Sweet-and-Sour Carp

Such is its popularity, every province, town, and even family has its own version of sweet-and-sour sauce; this universal sauce of perfectly balanced contrasting flavours is quintessential to the culinary heritage of China and to many of its dishes. In Chengdu restaurants, sweet-and-sour sauce with carp is considered to be the masterpiece, using the Sichuan combination that includes Shaoxing wine (the more subtle Cantonese version uses a blend of fruity and sour flavours from plum and vineg