Schezwan Sauce | Szechuan Sauce | How To Make Schezwan Sauce
Schezwan Sauce | Szechuan Sauce | Sichuan Sauce is a fiery hot Indo-Chinese sauce. Why buy it when you can easily make it at home, with fresh ingredients. Learn how to make Schezwan Sauce at home in easy steps.
Ingredients
- About 20-25 dried Kashmiri red chillies
- 3/4 cup minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons finely minced ginger
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onions/ shallots
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar/white vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 1-2 teaspoons sugar, adjust as per taste
- 1/2 cup sunflower oil/or any other cooking oil
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Deseed about 70% (or as per spice preference) of dried kashimiri chillies. Also, discard the membrane of the chillies. Soak dried chillies in about 3 cups of hot water for about an hour.
- Strain the water, grind the red chilies to a smooth paste, add water little at a time if required.
- Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan. Add minced garlic & ginger, sauté on medium-low heat until it turns golden brown and the raw smell is gone. Add finely chopped onions, sauté until translucent.
- Now add the red chili paste, mix well. Keep stirring continuously on medium heat until the mixture leaves oil.
- Now add tomato ketchup, soy sauce, sugar & vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup water. Mix everything well until it starts leaving oil. Taste for seasonings, adjust with more salt, sugar or vinegar.
- Storage: Let the sauce cool down completely, transfer it into a sterile glass container. Refrigerate it for 2-3 weeks. Use a clean, dry spoon each time you use the sauce.
Notes
- Start with a tablespoon of vinegar, ketchup and 1 tsp of sugar. You can always add more as per your desired taste. If you find the sauce to be very hot, balance it by adding more vinegar, sugar or tomato ketchup.
- You can make this sauce with any dried chillies, use a mix of hot and mild dried chillies to suit your heat tolerance. For a really spicy sauce, make it entirely with fresh or dried Szechuan peppers or use a combination of Kashmiri and Byadagi dried chillies for a mildly spicy sauce.
- You can also add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped celery in step 3 along with chopped onions.
- Cook the red chilli paste well or else the sauce will taste raw.
- There should be a thin layer of oil over the sauce once you transfer to the jar, to preserve its shelf life. If you feel this quantity of oil is less, then heat a few tablespoons of oil, let it cool, then pour it over the sauce.
- Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml