A Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce with a touch of heat from the Gochujang added. It can be used for dipping sauce with Fried Wontons, Dumplings, Sweet & Sour Stir Fry with either unbreaded or breaded crispy Pork, Beef, or Chicken, and for Korean Sweet & Sour Meatballs with this sauce and served over Steamed Rice. Best of all, it is incredibly easy, just toss all the ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a boil while mixing until it’s thickened.

Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce ingredients

Water, Sugar, Chinese Red Vinegar, Mirin, Gochujang, Potato Starch.

Korean Sweet & Sour Flavor Profile

The flavor profile of a sweet and sour sauce made with these ingredients are complex and well-balanced, offering a combination of sweet, tangy, umami, and mildly spicy elements. Here’s a breakdown of the flavors:

• Water: The base liquid, which helps to dilute and balance the intensity of the other ingredients, providing a smooth and light texture to the sauce. It is also the medium used in thickening with starch.
• Sugar: Brings a strong, classic sweetness that pairs with the sourness, helping to create the “sweet” part of the sauce.
• Chinese Red Vinegar: The acidity of Chinese red vinegar gives the sauce its smooth, sour kick and familiar taste to a sweet and sour sauce. It adds a bright, tart contrast to the sweetness from the sugar and balances the rich umami flavors. It also contributes to the color of the sauce.
• Mirin: This brings a rich, rounded sweetness and savory undertones.
• Gochujang: This fermented chili paste introduces a slightly sweet, earthy heat with umami undertones. It contributes a mild spice, depth, and richness to the sauce, along with a little complexity due to the fermentation. It’s the key ingredient in adding a distinctive Korean flavor, which would complement the sweetness and sourness without overpowering them.
• Potato Starch: This thickening agent helps to give the sauce a smooth, velvety texture and a slight glossiness, allowing all the flavors to blend more cohesively. It doesn’t directly affect the flavor but helps the sauce hold together.

Altogether, the sauce has a harmonious blend of sweet, sour, and umami, with a mild spiciness and a silky texture. It is vibrant and well-rounded, offering a perfect balance of contrasting flavors that complement each other.

Sweet & Sour Balance

Some brands of Chinese Red Vinegar are sweeter than acidic, such as the Chinese Red Vinegars used below. The first one is more acidic, while the second one is sweeter. Adjust how you see fit, adding in less or more of Sugar to get the balance desired.

It’s also worth noting that a true Chinese Red Vinegar will not have red food coloring added. Instead, it will have a natural red color from the Red Rice used in fermentation.

Korean Sweet & Sour Vegetables

When this Sweet & Sour sauce is used as a stir-fry with a choice of meats, the Vegetables added are;

• Onion
• Red Bell Pepper with Orange or Yellow Bell Peppers
• Cucumbers added in later
• Pineapple Chunks
• Carrot — optional

Add the Carrots with a splash of water to cook until the water has evaporated over max heat. Then add remaining vegetables except the Cucumbers to stir-fry 3 minutes, keep everything moving. Add the Sweet & Sour Sauce with Cucumbers and bring to a boil while mixing until thickened. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender to your liking. At which point, cooked meats can be added in to toss before serving.

Choice of Protein

Use either Beef, Pork or Chicken Stir fried until cooked through or batter them with breading and deep-fry before tossing with the Sweet & Sour Sauce with Vegetables.

If the choice meat is not battered or breaded and deep-fried, they can go into the wok first to cook through, with the vegetables added in to cook for 3 minutes. Followed by the Sweet & Sour Sauce and Cucumbers.

Korean Fried Wontons

These Korean Fried Wontons are served with a Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce and is a beautiful pairing.

Korean Sweet & Sour Meatballs

These are made with the Korean Beef mixture shaped into meatballs. Pan Fried and then tossed into the sauce completely. Serve these incredible Korean Meatballs over Steamed Rice or on the side with Fried Rice.