Chinese garlic sauce Recipes

Updated .

This has been quite a difficult article to update as the previous Chinese Food Channel expert wrote about Chinese garlic sauce for stir-fries but in reality this is something we don’t do in China or Taiwan. We might use something like potato starch to thicken our sauces but garlic sauce not at all.

What I have discovered is Chinese garlic sauce, similar to brown sauce which I wrote about before, might be quite popular in Western take-away’s.

In Chinese cooking, sometimes stir-fried dishes can generate some liquid during cooking and a lot of Chinese chefs will stir in some potato starch water. Potato starch water is usually 1-2 teaspoons of potato starch mixed with a couple tablespoons of cold water and this will “thicken” the sauce in the stir-fried dishes.

Regardless though of the authenticity of garlic sauce in Chinese sauce, garlic is a great ingredient with multiple health (and taste) benefits. Garlic is closely related to onions, shallots and leeks and has been used in both cuisine and for medicinal purposes from at least the Egyptian times.

1. Contains very little calories. 1 ounce of 28 grams of garlic contains 42 calories, 1.8g of protein and 9 grams of carbohydates
2. It can help to cure colds and combat sickness
3. Can help to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels
4. Garlic also contains antioxidants that can help to prevent alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
5. Research has been done to prove the exercise benefits of eating garlic. It has been proven to improve the performance of lab animals but tests in humans are so far inconclusive
6. Garlic is good for your bones

And finally, garlic tastes great. Whenever I cook anything roasted at home my husband insists on roasting some garlic as well and he’ll literally just eat away on the roasted garlic.

There is only one commonly used garlic type sauce in Chinese cooking which is used as a dumpling dipping sauce.

Below is a recipe of this Chinese garlic sauce from the former Chinese food expert:

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon chili sauce or according to taste (I use ½ teaspoon)
• 1 ½ teaspoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil