Celtic Pinay: Homemade Plum Sauce

We had a pretty good harvest of plums from the backyard because this time around, we managed to beat the possums to it by harvesting earlier and not waiting for the fruit to ripen at the tree (it was a lesson learned the hard way). Most of the fruit was consumed fresh, some had unfortunately rotten away while stowed in a cool dry place to ripen (which probably meant that place wasn't dry enough!)

Anyway there are still some leftover plums, around 3 kilos worth. I made half as a savoury batch of spiced plum sauce and left the other half to further ripen before I turn that into jam.

last year's plum jam

I did a little research on plum sauce recipes and found that the most common spice associated with it are either star anise, cinnamon, or five spice (star anise and cinnamon are actually spices used in a five spice mix - check out my previous 5 spice mix here). The ingredients for this sauce was inspired by several other recipes, but in the end I just sort of made it up as I go... nothing new there! Aside from the 5 spice mix I added a few whole pieces of star anise and freshly ground szechuan peppers to highlight these flavors further.

The amount of honey and spices all boils down to a taste preference, as well as how sweet or tart the plums are. These ones aren't very sweet at the time - which is good, because I wanted the sauce to be too sweet - otherwise that's jam!!

Spiced Plum Sauce

1.2kg blood plums, pitted and chopped

1 cup water

1 onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 star anise

10 pcs ground szechuan peppercorns

10 pcs ground black peppercorns

4 tsp 5 spice

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp ginger powder

6 tblsps honey (may vary depending on how sweet you would like the sauce)

salt to taste

you will also need bottles!

In a big pot over medium heat combine all ingredients except honey and gently simmer until the plums break down and the consistency thickens. This may take around 30min or more. It is best to stir constantly to ensure the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the honey, reduce heat and let simmer further.