Mandarin time, the fragrance of winter, the scent of home, of peels that emit their wonderful aroma from within the lit and crackling fireplace. Today I propose an easy preparation for you, sweet mandarin sauce, a delicious and fragrant recipe; almost a concentrated mandarin syrup, fluid, great for accompanying desserts, ice creams; or to accompany boiled or roasted meats and fish, shellfish, very seasoned and savory cheeses (I eat it on spicy gorgonzola). It is prepared in a short time and with only three ingredients, contains no gluten or lactose, contains no eggs.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6.5 ounces
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 3.4 fl oz mandarin juice (about 3 mandarins)
- 3.5 oz granulated sugar
- 0.04 oz fine salt
- as needed grated mandarin zest
- 0.18 oz gluten-free potato starch (or cornstarch)
Steps
Wash and thoroughly scrub a mandarin, grate its peel directly into the saucepan you will use to cook the sauce. Immediately add the starch, sugar, salt and mix with a fork or steel whisk; this way no lumps will form and the zest will release the essential oils making the mandarin sauce even more fragrant.
Squeeze the mandarin juice and pour it into the saucepan.
Mix well and transfer the saucepan to the smallest burner over low heat.
Stirring constantly, continue cooking until the mandarin sauce starts to become thicker. The resulting sauce will be thick and fluid at the same time, just like a syrup.
Turn off immediately and let the mandarin sauce cool completely before using it on savory dishes or desserts.
If you have leftover mandarin sauce, you can store it for 4-5 days in the fridge, in a sterilized and well-sealed jar.
Another way to naturally thicken our sweet mandarin sauce, without adding flour, starches, etc., is to add the peel of an entire orange or lemon (without the white inner part which is bitter) to the mixture before starting the cooking. These actually contain pectin that will act as a thickener. The cooking times will be a bit longer, and it will take about 20-25 minutes (times are only indicative) over medium heat, stirring almost constantly like for jams, to reach the thickness described above. In this case, it is advisable to do the saucer test, just like for jams. It consists of letting a teaspoon of the mixture slide on a coffee saucer as soon as you notice that the mixture starts to thicken. If it slides off easily, almost like water, then the mixture needs a few more minutes, otherwise, turn off immediately because, as it cools, it could become too thick or even hard.
When the sauce is ready, immerse it in a container with some cold water and ice to completely stop the cooking.
