Food pr0n - Sweet n Sour Turkey

I've never been particularly good at making sauces - a roux tends to end up being gritty or a gravy being weak. Last night, I was cooking a stiryfry and noticed some oranges in the fruit bowl adjacent to the hob, and came up with the idea of making a sweet'n'sour sauce. Slight panic partwaythrough when I had problems with the thickening agent, but a well-experienced mother was available for telephone advice :-)

Ingredients:

• 500g of turkey,diced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 bell peppers,chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 50g sugar
• 150ml malt vinegar
• 1 orange
• Some arrowroot or cornflour

Directions:
Stiry fry:

• Heat some oil in a wok / large frying pan on a moderate heat.
• Add the turkey, allowing it to brown but being careful not to let it burn.
• After 15-20 minutes add the onions and stir.
• Heat until they start going clear, then add the carrots and peppers.
• Reduce the heat, stirring occasionally. (Keep an eye on it whilst making the sauce).
• Optionally cover slightly it with a saucepan lid to reduce cooking time a little

Sauce:

• 1/4 fill a mug with water and stir in about 2 heaped teaspoons of arrow root. (It should dissolve really well). Put this to one side.
• Take another pan, and add the vinegar. Don't let it boil, but when it starts to steam add the sugar in small amounts. (It can be a little uncomfortable if the vapour gets in your eyes, so those wearing glasses are at an advantage. I prefer to use an extractor fan :-)
• Once well dissolved the syrup has reduced a little, slowly add this to the mug of arrowroot solution. (Not the otherway around, else you might end up with a lumpy sauce).
• It doesn't matter if it won't all fit in the mug; pouring it this way around is simply so that you don't give a temperature shock to the arrowroot. Then pour back in the contents of the mug to the sauce pan.
• Heat it slowly; it should be about the colour of a weak tea. After a few minutes, but suddenly and without warning it will thicken up into a syrup.
• Grate the rind of the orange and add it to the sauce, then halve the orange and squeeze in the juice.
• Add maybe half a level teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

Serving:
Serve with rice, and ideally eat immediately because the sauce thickens when it cools.