Chinese plum sauce

The vegetable and fruit plots continue to be gratifyingly bountiful as you might expect at this time of the year. Some crops are arriving in torrents and whilst we enjoy the delights of freshly picked produce thoughts also turn to how best to preserve some of the crop for future consumption. 

Our venerable Victoria plum tree is serving us well once again as I am sure it has for previous generations before our own time here. We are freezing quantities of plums for future crumbles and the like by simply cutting them in half and de-stoning  them. Freeze spread out on a baking before bagging them up for storage.

Something new to try this year is Chinese plum sauce. With a Chinese wife a lot of our meals have an oriental orientation. The Chinese mainly use plum sauce as a marinade for meat dishes, such as with pan fried duck breasts, or as a dipping sauce. We always have a jar on the go in our fridge purchased from a Chinese grocery store. In future we will have our own, home produced plum sauce.

Here's what you need:-

1.5kg plums, stones removed

1 onion finely chopped

300ml water

170g sugar

1 teaspoon grated root ginger

1 glove chopped garlic

120ml rice vinegar or cider vinegar

Teas spoon corundum coriander

Salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon 5 spice 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground clove

Here's what you do:-

1. Bring to the boil plums, onions, water, ginger and garlic and simmer for about 30 mins
2. 2. Press through a sieve and return to a clean pan; stir in sugar, vinegar, coriander, salt, pepper, 5 spice and cloves.
3. 3.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 45 mins until the consistency of apple sauce.
5. Fill into sterilised jars and seal.