Asian Plum Sauce

July 17, 2007

 

Flickr Photo Credit: Dumble Dad

I just found a photo copy of this recipe in my file.  I believe it came from a title called the Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving.  I like the idea of this recipe because it provides a canning option outside of the traditional. Since we love ethnic food, this is right up our alley. Can’t wait to try a batch of this and whip up some egg rolls or chicken fingers. It would probably also work well with roast pork.

9 purple plums (washed and pitted), 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar, 1 cup cider vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 1/4 cup raisins, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1/8 tsp each of ground cloves, ginger and all spice.

Finely chop plums in a food processor until you have about 1 3/4 cup. Combine the plums with sugar, vinegar and salt in a stainless steel or enamel sauce pan. Boil gently, uncovered for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add onions, garlic, raisins, soy sauce, chili powder, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and all spice. Return to a boil, reducing heat and boiling gently, uncovered, for 45 minutes until mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch of the rim (head space). Process in water bath for 10 minutes for half pint jars. Since I can’t think of anything else I could use this sauce for, I think I’ll stick with the smaller jar version of the canning process. This way, each time we enjoy it with homemade Chinese food, it’ll be good and fresh.