Sweet & Sour Sauce, Hawaiian style
Sweet & sour sauce is easy to make, and you can adjust the flavors to your taste. I do not add sugar to my sauce because I think it tastes sweet enough without sugar. I can’t give you amounts for the ingredients because that depends upon how much sauce you are making and what flavors you like. Consider this more of a guide than a recipe, and make your sauce the way you like it.
Remember, this is your sauce, and you will be eating it, so you decide if you want to make substitutions. You could, for example, leave out the celery or the onions. I recommend using both, but this is your sauce, so make it your own. You could use shallots instead of onions, or you could use broccoli stalks instead of celery. You could even use both celery and broccoli stalks. The broccoli florets would not work because they have a texture that you don’t want in this sauce.
Keep tasting the sauce as you develop the flavors, and make sure that you like it.
Ingredients:
Chopped onion (I like the sweet white onions, but you could use any onion or shallots)
Chopped celery (chop to about the same size as the onion, up to one inch if you like chewing on some chewy ingredients, smaller if you want a very smooth sauce)
Chopped broccoli stalks (optional)
Cooking oil (I like to use grape seed oil because it does not change the flavor and it can be used on high heat, but use whatever you like, but not butter, since butter tends to burn.)
Canned pineapple chunks (in their own juice, not sugary syrup)
Canned or fresh pineapple juice (optional, needed for larger batches)
Peach jam or apricot jam or apricot/peach jam (for orange sauce, used orange marmalade instead)
Canned water chestnuts (optional, to add crunch if desired)
Maraschino cherries (optional)
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce (contains anchovies; for vegetarians, you can use soy sauce with a little ginger as a substitute, or there are vegan sauces available)
Lemon juice
Corn starch (if needed to thicken the sauce; mix with an equal amount of water before adding to the sauce)
Red pepper flakes or your favorite hot sauce
Salt
Method:
You can make this sauce in a frying pan, but I tend to over stir and make a mess all over the stove top, so I use a deep saucepan. I start by cooking the onions and celery in a little oil, in a frying pan, and then I transfer them into a sauce pan. Sometimes I don’t want to wash two pans, so I fry the onions in the sauce pan.
Put the frying pan over medium heat. It is hot enough when a drop of water fizzes right away. I usually get my hand wet and shake the water onto the surface of the frying pan to test the temperature. Pour in two or three tablespoons of oil and tilt the pan to spread it around. Add the onions and stir them gently and constantly. You want the onions to turn a little transparent. Then add the celery and continue stirring. These vegetables are going to be boiled in the sauce, so you don’t need them fully cooked. You are simply getting them hot on the outside, not browned but somewhat firm. Add a few red pepper flakes or a dash of your favorite hot sauce and stir well. You are looking for a little bite, a bit of lift to the flavor, but if you like really hot sauces, such as Thai sauces, go for it.
Transfer the onions and celery to a deep sauce pan and place the pan over medium heat. Add jam and stir to mix it well with the vegetables. Pour in all of the juice from the canned pineapple and keep stirring gently. If you are making a large batch, from a pint to a quart, you will need about 8 ounces of jam, and then you will need to thin the sauce with additional pineapple juice.
At this point, you need to start tasting. Dip a spoon into the sauce, and let the sauce run off while you lift out the spoon. When it cools enough to taste without burning you mouth, taste it. Do this every time you add another flavor to the sauce. Add the sauces in small amounts. You can always addmore, but you can’t take it out.
Add soy sauce, stir, then taste. Add Worcestershire sauce, stir, then taste. Add lemon juice, stir, then taste. If the sauce seems to need salt, add it now. Remember, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce are already salty, so you might not need to add any salt. That is a good reason to taste the sauce first.
Add the pineapple chunks and stir them in. Drain the water chestnuts and add them now, if desired. Stir the sauce until the water chestnuts are mixed in and covered with sauce. Add a little pineapple juice if desired. You need to taste the sauce to see if you like the flavor, and you might want to add more pineapple juice and taste it again. If your sauce seems too thin, add a little of the corn starch that you mixed with water, and stir it into the sauce. Add a little at a time, stir it in and wait to see how the sauce thickens. If your sauce seems too thick, add more lemon juice or pineapple juice to thin it. Another option is to add the liquid from a jar of maraschino cherries. Keep tasting as you add more juice.
Turn off the heat and wait about ten minutes before dusing a ladle to pour the sauce over your favorite entrée. Top with maraschino cherries if desired.
Enjoy!
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