There’s a specific taste of a particular sauce used at Chinese restaurants. You know the standard “brown” sauce? Some may not like this flavor, but at times it just hits the spot. I’ve been toying with getting this right, and I think I’m quite close (no, MSG isn’t the secret… maybe). I’m just going to list the ingredients and how I make the sauce. Im giving only estimates for the proportions of the sauce right now (once I have that nailed down, I’ll update this post). You can figure out what veggies you want to add to it when you make the actual dish.
Ingredients
The dark soy sauce can be found at any Asian grocery store
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 3 tablespoons dark/sweet soy sauce (this is the key!)
- 1 tablespoon (or more) of chili paste (sambal oelek works great)
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
Stir together the stock, dark/sweet soy sauce, and the sambal. You can add a little crushed red chili flakes for a bit of a roasted flavor if desired.
Saute the garlic before you add your veggies and add the sauce after. You probably want to use a little corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce. One technique that works well is to coat your meat/tofu with corn starch before adding them to the wok. It can provide a little crispy coating, and then once you add your sauce, some of it will leach off and help thicken the sauce without having to add a slurry.
Again, this is a work in progress for me, so stay tuned for any updates.
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