green onions. Traditional rice vinegar is becoming more readily available due to the increase in Asian food stores but a mixture of vinegar and dry sherry is often still used in sweet and sour dishes. Also common is the use of corn starch as thickener for the sauce and tomato ketchup to give a stronger red colour to the dish and to add a Western taste. Most supermarkets across Europe and North America carry a range of prepared sweet and sour sauces either for adding to a stir-fry or for use as a dipping sauce. Primarily in North America, sweet and sour sauce is available in small plastic packets or containers at Chinese take-out establishments for use as a dipping sauce. In Britain, Thai-style sweet chilli dipping sauce has recently overtaken the previous popularity of Chinese-style sweet-sour sauce to the extent it can often be found at non-Asian establishments for a wide variety of western-style snacks from fishcakes to chips and seafood such as calamari and prawns. A number of variations are used in barbecue cuisine, either home-made or prepared from a number of common brands. Besides American Chinese restaurants, popular fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's carry their own proprietary brands of sweet and sour sauce packets. These are commonly offered and used as a dipping sauce for chicken fingers and chicken nuggets. See also Acetomel Agre dulce Gastrique Duck sauce Hoisin sauce List of dips List of Chinese sauces List of Italian dishes List of sauces Lychee pork Palapa Plum sauce Rainbow sauce Reduction (cooking) Sweet chili sauce Vincotto Vinegar References External links General sauce recipes Sweet and Sour Recipe American Chinese cuisine British cuisine Chinese cuisine Chinese sauces