The box was just sitting there at Costco, taunting me…
“Italian Prune Plums” it said.
“What could it hurt?” I thought.
And so, I brought home a really big, very tasty box of tiny plums, and got to thinking about what to do with them. There were way more than I could eat before they went bad; but a quicklikeabunny rummage through my pantry provided me the answer:
Plum sauce!
Also known as Duck Sauce, this kinda sweet and spicy condiment is a must (for me) with Chinese takeaway, and, as it happened, we were fresh out.
Good thing I had 60 tiny Italian prune plums sitting in a bowl minding their own bidness…
INGREDIENTS
Plum Jam:
•5 cups plums, peeled and pitted*
•2-1/2 cups sugar
•2-1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Plum Sauce:
•4-1/2 cups plum jam
•5/8 cup (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) vinegar**
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•1 cup diced sweet onion
•2 tbsp Aleppo pepper
•5 cloves garlic, minced
•2-1/2 tsp ground ginger
*Any plums will do, but the more usual supermarket plums are larger, so there’ll be a lot less peeling and pitting involved. Also note; the color of your jam (and sauce) will vary depending on the plums you use. These little beauties yielded a golden orange jam and sauce, while the red-fleshed plums will give you a brilliantly red result. Fortunately, they all taste about the same, it’s all about aesthetics.
Combine the plum with the lemon juice and sugar in a large pot over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture begins to bubble.
Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, for about 20 minutes, until the mixture has reduced and thickened to the consistency of honey.
Transfer to prepared canning jars and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath, or…
set aside to cool and prepare to make plum sauce.
Stir the plum jam together with the vinegar, brown sugar, sweet onion and seasonings in a large pot.
**use white or seasoned rice vinegar.
Bring to a boil, stirring often, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes or so, until the brown sugar is well dissolved and the onion is tender.
Give the mixture a good whizzz with an emulsion blender, or transfer in batches to a blender and purée until smooth.
Transfer the plum sauce to prepared canning jars, then process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
My five cups of peeled and pitted plums yielded me 4-1/2 cups of very nice jam, which I then turned into about 5-3/4 half pints of plum sauce – more than ample for our Chinese takeaway meals for the coming year.
Of course, you don’t have to wait for takeaway to enjoy the plum sauce; try a bit with calamari or sweet potato fries, mebbe stir a spoon or two into your next batch of curry, or try it as a glaze on chicken wings, this method would probably work a treat.
Hmmm, I might could use another box o’ those plums…