Sauce in Sweet and Pungent Chicken at Essen NY Deli?

Mevater

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 11:05 am

What in the bright orange colored sauce in Essen NY Deli's (On Coney Island Ave) Sweet and Pungent Chicken (besides the food coloring)?

Im referring to their "Sweet & Pungent Chicken"- Chicken Breast in a light Batter W/ Sweet & Sour Sauce.

zaq

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 4:23 pm

Why don't you just ask them? Many people have food allergies and sensitivities and need to know what's in commercially prepared foods. Unless someone here works at this shop and has access to the container, how would anyone know?

Your basic sweet & sour sauce is a combo of ketchup, vinegar, sugar and salt in a water-and-cornstarch matrix but it can have other ingredients such as chili oil, cooking wine, ginger, garlic, green onions, and so on. If they buy the sauce ready-made, it will surely contain some form of preservative as well.

Mevater

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 6:03 pm

zaq wrote:

Why don't you just ask them?

I have never heard of restaurants divulging recipes. Just knowing some of the ingredients wont really help.

zaq wrote:

Your basic sweet & sour sauce is a combo of ketchup, vinegar, sugar and salt in a water-and-cornstarch matrix but it can have other ingredients such as chili oil, cooking wine, ginger, garlic, green onions, and so on.

Essen's was very predominantly fruity tasting, probably with pineapple juice and other fruit flavors. If anyone has accurate taste buds and thinks they know what fruits are in it (maybe only artificial fruit flavors), please share.

gp2.0

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 6:21 pm

The fruity base for sweet and sour sauce is usually pineapple juice.

Mevater

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 6:33 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

The fruity base for sweet and sour sauce is usually pineapple juice.

Essen's has other fruits along with it. I tasted pineapple in combination w other fruit/s that I cant identify. Im thinking maybe some cherry flavor.

Amarante

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:21 pm

I don't know the recipe from that restaurant but this is a clone for the insanely popular Orange Chicken from Panda Express. It's fruity, sweet and sour. You might like it just as much.

Panda Express Orange Chicken

Source: "Even More Top Secret Recipes" by Todd Wilbur.

Sauce

1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced water chestnuts
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 rounded teaspoon chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons arrowroot
3 tablespoons water

Chicken
4 chicken breast fillets
1 cup ice water
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsifted cake flour

2 to 4 cups vegetable oil

1. Combine all of the sauce ingredients -- except the cornstarch, arrowroot, and 3 tablespoons of water -- in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir often while bringing mixture to a boil. When sauce reaches a boil, remove it from heat and allow it to cool a bit, uncovered.

2. Slice chicken breasts into bite-size chunks. Remove exactly 1 cup of the marinade from the pan and pour it over the chicken in a large resealable plastic bag or other container which allows the chicken to be completely covered with the marinade. The chicken should marinate for at least a couple hours. Cover the remaining sauce and leave it to cool until the chicken is ready.

3. When chicken has marinated, preheat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a wok or skillet to 350 degrees F.

4. Combine cornstarch with arrowroot in a small bowl, then add 3 tablespoons of water. Stir until cornstarch and arrowroot have dissolved. Pour this mixture into the sauce and set the pan over high heat. When sauce begins to bubble and thicken, cover and remove it from heat.

5. Beat together the ice water and egg in a medium bowl. Add baking soda and salt.

6. Add 3/4 cup of the flour and stir with a fork just until the flour in blended into the mixture. The batter should still be lumpy.

7. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of flour on top of the batter and mix with only one or two strokes. Most of the new flour will still be floating on top of the mixture. Put the remaining flour (1/2 cup) into a separate medium bowl.

8. Dip each piece of chicken first into the flour, then into the batter. Let some of the batter drip off and then slide the chicken into the oil. Fry up to 1/2 of the chicken pieces at a time for 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip the chicken over halfway through the cooking time. Remove the chicken to a rack or paper towels to drain.

9. As the chicken cooks, reheat the sauce left covered on the stove. Stir occasionally.

10. When all of the chicken is done, pour it into a large bowl, and cover with the thickened sauce. Stir gently until all of the pieces are well coated.

Serves 4.

imamazing

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:41 pm

Mevater wrote:

Essen's has other fruits along with it. I tasted pineapple in combination w other fruit/s that I cant identify. Im thinking maybe some cherry flavor.

I once had a recipe for sweet and pungent chicken that called for pineapple tidbits and maraschino cherries... So you might be right!

Amarante

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:43 pm

imamazing wrote:

I once had a recipe for sweet and pungent chicken that called for pineapple tidbits and maraschino cherries... So you might be right!

I've eaten lemon chicken at restaurants that have those as a garnish.

Mevater

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:45 pm

Amarante wrote:

Essens sauce def has no brown sugar and no soy sauce. It was the color of a bright orange crayon (Im nauseous to think of the coloring/chemicals in it, but it tasted good)!

Last edited by Mevater on Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

Amarante

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:49 pm

Mevater wrote:

Essens sauce def has no brown sugar and no soy sauce. It was the color of a bright orange crayon (Im nauseous to think of the coloring ib it, but it tasted good)!

Most of the orange chicken I've had is very bright orange. Lol. The sweet and sour chicken is more of a flaming pink lol.

Mevater

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:56 pm

Amarante wrote:

Most of the orange chicken I've had is very bright orange. Lol. The sweet and sour chicken is more of a flaming pink lol.

Essen's Sweet and Pungent Chicken was swimming in a definitely brightly orange colored sauce this week.

Amarante

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 8:03 pm

Mevater wrote:

Essen's Sweet and Pungent Chicken was swimming in a definitely brightly orange colored sauce this week.

I wasn't disputing but I think the names have lost definitive meaning. Sweet and Sour or Sweet and Pungent is the older name and has been kicking around Chinese American restaurants since at least the 1950's. when I was a child in Brooklyn, it was a reddish pink sauce. In the past decade or so, the Orange Chicken became popular and is often found on the menu as well.

In my experience, the restaurants will serve Sweet and Pungent with pineapples and onions and sometimes red bell peppers whereas the dish with the orange sauce doesn't have veggies but will sometimes have peppers (the very spicy Szechuan pepper pods). I've seen that dish called different things depending on the restaurant.

It's like Lo Mein and Chow Mein on the east and west coasts. In NYC, chow Mein has xrispy noodles and in Los Angeles, it's often soft noodles but not lo mien which is different than either.

zaq

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 8:19 pm

So if I'm hearing you right, you have no food allergies, you just want to recreate the recipe and are hoping that someone here either works for this restaurant and is willing to fink on her employer, or is so talented a food analyst that she can taste a dish and tell you the recipe? Why didn't you just come out and say so instead of beating around the bush? You get answers that are much more on target if you ask what you really want to know.
.

oliveoil

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 9:01 pm

zaq wrote:

Seriously? She posted in the recipe section, I think it was pretty self-explanatory.

Mevater

Thu, Oct 15 2015, 8:19 am

zaq wrote:

Definitely right. Im cowering in shame.

Mrs Bissli

Sun, Oct 25 2015, 10:14 am

Pungent normally refers to garlic or sometimes garlic and ginger in westernised Chinese resto parlance. Apricot jam is often used for duck sauce.

sourstix

Sun, Oct 25 2015, 10:20 am

is there anything I can subsitute the arrowroot? is it a must? what exactly does it taste like?

sourstix

Sun, Oct 25 2015, 10:26 am

I want to make this recipe but has anyone made it before? was it a patchke? how did it taste? I usually dont buy chestnuts but for this recipe I need to.

Amarante

Sun, Oct 25 2015, 10:32 am

sourstix wrote:

I want to make this recipe but has anyone made it before? was it a patchke? how did it taste? I usually dont buy chestnuts but for this recipe I need to.

Which recipe?

If you refer to the Panda Express recipe, it's not that much if a patchke because you make the sauce well ahead of time and then the chicken marinates in some of the sauce. So that is done at your convenience and is the major part of the dish.

The only thing that needs to be done right before serving is actually coating and frying the chicken. And reheating the sauce.

As long as I can prep when I have time which isn't necessarily right at dinner, I don't mind a little chopping.

ETA and water chestnuts add a nice crunchiness to any dish so you can easily use the leftovers.

Last edited by Amarante on Sun, Oct 25 2015, 10:59 am; edited 1 time in total

Amarante

Sun, Oct 25 2015, 10:40 am

sourstix wrote:

is there anything I can subsitute the arrowroot? is it a must? what exactly does it taste like?

Arrowroot is a thickener like cornstarch. It has a subtle taste. Like cornstarch it doesn't have to be cooked for a long period of time like flour which is why cornstarch and arrowroot are used as thickeners in stir fry dishes.

You could sub all cornstarch but arrowroot works better in an acidic sauce like this one which is why this recipe uses both. I think arrowroot is Pesahdik and cornstarch isn't.