How To Make Szechuan Sauce at Home

One of the popular Szechuan dishes is Szechuan sauce. This sauce is an authentic Chinese sauce with a spicy taste that is not too hot. It is great to use on stir fries, with meats, or in steamed dishes. It can be used as a dipping sauce or as a topping for noodles.

In this blog post I will show you how to make your own Szechuan sauce at home.

This recipe is inspired by a story my grandfather told me. He said that when he was a young boy in the 1930s, he and his friends used to make Szechuan sauce at home. They would go to the market and buy some spices, then they would mix them together in a pan over a fire.

My grandfather’s friends used to be called “the boys”. I remember one day we were playing with our toy guns and one of them shot off my grandfather’s leg! It was an accident but it wasn’t funny at all. My dad had to take him to hospital where they had to amputate his leg below the knee.

I was only about five years old when this happened so I don’t remember much about that day. But what I do remember is how sad everyone was because they thought he wouldn’t be able to walk again. Luckily though after many operations and months in hospital he made a full recovery!

My grandfather has been telling this story ever since I can remember…and now it’s time for me to share it with you!

Americans who grew up watching cartoons might think of Szechuan as the dipping sauce McDonalds made for its Mulan-themed Happy Meal. The sauce was a combination of soy, vinegar, sugar and garlic, and it was actually pretty tasty – with a flavor reminiscent of duck sauce or sweet and sour sauce.

But the real Szechuan sauce bears little resemblance to the McDonald’s version. In fact, it’s not even a dipping sauce in most cases.

Sichuan hot pot is a kind of Chinese fondue where diners cook their own food in a bubbling pot of broth at the table. At authentic restaurants in China, every hot pot comes with a bowl of brown-red broth that’s filled with chilies, peppercorns and various other spices. This is the real Sichuan sauce.

And now you can make it at home.

This is a recipe for the famous Szechuan sauce that’s served with crispy beef and chicken nuggets at Chinese restaurants. It’s a spicy, garlicky and nutty sauce that has a little bit of everything. I’ve been making this for about 8 years now and it’s still one of my favorite dishes to make at home. You can use this sauce on almost anything from vegetables to noodles to meat. It’s really easy to make and it tastes so much better than the bottled stuff you get from the store.

Ingredients:

1 cup of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of oyster sauce

2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of ginger, grated

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (optional)

Directions: If you’re using fresh garlic, grate it finely with a microplane grater or chop it up very finely with a knife. Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix well until there are no lumps of peanut butter left**

Szechuan Sauce

Authentic Chinese Szechuan Sauce Recipe. This Szechuan sauce is a spicy, savory, and hot Chinese sauce for stir fry and dipping. It’s made with sweet and hot chili peppers to balance the flavor of the sauce. It goes great with noodles, rice, meats, seafoods and vegetables!

If you love Chinese foods and have been searching for homemade Szechuan sauce recipe. The search stops here! This Szechuan sauce is the one of most requested recipes from my readers. Many thanks to my dear reader Sue who has shared her homemade szechuan sauce recipe with me. Now I have an authentic szechuan sauce recipe in hand!

What is Szechuan Sauce?

Szechuan sauce is a spicy, savory, and hot Chinese sauce for stir fry or dipping. It’s made with sweet and hot chili peppers to balance the flavor of the sauce. If you have tasted Chinese sesame paste or peanut butter noodles before (Chinese: 麻醬麵), there is a similar taste of sesame paste in this szechuan sauce as well.

Is it the same as General Tso’s Sauce?

No. General Tso’s

I am a long time take out eater and have grown to appreciate the Szechuan Sauce that is offered at Panda Express. I’m also a “DIY-er” so I decided to try and make it from scratch. I was surprised just how easy it was. Not only was the taste “spot on” but the ingredients all seemed relatively simple, none of which were hard to find.

Making Szechuan Sauce is actually a very simple process. It is made up of the following ingredients:

3/4 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Water

3 tablespoons Sesame Oil

3 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

2 tablespoons Sugar

1 tablespoon Cornstarch (optional)

1 tablespoon Chili Oil (add more to taste)

2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

2 teaspoons Ginger Powder

Mix all of the above ingredients together and bring to a simmer while stirring occasionally. Allow it to cool and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. This sauce goes well with almost anything but is especially good when used as a dipping sauce for Chinese Egg Rolls or Crab Rangoon.

YOU NEED:

-Reduce the heat to low and add in the Szechuan peppercorns. Keep stirring until they become fragrant and darken in color. Make sure they do not burn! Remove from heat once done.

-Add in the garlic, ginger, onion and scallion and saute for a minute over low heat.

-Pour in the water and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for 3 minutes.

-Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil and sugar.

-Let cool completely before transferring to a clean jar or airtight container. Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

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