half the amount.
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How do I thicken sweet and sour sauce?
A mixture of cornstarch and water is added to the pot of ingredients to thicken the sweet and sour sauce. If you are missing cornstarch, do not boil down the sauce before adding in the cornstarch mixture as it can become much too overpowering with the amount of sugar and vinegar in the sauce.How do you balance sweet and sour sauce?
Adjust the flavor balance of your sauce: If too tart or acidic, add 1/4 tsp. sugar and stir well. If too bland or sweet, add 1/4 tsp. red wine vinegar and stir well.How do you fix sweet and sour sauce that is too sweet?
Adding lime juice can to your dish can balance out the sweetness. In case, you don't want too much of tanginess in the dish you can also add vinegar white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar.Billy Idol - Trouble with the sweet stuff
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Answer 2
This may vary between recipes, countries and other factors, but the vinegars I have seen usually contain about five percent of acid, and their name generally indicates the base the vinegar is made from (whine, sherry,...).
So I guess your vinegar is much more acidic than is usual, and could have been diluted for the recipe. Also, it might just be a mix of acetic acid and water, whith a pure acidy taste.
Answer 3
I have found using rice wine vinegar to be a better vinegar choice. U could always up the sugar, I always use pineapple juice in my. Helps balance the sour out a ton. try replacing the water measurement with pineapple juice.
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