Schezwan Sauce is a special hot sauce used in many recipes like fried rice, noodles, paneer, chicken, mushroom, dosa etc. Schezwan Sauce is a treat for all spice lovers, you can use it for even as a spread for breads / chapathi etc.
What is Schezwan Sauce?
Schezwan or Sichuan or Szechuan is a style of Chinese cuisine originating from Sichuan province in South West China. Schezwan Sauce is fiery hot with a pungent flavor from garlic and red chillies. Schezwan Sauce is made by soaking & grinding red chilies and simmering with garlic, ginger, soya sauce, vinegar and spices. Schezwan Sauce can be used in a lot dishes like noodles, rice, pizza, stir fries etc. It is mildly hot, slightly sweet and sour. This Homemade Schezwan Sauce is one the best ways to spice things up, it elevates the taste of the dishes when added. Schezwan sauce has gained popularity all over the world, especially in Indian and Indo-Chinese cuisines. This sauce is commonly used as a dipping sauce for snacks, as a marinade for meats or as a flavoring for curries, stir-fries, noodles, fried rice and more such dishes. You can also use it as a marinade sauce for vegetables and meat dishes. Schezwan Sauce can vary in terms of spiciness and also flavour. As some use milder variety chillies and also skip sichuan pepper. But the authentic flavour and taste comes from this special type of pepper called sichuan pepper.
Schezwan Recipes
Schezwan Fried Rice Schezwan Noodles Schezwan Paneer Schezwan Dosa
Schezwan Sauce Video
I have seen Schezwan Sauce in supermarkets but always hesitant to buy. Also I wanted to try it at home. I am seriously not a fan of spicy food but love the flavor of schezwan recipes because of the garlic and red chilies combo. So made this Homemade Schezwan Sauce to try recipes with it. This came out so flavorful and hot that I tried few recipes with it. Do check out this space for more Schezwan recipes coming soon.
Sichuan Pepper
Sichuan pepper is one of the important and popular spice used in the Sichuan cuisine in China. Red sichuan pepper is hot and strong while green sichuan is mild and fragrant. So most commonly red sichuan pepper is used to make hot sauce or schezwan sauce. Sichuan pepper has a citrus like flavor and gives a tingling numbness in the mouth so it should be added to dishes in a very small quantity. This peppercorn can be used whole or can be powdered and used too.
Schezwan Sauce Ingredients
Red Chillies – You can use regular long variety red chillies or even kashmiri red chillies. Sichuan pepper – A special pepper called sichuan pepper is used for this recipe to get the authentic taste. You can skip it if you don’t have. Garlic, ginger – Use garlic generously and ginger for flavour – make sure to chop it finely or mince it. Shallots – Small onion is used here. Additionally you can use 1/4 cup celery too. Sauces – Soya sauce and tomato sauce are the main sauces used here.
How to make Schezwan Sauce Step by Step
1.Take 6 sichuan pepper in a hand mortar and pestle. You can add little rock salt along for easy grinding. 2.Grind it coarsely and set it aside. 3.Remove the stem part of red chillies, cut open and remove the seeds. Removing the seeds is optional, but I chose to remove them to reduce the spiciness a bit. 4.Now transfer all the red chillies to a bowl. 5.Discard the seeds and stem part. 6.Add hot water to it till immersing level. Soak red chillies in water for atleast 30 mins. 7.Set aside undisturbed for 30 mins. After 30 mins it looks like this. 8.Drain water using a colander or strainer. 9.Now add this to a mixer jar along with little water. 10.Grind it to a fine paste like shown here. Add water little by little and keep grinding till you get a smooth paste, Set aside. 11.Heat 6 tablespoon oil in a pan – add 1/4 cup garlic, 1 tablespoon small onion and 1 teaspoon ginger finely chopped. 12.Fry for a minute. 13.Fry until it turns golden. 14.Add the red chilli paste along with required salt. 15.Give a quick mix. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the color changes to dark red and the texture also changes. 16.Color and texture has changed now. It will be more coarse and oil starts oozing out, also the mixture starts to leaves the sides of the pan. 17.Now add 1/2 teaspoon soya sauce, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon pepper powder, crushed sichuan pepper, 2 tablespoon tomato sauce. 18.Give a quick mix. 19.Now it is cooked. 20.Finally add 1 teaspoon sugar. 21.Mix it well. 22.Oil oozes out and Homemade Schezwan Sauce is ready! Let it cool down for a while then store in a clean dry container.
Expert Tips
Adding more oil is mandatory, the oil should float on top as a layer .This increases the shelf life of the sauce. You can add 1 teaspoon chilli sauce too. Cook till oil separates and starts to leave the sides of the pan. You can even add the red chillies with seeds but I prefer to remove it to reduce the spiciness. You can use fully kashmiri red chillies or regular chillies or use a combination of both. You can even add 2 tablespoon of chopped celery if you prefer. If you use kashmiri red chillies it is okay to add it as such without removing the seeds as they are less spicy. You can use this sauce as a condiment for snacks or use it for schezwan recipes like fried rice,noodles etc. The sauce should stay good at least for 3-4 weeks if refrigerated. Sichuan pepper is a special ingredient used in this sauce for unique flavor but you can skip it too. It is readily available in amazon from where I bought it.
Serving & Storage
You can use this Homemade Schezwan Sauce to spice up rice, noodles, curries, stir fries etc. Always store the homemade sauce in a dry clean container in fridge. This keeps well for about a month in fridge. If you have any more questions about this Schezwan Sauce Recipe do mail me at [email protected]. In addition, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube and Twitter . Tried this Schezwan Sauce Recipe ? Do let me know how you liked it. Also tag us on Instagram @sharmispassions and hash tag it on #sharmispassions.
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