On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:27:24 GMT, "Green Newb" >
wrote:

>I'm having a load of fun with my Canner and my spaghettie bolognaise sauce
>turned out fabulous. I got 5, 1 litre jars and 9, 500 ml jars out of the
>batch. I'm onto Chinese food next. Love the idea of take-away in the
>cupboard.
>
>I can make up all the recipes from scratch. Eg., Chinese chicken and sweet
>corn soup. Steak in Black Bean sauce and also Sweet and sour chicken, but
>I'v got a bit lazy these days and usually buy Canton Sweet and sour sauce
>for my Sweet and sour chicken.
>
>For the sweet and sour chicken, I will be adding chicken, pineapple,
>carrots, onions, beanshoots, mushrooms, 5 spice powder, garlic honey, soy,
>tomatoe sauce, vinegar dab a sugar. - commercial sweet and sour sauce.
>The thickening agent already in the commercial sauce may make it look better
>in the jar. In all of the recipes I will be leaving out fats and
>cornflour.
>
>What are your thoughts on cooking up recipes with commercial food/sauces
>that have already been cooked once?

Your enthusiasm for your new hobby is commendable but, I think you
should possibly slow down just a bit.
Unfortunately, not everything lends itself to being canned.
Spaghetti sauce is one thing but, IMO, canning complete Chinese meals
is a whole different ball game.
Have you found a recommended recipe from an authoritative source for
such a thing or are you, like you say, just making up the recipes from
scratch?
I have never attempted anything like that but, I'd guess that trying
to pressure can a complete Chinese meal in a jar would result in some
homogenous mixture akin to canned baby food. Part of the true
enjoyment of Chinese food is the yin and yang, the crispness of the
vegetables contrasted with the softness of the meat and/or noodles,
which would not be possible if it was pressure canned. It would
probably end up like a thick soup or thin stew.
One final note, USDA recommends that soups to be canned should not be
thickened so your commercial sauce containing thickening may be out.
If aesthetics isn't high on your list, go for it and let us know how
it turns out. Also, let us know how you fare with your chopsticks on
the resulting dish ;-).

Ross.