Sweet and sour

[6] Not all dishes are cooked; some, such as "sweet and sour fruit and vegetable" salad from the eastern regions of China, also find their way in Chinese cuisine.

[7] This cold dish combines salad vegetables such as cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, and onion with a mixture of pineapple (or pear), vinegar, and sugar.

[10] A related Hong Kong/Cantonese-based dish is sweet and sour spareribs (Chinese: 生炒排骨; pinyin: Shēngchǎo páigǔ; Cantonese Yale: sāangcháau pàaigwāt; lit.

[11] It consists of large thinly sliced pieces of pork tenderloin in potato starch batter, deep-fried twice until crispy.

They are then lightly coated in a variation of a sweet and sour sauce, made from freshly prepared syrup and rice vinegar, and flavoured with ginger and garlic.

However, the true or original version of guō bāo ròu served in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, is made with an amber-coloured sauce due to the fact that it uses caramelized sugar.

[citation needed] Originating in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, the squirrel-shaped Mandarin fish (Chinese: 松鼠鱖魚; pinyin: Sōngshǔ Guìyú) has a crisp skin but soft centre.

The fish body of Siniperca chuatsi is scored such that it fans out when cooked, similar in appearance to a bushy squirrel tail.

The fish is served with a sweet and sour sauce drizzled on top and garnished with a little shrimp meat and dried bamboo shoots.

[12] A speciality of Shandong province, in particular the city of Jinan,[13] the Yellow River carp is prepared by making diagonal slices partway through its flesh.

[14][15][16] The dish is served with sweet and sour sauce, typically made by boiling vinegar, sugar, and water with a variety of fruits and vegetables like carrot, cucumber, onion, wood ear mushroom, and pineapple.

The dish generally comprises cubes of white meat chicken deep-fried in batter and served with sweet and sour sauce.

Chinese restaurants in Western countries commonly serve battered and deep-fried chicken, pork, or shrimp with a sweet and sour sauce poured on top.

It is also common to find the sweet and sour sauce cooked with sliced green peppers, onions, and pineapple before it is poured over the meat.

Also common is the use of cornstarch as a thickener for the sauce and tomato ketchup to give a stronger red colour to the dish and to add a Western taste.

Most supermarkets across Europe and North America carry a range of prepared sweet and sour sauces for adding to stir-fry or dipping.