Sweet Mandarin Chilli and Carrot Salad
I was watching BBC 2’s Dragon’s Den the other day when two sisters came on looking for financing to get their Sweet Mandarin Chinese cooking sauces onto supermarket shelves. Duncan Bannatyne and Hilary Devey enjoyed the sauces – and twins Lisa and Helen Tse – so much they invested £50,000 in their new venture.
ThermoHubby John and I also enjoyed the sauces very much, not only because they are Gluten Free and contain no MSG or artificial colours or preservatives, but because they are delicious! Oh, and Sweet Mandarin Sauces are suitable for vegans, too.
The initial range of Sweet Mandarin Sauces includes:
- Barbecue – a thick, fruity sauce that evokes memories of heady evenings. Perfect as a dip with prawn crackers and other snacks or as a marinade for meats.
- Sweet Chilli – an exciting concoction of fresh red chillies mixed with garlic and vinegar that tickles the tongue. Perfect for livening up stir-fries, noodles or salads or on the side, as a zingy dip.
- Sweet & Sour – a classic Chinese sauce of contradictory flavours to confuse and delight the taste buds. Use as a dipping sauce with spring rolls and other appetisers or use with meat as a sauce
John is rather accomplished when it comes to Chinese home cooking, so the other night he whipped up a couple of stir fries using the Barbecue and the Sweet & Sour sauces. Yum, yum, yum – delicious with fresh flavours coming through. According to Sweet Mandarin, each sauce is lovingly hand mixed by chef Lisa Tse in the Sweet Mandarin kitchen and tells part of the tale of the Tse family history. Using secret recipes passed down through generations, Lisa adds a modern take on the authentic flavours and aromas found in China’s street markets – and used by her mother, grandmother and great grandmother – in every bottle.
Sweet Mandarin sauces can be used either as cooking sauces or straight from the bottle so I also turned my hand – and my Thermomix – to the Tse twins’ Sweet Chilli Sauce and used it in the classic, fast and easy Sweet Chilli and Carrot Salad. Just seven seconds in your Thermomix and good, fresh ingredients become an instant salad for lunch or a healthy meal.
Thermomix Sweet chilli and carrot salad with Sweet Mandarin Sweet Chilli Sauce
Recipe from Fast and Easy Cooking, the 300-recipe cookery book included with every Thermomix TM31 purchased from UK Thermomix. This salad captures all the juice of the carrots as they are chopped, making the dressing extra flavourful – especially with the Sweet Mandarin sauce 😉 Ready in just 7 seconds! Serves 4.
Ingredients
4 large carrots, about 350 g, cut into chunks (peeled, topped and tailed if not organic)
20 g olive oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
30 g Sweet Mandarin Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 or 2 sprigs parsley or coriander
Method
- Place all the ingredients into the TM bowl. Chop 7 seconds/Speed 4 while stirring anti-clockwise with the spatula through the hole in the TM lid. This keeps the carrots down on the blades.
That’s it! Done and dusted. Serve garnished with a few more sprigs of herbs and enjoy the fresh tastes.
Bon appétit !
Note: This is a sponsored post; samples of the Sweet Mandarin sauce range were provided free of charge.
