Sweet and Sour Vegetables

5 from 4 votes

Sweet and Sour Vegetables is a delicious plant based recipe made with an array of healthy veggies. In this, the sauce in which the vegetables are simmered, has both sweetish and sourish tastes. It is a great accompaniment with any of your fried rice and noodle dishes.

Prep Time25

Cook Time15

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese, World

Diet: Vegan

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 165kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

1 carrot - chopped, small to medium
7 to 9 french beans - sliced diagonally
1.5 cups cauliflower - chopped or 1.5 cups chopped broccoli
5 to 6 button mushrooms - chopped
1 onion - small to medium-sized, quartered and the layers separated
1 bell pepper - chopped or cut into 1 inch squares, small to medium; red or green or yellow
½ tablespoon celery - finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce - naturally brewed
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
2 to 3 garlic cloves - finely chopped, small to medium-sized
1 inch ginger - finely chopped
½ to 1 tablespoon sugar or as required
1.5 to 2 tablespoons oil - any neutral flavored oil
2 cups water or add as required
2 tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour) dissolved in ¼ cup water
salt as required
black pepper as required

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Blanching vegetables

Rinse, peel and chop all the veggies first.
Quarter the onion and separate the layers.
Heat 2 to 3 cups water with 1 teaspoon salt until the water begins to boil.
Add the carrots, french beans, cauliflower to the hot water.
Turn off the heat, cover pan with lid and set aside the veggies to blanch for 5 to 10 minutes.
Drain all the water and keep the blanched vegetables aside.
If you want to preserve the colors of the veggies, then simply drain the water and immediately place the veggies in cold water.
In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce and tomato ketchup. Set this sauce mixture aside.

Making sweet and sour vegetables

Heat oil in a wok or kadai.
Add the chopped ginger and garlic and stir fry on high heat for some seconds.
Then add the onions and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes on a high heat.
Add the bell pepper and mushrooms and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
Then add the blanched veggies - cauliflower, french beans and carrots and stir fry for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the celery and stir fry for a minute.
Add the prepared sauce mixture to the veggies. Stir and season with black pepper, sugar and salt.
Stir and add 2 cups of water or vegetable stock.
Let the sauce get heated through and come to a simmer.
Dissolve the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with ¼ cup water to a smooth paste.
Add the cornstarch paste to the veggies and stir briskly so that no lumps are formed.
Simmer until the cornstarch gets cooked in the sauce and the sauce thickens.
Lastly add the apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
Stir through and serve Sweet and Sour Vegetables hot with veg fried rice or steamed rice or stir-fried noodles or plain noodles.

Notes

You can alter the sugar in the recipe as per your taste buds. Also depends on the sweetness in the tomato ketchup.
Even the vinegar & soy sauce can be adjusted as per your requirements.
For a thicker sauce, add less water.
Opt to add your choice of vegetables. Mushrooms bring in some umami to the dish, but feel free to skip them if you are not a fan.
You can use spring onions (scallions or green onions) instead of regular onions. If using spring onions, chop the white bulbs to be added to the sauce and use the greens as garnish.

Nutrition