Kokova Magazine

After slaying the dragons on Dragon's Den in 2012, the popularity of Sweet Mandarin Sauces has gone from strength to strength; with twins Helen and Lisa rustling up tantalising treats and fabulous dishes at the Allergy & Free from Show at Olympia (7-9 June 2013).

We were delighted to meet both Helen and Lisa and finally taste their amazing sauces ourselves.

Vegan accredited, gluten-free, no MSG and no artificial colourings and available in three flavours - barbecue, sweet chilli and sweet & sour - the recipes for these sauce have been passed down from generation to generation.

Helen and Lisa's family history spans a hundred years and has been far from easy. The generations have endured a murder, utter poverty and the isolation of being an immigrant family.

Food has been the lifeline that has pulled each generation through and they are now the fourth generation to make a living from food, whilst being the third generation of women restaurateurs to make and sell these sauces.

Grandmother, Lily Kwok, who would tell her family that 'A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step', set up her restaurant and served her wonderful sauces in Manchester long before Chinatown was established, winning over the hearts of a nation.

She opened Lily's Fung Restaurant on Taylor Street at a time when foreign food was unknown and her legacy continues at Sweet Mandarin, which is run by her three granddaughters.

To date the Sweet Mandarins restaurant in Manchester still serves her sauces and the customers love them - and keep asking for more.

Gordon Ramsay crowned Sweet Mandarin the 'Best Local Chinese Restaurant' on his F Word Show, beating 10,000 restaurants for this well-deserved title.
www.sweetmandarin.com

Sweet Mandarin Sauces

Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce
This certainly beats a lot of sweet & sour sauces that we have tried before! It is sticky yet light and just how we would want it to be - because it doesn't form the congealed state that comes with so many other sweet & sour sauces. Easy flowing, fresh and the right combination of flavours for our taste. We can see this knocking the standard tomato ketchup off our shelves.

Barbecue Dipping Sauce
Barbecue sauces are not a favourite in the sauce stakes in our kitchen - often being heavy or full-on with too much of a smoky flavour. Whilst this was our third favourite of the Sweet Mandarins sauces, it is now our first favourite in the barbecue sauce race. Sweet Mandarin have managed to capture the essence of the barbecue flavour without burning the bounty, so to speak. All the right flavours and none of the ones we usually avoid - perfect!

Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce
We adore sweet chilli sauces. They make a great salad dressing, work fantastically in cheese sandwiches and of course are perfect for dipping. And the Sweet Mandarin Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce has to be one of our all time favourite. Again the consistency, as with all three sauces is spot-on, not too thick, yet liquid enough to pour without being too runny and watery. This sauce has great body to it, complete with diced chillies, and it pops in a little punch that doesn't blow your mouth wide open, simply dances on your tongue and excites your taste buds.

It soon becomes obvious that the hype these sauces received at the end of 2012 is well deserved and the products are genuinely worthy of all the attention they are still getting.

If you like dipping sauces you will love Sweet Mandarins. But don't take our word for it. Pop along to www.sweetmandarin.net and use their interactive map to find a store near you.