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@PeteNJ There is no fish sauce in Sriracha. My guess would be it comes from their fermentation process or overall age of the sauce.

@cpatten Definitely!

@GardenStater I think canning this should be no problem. There should be enough sugar and vinegar in it to make it shelf-stable if properly canned.

@gatheringmoss Keeping it in a jar should help with that. One of my jars did get a just a tiny bit of fuzzy on the top (it was the one with the most air in it), but I scooped it that off and threw it out. None of the others developed mold at all at a week or longer.

@ChefMikeNYC I ended up finding them at Trade Fair on 30th Ave and 31st st in Astoria. I checked there at the beginning of my search since it's near my apartment, but they didn't have them then. So it's not a sure bet they're always in stock...I made have just gotten lucky.

@jkaww Ah, I didn't try Jackson Heights. I hit up a lot of Mexican groceries in other parts of Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx and never found them. Thanks for letting me know!

@e.a.miller Not entirely sure, my two batches were gone within an hour after being done. I'd imagine they'd keep well enough in the fridge for about a week...there's isn't too much to go bad with cured meat and sugar.

@Lorenzo The goal of this American-Chinese mini-series is not to reinvent the sauces, but demystify some things that many of us take for granted. I was the first to admit that I probably won't be making hoisin at home regularly, but learning what goes in it was a fun challenge, and I understand the sauce more now for doing it.

With creating a "standard" base recipe like this, it's also a good starting point to experiment with making your own versions of the sauce, which I haven't done yet, but will probably do down the road (I use hoisin in some of my grilling and barbecue, and creating new variations seems like a killer "secret" ingredient).

@tayter I noticed many hoisins used salted chilies or fermented chilies, so needing such a small amount, I thought it easiest, and apt, to use Sriracha, which has the chilies already fermented for you.

@lemonfair Yes, it's fried chicken. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the recipe for the batter as I made it, but I was about 1/2 cornstarch, 1/2 flour, with a little bit of baking soda (try 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda). I then added enough cold water to give it a thick batter consistency. Cut up chicken breasts were then battered and fried, drained, and tossed in the sweet and sour sauce.

@nalega Yup, fixed that. Thanks.

@thesteveroller I'm not entirely sure of where "duck sauce" came from, but I ate it with some tea-smoked duck and it they were delicious together, but more on that on Friday ;)

@rakattack No, Tender Quick is not essential. You can use a mixture of Kosher salt and pink salt...try 1 tablespoon of pink salt with 3/4 cup of Kosher salt. Also, as others have pointed out, you should try steaming the pastrami after coming off the smoker. While the texture was great right out the smoker, once cooled, I think the steaming would have helped to make it more tender (I'm working on a Montreal Smoked Meat recipe now where I steam the brisket at the end).

I would say 1lb if you want it really saucy, but I stretch it to 1 1/2lbs normally.