It is a light brown in color sauce with a sweet and sour taste. It is used as a sauce as well as a dip in Chinese cuisines. It is a secret to many recipes in the cuisine. The process of preparing the Plum sauce is very easy and does not take much time. The best thing about this sauce is its versatility. It can also be used for Chinese as well as Mexican, Mongolian and selective Indian recipes. The Plum sauce recipe is traditionally made up by using sweet ripe plums. It adds to the dish a unique flavor giving it an amazing texture and tangy taste.
The origin of the Plum Sauce is from South China. Initially it was used by the Chinese. The very first recipe of this sauce just included ripe plums, sugar, vinegar, ginger and chilies. They were boiled together until it came to a pulpy consistency. They were initially used for egg rolls but as time kept passing many other ingredients are added to the Plum Sauce and are put in several uses.
The basic ingredients used while preparing the Plum Sauce are sweet ripe plums, vinegar, brown sugar, onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, honey, ground cinnamon and red chili paste. This recipe takes a preparation time of 5 minutes and cooking time of 15 minutes. For preparing the sauce a medium sized saucepan is taken. The vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, honey, red chili paste and water are given a quick boil by stirring continuously. The plums are added to it and allowed to simmer for the flavors to blend in. If the consistency is very thin the addition of a little cornstarch and water mixture turns it out great. Then the mixture is removed from heat and soy sauce and cinnamon are added to it. After letting the mixture cool down it is pureed in a food processor.
It is best served with spring rolls, noodles, poultry dishes, egg rolls, roasted duck and deep fried chicken balls. It tastes great with chicken, pork or beef. Cinnamon is generally added to the Plum Sauce recipe to give it a nice flavor and aroma.
Not too many variations are found in Plum Sauce. But every individual has a different Plum Sauce recipe and a unique style of preparing it. This sauce can also be prepared using peach, prunes, cherry, apricot, papaya and apples. In North America the widely used sauce contains pumpkin as its main ingredient. Some of them even contain oyster sauce and tom yum paste in it. Some people also use pickled or preserved plums for preparing the sauce.
There are about 9.98 calories in 1 cup of the sauce. Since it contains sugar it should not be consumed in large portions by people suffering from diabetes. It also contains many vitamins, dietary fiber, minerals, protein as well as carbohydrates.