Sweet & Sour Sauce

Source: http://chinesefood.about.com


This receipe can be used as dipping sauce for meat items or as cooking sauce to pour over dishes.


Makes ~½ cup

Ingredients:
Rice vinegar, 1/3 cup
Brown sugar, 4 tbsp
Tomato sauce, 1 tbsp
Light soy sauce, 1 tsp
Cornstarch/water mixture*, as thickener

* Cooking sauce: mix 2 tsp cornstarch flour with 4 tsp water
  Dipping sauce: mix 4 tsp cornstarch flour with 4 tsp water




Method:
1. Except for cornstarch solution, mix all other ingredients together and bring to boil.  Add in cornstarch/water mixture, and stir well till sauce thickens.

Rojak Sauce

Ingredients:
Shrimp paste (Hae Ko 虾膏), 2 tbsp
Gula Melaka* (palm sugar 揶糖), 2-3 tbsp
Tamarind (Assam 亚参) juice extract, from 2 tbsp Assam pulp soaked in ½ cup warm water
Red fresh chilli**, pound to paste, 2-3 pcs
Peanut, roasted, remove coat and roughly crushed, ½ cup
Salt, ½ tsp

* Can replace with brown or white sugar
** Can use additional or replace with chilli padi for desired spiciness





Method:
1. Mix all ingredients till homogenous.



Variants:
(a) S'pore Rojak
Mix sauce with cut cucumber, jicama (bangkuang), fried beancurd (tau pok), pineapple, boiled bean sprouts (豆芽), boiled kangkong (空心菜), you char kway (油条), ginger flower (姜花), toasted cuttlefish/squid.

(b) Fruit Rojak
Mix sauce with cut green mango, guava, pineapple, buah jambu air (water apple 水苹果) and buah kedondong.

Teriyaki Sauce

Source: http://japanesefood.about.com



Teriyaki sauce can be used for glazing and marinating meat and vegetable.  It is prepared by mixing soy sauce, mirin and sugar.  Soy sauce & mirin ratio is 1:1.  In case when mirin is not available, it can be substitute with sake and sugar combination, in ratio sake:sugar = 3:1.


Makes 1 cup sauce.  Keep sauce in refrigerator.

Ingredients:
Japanese soy sauce, ½ cup
Mirin, ½ cup
Sugar, 2 tbsp



Method:
1. Combine all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat till sauce boils.

2. Lower heat and allow sauce to simmer for a few mins.

3. Off heat.  Let sauce cool to room temperature, then transfer to bottle and store in refrigerator.

Pizza Sauce

Source: Martha Steward "Favourite Comfort Food"

Makes enough for 2 pizzas.  Can keep up to 1 wk in refrigerator in airtight container.

Ingredients:
Olive oil, 2 tbsp
Whole Italian peeled plum tomatoes, ~800g (or 28 oz), 1 can
Dried oregano, 3/4 tsp
Salt, 1½ tsp
Pepper powder, 1/8 tsp



Method:
1. Squeeze tomatoes by hand to crush them.

2. Heat oil in pan over medium heat.  Add in crushed tomatoes and other ingredients.

3. Cook over medium heat for 40-50 mins till sauce thickens.  In the process, further break tomatoes with wooden spoon.

4. Off heat.  Remove seeds and blend the sauce in blender.

5. Allow sauce to cool thoroughly.  Sauce can be kept up to 1 wk if kept in airtight container placed in refrigerator.