The perfect sauce

i n c u b u s

For years I've been trying to find and create an outstanding sauce to use mostly for lo mein recipes but possibly for just about anything else I want to taste delicious. The biggest factor I'm looking for is sweetness with a hint of saltiness. Anyone have any good recipes or suggestions?

strebalicious

I like to use Bulldog on my noodles (yakisoba, ramen, etc) or rice. Might match what you are looking for, as it is fairly sweet (not too much on the salt flavor, though). You might be able to find it in an international market with a decent Japanese section, or, as you can see, you can also order it from Amazon.

Kakodaimonos

What do you use in your current sauce?

For the slightly sweet but sharp taste, I use mirin + soy sauce along with scallions, ginger and garlic.

i n c u b u s

I use soy sauce, noodle base, sugar, chicken broth, sesame oil, and ginger. It just needs something to take it over the top.

Cathode

What kind of sugar are you using? If you're using white sugar or powdered sugar, try using brown sugar instead, or even honey if that doesn't do it for you.

i n c u b u s

I mix it up from time to time with white and brown.

Kakodaimonos

You could try a little molasses. A little goes a long way, but it definitely kicks a sauce up.

EggyToast

You could add some hoisin sauce to the final dish; to me it has that slightly sweet w/ a hit of savory saltiness covered pretty well.

Zombiemambo

EDIT: I guess it is Teriyaki sauce. It's sweet and salty and delicious.

streever

Chop some hot peppers and/or fine chopped garlic.

TaGuelle

I've found frying the sugar/vinegar before everything else makes for a great taste.

Have you ever thought about using a different soy sauce? There are a bunch of different ones out there and personally, a sweet or dark soy sauce might be what you're looking for.

The hoison sauce is a good idea as would using oyster sauce.

Also, try making the sauce seperate and then mixing it with the noodles/stir fry.

Edit: I'm not sure if I'm clear about the sugar. When making a sauce, I fry all the ingredients in some oil and I start with the sugar/vinegar. If I'm using garlic/chives, I would pour the sauce into a seperate bowl containing them. There really isnt a need to cook them in the sauce directly, it'll kill the flavor.

Entriech

EggyToast wrote: »

You could add some hoisin sauce to the final dish; to me it has that slightly sweet w/ a hit of savory saltiness covered pretty well.

I agree. Hoisin is nicely sweet and tangy. If you wanted a bit more salt flavour you could even cross it with some soy sauce.