Hong Kong Café Tomato Sauce 茶餐廳螢光番茄汁 (Cantonese: cha chaan teng ying gwong faan ke zhup) is no stranger to anyone who frequents Hong Kong Cafés. People also call it the “fluorescent sauce (螢光)” because of its glowing orange colour. It’s the basic sauce for popular dishes like the Baked Pork Chop on Rice (焗豬扒飯) and various red sauce pasta dishes.
What makes this tomato sauce different from western tomato sauce? There’s the sugar, the soy sauce (of course), the Worcestershire sauce, the ketchup and the star of the show. The star isn’t the fresh tomatoes, those can be optional. The star is the tomato paste. Although western tomato sauce may also include tomato sauce, it’s not the most important ingredient. Tomato paste is what gives the sauce its fluorescent colour.
In my previous Baked Pork Chop on Rice recipe, the sauce was more gourmet and so we also added some marinara sauce. For this Hong Kong Café Tomato Sauce 茶餐廳螢光番茄汁 recipe, it is a basic version that you would find at your typical Hong Kong Café. It’s not only quick and easy, it tastes great too!
You can use this sauce on any protein. Some popular ones are chicken/pork cutlet, pan-fried chicken/pork/beef, wieners, smokies and ox tongue just to name a few. Serve it with white rice, fried rice or pasta to make it complete. Some broccoli florets, corn kernels and diced carrots will complete the dish!
I find that sometimes, restaurants don’t give enough sauce for the dishes which makes it bland. But this never happens at home! I usually make more than enough so that I can use it the next day too. I’ll make it for pork cutlet the first day and the second day, I’ll stir-fry some shredded chicken, add the sauce and put it on top of spaghetti. It doesn’t even seem like leftovers!
My Hong Kong Café Tomato Sauce 茶餐廳螢光番茄汁 is the last of my Hong Kong Café sauces because I can’t think of anymore. So far, I’ve written recipes for Black Pepper Sauce, Garlic Sauce and Old Hong Kong Steak Sauce. If you think of another sauce that I’m missing, please let me know! These sauce recipes have been very popular on my website and I want to thank you for your continued support!
Hong Kong Café Tomato Sauce 茶餐廳螢光番茄汁
Ingredients
- 4 cloves Garlic , chopped
- 1 Large shallot , chopped
- 1 Medium onion , fine sliced
- 2 Medium tomatoes , slice into small wedges
- 4 tbsp Tomato paste
- 2 tbsp Ketchup
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Salt
- 500 ml Water
- 2 tbsp Butter (30g)
- 2 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp Oil
Instructions
- Chop garlic and shallots
- Slice tomatoes and onions
- Make roux paste by combining 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour. Mix well until you form a paste
You can also use pork fat or vegetable oil to replace the butter. Alternatively, you can make a corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce but the sauce won’t look as glossy - On medium heat, add 2 tbsp oil and sauté the chopped shallots and garlic until aromatic
- Add onions. Fry until slightly softened
- Add 4 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tbsp ketchup, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce. Mix well
- Add 500 ml water and bring sauce to a boil. Put the heat on high. Add tomatoes and let the sauce boil again
- Reduce heat to low. Add the roux paste and stir until sauce thickens and cook for another 5 minutes to make sure that the flour is fully cooked
- Taste test and add 1 tsp salt if necessary. Add water if you want to thin it and more roux paste if you want it thicker. Add white vinegar to make it tangier
- Serve with rice or pasta
This really good recipe, thank you
This is an excellent recipe. Thank you! I added some evaporated milk to make the sauce more "translucent". Many thanks!