Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe with Mandarin

Three things go in a pan. Sugar burns. Everything else comes after. That’s it.

Why You’ll Love This Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe

Makes enough to keep in the fridge for a week. Works cold straight from the jar or heated back up. Tastes like it sat overnight — better, probably. Pork, chicken, whatever. Pours over rice. Dips for spring rolls. Glazes things in the oven. The caramel part gets people. Brown sugar until it smells sweet and a little dangerous, then fruit juice hits it. That sound. Not actually that spicy — the heat is there but soft, not punching. Balanced with apricots and dates and a pear. Feels more complicated than it is.

What You Need for Sweet and Spicy Condiment

Cornstarch — 7 ml. Binds it all together without making it gummy.

Mandarin orange juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake. The liquid base. Mix them together and it tastes like something Japanese. Not a mistake.

Two medium tomatoes, one onion, a small pear. Diced, not minced. Size matters here because they need to hold their shape through the blender.

Apricots and dates. Dried ones. Four apricots, three dates. They sweeten without tasting like you added sugar. Pear does most of the work though.

Tomato paste — just a tablespoon. Deepens it.

Ginger, allspice, cayenne. The heat lives in ginger and cayenne. Allspice is quiet. Just makes it taste older somehow.

Demerara sugar. About 50 ml. This is what burns and turns amber and becomes something else entirely.

Water. Some cold, some in the mixture. Amounts matter less than you think here.

How to Make Sweet Chilli Sauce That Actually Works

Get your cornstarch ready first. Mix 7 ml into 15 ml cold water. Just sits there while you do the rest. Don’t skip this — it’s what stops everything from being soup.

Throw mandarin juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake into a bowl. Add the tomatoes you diced, the onion, the pear. Apricots and dates go in. Tomato paste. Ginger, allspice, cayenne — all the dry stuff. Stir it once. Let it sit while you deal with the sugar.

The sugar part is where people get nervous. Put the demerara in a small saucepan. Low heat. Don’t stir it. Just watch. After about 3 minutes it starts pooling at the edges, turning amber. That’s when you stir once, gently. Keep watching. It goes from amber to too dark in about 30 seconds. You want it to smell sweet and smell a little burnt. Not totally burnt. You’ll know the difference when it happens.

The second the color is right — and this matters — pour the fruit and juice mixture straight in. It hisses. Sounds angry. Medium heat now. Bring it to a boil. You’ll see it bubbling at the edges. Let it roll for like 30 seconds, then lower the heat and simmer. Uncovered. 12 minutes. Don’t touch it.

How to Get Sweet Chilli Sauce Smooth and Glossy

Stir in the cornstarch slurry now. Steady, slow. Watch it thicken as you stir. Keep the heat gentle. Another 2 minutes and it’s done cooking.

This is the part that separates good from great. Pour it into a blender. Use whatever you have — food processor works too, though blender is smoother. Puree until it actually looks smooth. Not chunky. Not gritty. Smooth.

Strain it through a fine mesh sieve. Push it through with the back of a spoon if you need to. What comes out is glossy and pours like sauce should pour. What stays in the sieve is fruit pulp you’re throwing away. Don’t skip the straining.

Let it cool at room temperature. 20 minutes minimum. Then refrigerate. The texture changes as it cools — gets thicker, more luxurious. About 2.5 hours and it’s set properly.

Sweet Chilli Sauce Tips and Common Mistakes

The caramel will burn if you don’t watch it. Low heat means actually low. If it smells acrid, not sweet, start over. Once it burns there’s no fixing it.

Sake matters more than you’d think. Doesn’t taste like alcohol after cooking — it rounds out the salt and soy. You could use water instead. Don’t.

Blending is non-negotiable if you want restaurant texture. Food processor leaves it slightly grainy. Blender makes it velvet.

The sauce keeps cold for a week. Shake before you use it because the fruit settles. Stirring works too but shaking is faster.

Serving it warm changes everything — tastes lighter, less thick. Cold is better most of the time. Heat it up only if you’re brushing it on something hot.

Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe with Mandarin

By Emma

Prep:

20 min

Cook:

25 min

Total:

45 min

Servings:

750 ml

Ingredients

• 7 ml (1 ½ tsp) cornstarch
• 150 ml (⅔ cup) water, divided
• 110 ml (7 tbsp) mandarin orange juice
• 100 ml (½ cup - slightly less) soy sauce
• 80 ml (5 tbsp plus 1 tsp) rice vinegar
• 75 ml (a little less than ¼ cup) sake
• 2 medium fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small pear, peeled, cored, diced
• 4 dried apricots, chopped (replaces prune)
• 3 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) tomato paste
• 3 ml (½ tsp) ground ginger
• 1 ml (¼ tsp) ground allspice (replaces clove)
• 0.5 ml (1/8 tsp) cayenne pepper
• 50 ml (3 tbsp plus 1 tsp) demerara sugar

Method

1. 1 Dissolve cornstarch in 15 ml (1 tbsp) cold water. Set aside.
2. 2 Combine mandarin juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake, tomatoes, onion, pear, apricots, dates, tomato paste, ginger, allspice, and cayenne in a bowl. Let sit while preparing sugar.
3. 3 In a small saucepan, slowly heat demerara sugar over low heat without stirring, about 3 min, until it melts and turns amber. Stir gently once caramelization begins.
4. 4 Quickly add fruit and liquid mixture to melted sugar. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes, uncovered.
5. 5 Stir in the cornstarch slurry steadily. Simmer gently for 2 minutes to thicken.
6. 6 Transfer sauce to blender. Puree until smooth. Pass through fine mesh sieve into a bowl.
7. 7 Allow to cool at room temperature, about 20 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, roughly 2.5 hours.
8. 8 Shake or stir before serving. Refrigerate up to one week.

Nutritional information

Calories

120

Protein

1.4g

Carbs

28g

Fat

0.2g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe

Can I make easy sweet chilli sauce recipe without the pear? Not really. The pear does the sweetness without tasting like sugar. You’d have to add more dates or something, but the texture would be off. Just use the pear.

What can I substitute for demerara sugar in sweet and spicy condiment? Brown sugar works. Same heat, same timing. Regular white sugar will burn faster — watch it closer. Don’t use honey or maple syrup. Different thing entirely.

How long does homemade sweet chilli sauce last? Seven days cold. Maybe a little longer but the flavor goes flat. Freezes fine though. Couple months, no problem.

Can I use fresh chili peppers instead of cayenne? Haven’t tried it. Probably. The heat would be different — fresher, maybe hotter. Start with one pepper, taste it, add more. Cayenne is measured and controlled. Fresh isn’t.

Why does my sweet and chilli sauce separate? The cornstarch wasn’t dissolved right, or you cooked it too hot. The starch breaks down if heat is too aggressive. Gentle simmer. 2 minutes. That’s it.

Is this sweet and spicy sriracha sauce or something else? It’s not sriracha. Nothing like it. Sriracha is garlic and chili and vinegar. This is fruit and caramel and spice. Different animal. Works the same way though — pork, chicken, dipping, glazing.