Savoury Chinese Plum Sauce Recipe

This week the kids and I took a walk in the rain, which was nice on it’s own, but the highlight was finding a plum tree firmly planted on the pavement, so since I didn’t have to knock on anyone’s door for permission, we helped ourselves to about half a kilogram of plums. One of my favourite Chinese meals is Duck with Plum Sauce, so I decided to use some of these to make my own plum sauce.

I had to do a bit of  googling for recipes, and it seems there’s a plum sauce to suit every pallet. So I’d say this recipe is highly versatile. You could add chillies for a spicier kick, or some olive oil for a dressing. It could even make a really good dip if you’re doing finger foods that need dipping.

I made it first without any sweeteners added, but found it very salty, but if you have sweet enough plums that shouldn’t be a problem. Mine were more tart than sweet, so I added a few tablespoons of maple syrup and that really transformed the flavour.

The jar of plum sauce can keep for up to six months in the freezer, and around 2 weeks in the fridge, though I froze one and used the rest on a delicious chicken dinner. Even the kids liked it.

(I heated sesame oil in a frying pan and sizzled some chicken strips in it, then added the plum sauce – enough to cover – and let it boil down. As it became stickier and ‘dried up’ I added cashew nuts and spring onion, which was poured over egg fried rice. Yummy!)