Homemade Babi Pangan Sauce

As a kid, there was always one dish I always love ... Chinese sweet sour pork ... Or my Chinese friends would call "Gu Lao Rou".  They are always something that would make me happy ... As long as it is the real thing.  

So, One day, I was craving to make some sweet sour sauce and was experimenting on mixing different ingredients, instead of the usual ingredients to make a thin but sticky sauce.  Decided to mix tomato ketchup, some orange juice, a bit of flour and salt and pepper to further season, then boiled them together and stirring with a wire whisk regularly ... It tasted good, but it was not the sweet & sour sauce that i wanted to make. What came out was Babi Pangan sauce ... It was such a surprise, because I see everyone buying the package which they mix with water and then cook, and could not imagine these simple ingredients to be the sauce that is a staple in every Dutch Chinese restaurant. 

The proportions are 3:1 of tomato ketchup to orange juice, and just a third or quarter the porting of the juice for the flour, this is only to make the sauce thicken quicker, as the tomato ketchup tends to have this already.  Then season accordingly.  

Did that sound confusing?  Let me list it down differently ... Hehehe:

3 tbs tomato ketchup

1 tbs orange juice

1 tsp flour 

Salt & Pepper (optional)

I usually just dump all these ingredients in a big mouth bottle, with the lid closed, shake to mix completely (remember this tip in http://asiantune.blogspot.com/2013/07/another-left-over-honey-mustard-sauce.html).  Then pour it in a cool & lightly greased pot or pan, put over a medium fire to slowly cook the mixture.  Remember to stir (or I should say, whisk, as using a wire whisk is better) to keep the sauce smooth, otherwise, it would end up a bit "clumpy".

This is the consistency which you should achieve.

Note: 

* The seasoning can be placed in the bottle or when you are cooking.

* Acidity of the tomato ketchup plus orange juice can make the sauce a bit too sour, if it is, i suggest to add a bit of sugar or honey or artificial sweetener. 

* it is possible to not use any flour, but your cooking time would take longer, since the only thickener would be from your tomato ketchup.

* if you plan to use cornstarch (aka corn flour), just use half of the amount that is used for flour (got this link from a friend - thanks Chic - which gives the differences of the two http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061018115130AA5BRCB)

Found out that there were a few variations that can be done with this simple sauce, here are some I have tried:

* Sautée crushed garlic and onions (and some crushed chillies, if you like your sauce to have a bit of bite ... You know how much you can put in  ... If not, use only a pinch, because it is easier to make it spicier than to soften it) on medium-high to high fire.  When the onions & garlic have been caramelised, pour in the sauce mixture and cook further;

* Add a teaspoon of soya sauce, to the ingredients in the bottle, which gives it a bit darker tone.  If you are to follow this variation, remember that soya sauce is salty already;

* Adding Worcestershire sauce.  This very unique sauce just gives a light spicy flavour that enhances the tangy taste of the Babi Pangan sauce. 

To the reader ... Hope you are enjoying what you are reading ... If you do ... You know what to do!!! 😉