sweet and sour

Meaning

This expression describes a flavor profile that combines sugary sweetness with acidic tartness. It is most commonly used to describe sauces, dishes (especially in Asian-American cuisine), or candies. You can use it as an adjective directly before a noun.

Examples

• I always order the sweet and sour pork when we get Chinese takeout.

  I always order the sweet and sour pork when we get Chinese takeout.

• This dipping sauce has a perfect sweet and sour balance.

  This dipping sauce has a perfect sweet and sour balance.

• My grandmother makes a delicious sweet and sour cabbage soup.

  My grandmother makes a delicious sweet and sour cabbage soup.

• Do you prefer sweet and sour chicken or spicy beef?

  Do you prefer sweet and sour chicken or spicy beef?

• These candies are very sweet and sour, so they make your mouth water.

  These candies are very sweet and sour, so they make your mouth water.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I like sweet-sour chicken.

  ✓ I like sweet and sour chicken.

  In English, we always connect these two adjectives with 'and' to form the standard food expression.

• ✗ This sauce is very sour and sweet.

  ✓ This sauce is very sweet and sour.

  While grammatically possible, English speakers almost always say 'sweet' first. It is a fixed binomial phrase.

Related Expressions

Practice

• I love dipping my crispy spring rolls in ___ sauce.

  💡 A flavor that is both sugary and acidic.

  Show answer

  sweet and sour

• She ordered the ___ chicken with white rice for dinner.

  💡 The classic Chinese takeout dish flavor.

  Show answer

  sweet and sour