Sugar Free Sweet & Sour Vegan Stir-Fry

Ok, confession time. Not since my teenage years have I been a fan of sweet & sour sauces.

As a teen, I very much fit into the “korma and sweet & sour every time” stereotype. But during my uni years, I decided I was a bit bored of these choices, and started branching out. And I didn’t look back. I discovered there were many many far more delicious curries and stir fries that I hadn’t previously contemplated, and I kept discovering new favourites.

Still, there is something a little nostalgic about sweet & sour dishes for me, as I’m sure there is for many of us, and so every now and then this is exactly what I want to have…

Now obviously, sweet & sour is off the menu (ouch, bad pun alert!) when it comes to takeaways these days. The clue is in the title – it is loaded with sugar.

But with some tweaking, it turns out it is entirely possible to recreate a completely delicious Chinese sweet & sour takeaway dish in your own kitchen for a tiny fraction of the cost of a takeaway, and in less time than it takes to have one delivered. That’s right, I nailed it! (Oh dear, that humility thing is going to take some work…)

Lindsay’s gorgeous General Tso’s Cauliflower recipe on Pinch of Yum gave me the starting point, as it is very similar in taste, texture and look to sweet & sour dishes here in the UK, so I decided to play around until it was just right for our tastes, and obviously take out the large amount of sugar in the recipe. It took a fair bit of tweaking, but I have found the perfect balance of flavours now, and am really proud of this recipe.

So here it is, a sugar free, vegan take on sweet & sour that is oh-so-much healthier and cheaper than the takeaway, and even takes less time than getting it to your door.

I call that a win.

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Sugar Free Sweet & Sour Vegetables (Vegan)

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

A sugar free, vegan take on sweet & sour (General Tso's to Americans) takeaways. It looks and tastes like the real deal, but is healthy and cheap and really quick to make!

Course: Dinner

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 inch (2 1/2cm) knob of fresh ginger, grated
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp xylitol
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch/tapioca flour

For the vegetables:

• 3 cups chopped/sliced vegetables (a pre-prepared stir-fry mix without a sauce is perfect, but it's cheaper to finely slice your own peppers, cabbage, mushrooms, cauliflower, beansprouts, etc - use whatever you have on hand!)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• cooked rice or noodles, to serve

Instructions

1. Fry the garlic and ginger in the sesame oil for 30 secs, then add in the rest of the sauce ingredients and whisk until smooth. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 3-5 mins, until sauce is thickened (leave longer if it's too thin, add a little water and take off the heat if it's too thick). Set aside.

2. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan or wok over a medium-high heat and stir fry the vegetables for just a few mins until cooked but still slightly crunchy.

3. Toss the vegetables in the sauce to coat, and serve over rice, noodles or even spiralized vegetable noodles, if you like.