I think we all know by now that Tanny is the fussiest when it comes to food, flavours, textures etc. This sauce I was terrified of sharing with him but he has found his new favourite thing and honestly would happily drink this out of the jar if he got half a chance. In fact he has promised to take me to Leeds to get more plums as soon as possible so I can make more. When I have a reaction like that from him, I know I am onto a winner and he will want it on the yearly rotation for preserving.

He in fact is now openly looking for ways to try it and for me to use it. I have 1 jar left. I have told him to hold fire until I can get more plums. So far we have turned it into a dipping sauce for spring rolls, a marinade for chicken, pork and beef, it has been used as part of a stir fry noodle sauce similar to a chow mien and I have even added it to a gravy for a roast dinner and honestly I thought they would bite my hand off when I offered to make a different one if they didn’t like it.

Now I bought my plums from Kirkgate Market in Leeds and they were past their best. They cost me £1 for the lot. The other ingredients were probably around £1 worth of ingredients. Plum Sauce in the stores costs around £2.50 – £3.50 for between 220g -300g … I made nearly 3 litres worth this this recipe. I think I win. Plus no fillers or other ingredients in it. It’s a fantastic recipe to make the most of should you know of wild plum trees or have a plum tree or have a farmers market near you or a friendly grocer willing to sell you their past their best plums for a discount.

So without further ado here’s the recipe to the most loved sauce in our household.

INGREDIENTS

4 Kgs Plums, halved and destoned.

2 Cups Soft Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon of Ground Ginger

1 Tablespoon of Chilli Flakes or Red Pepper Flakes

1 Cup Dark Soy Sauce

2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar

METHOD

To a large pot or jam pot add all of the ingredients

Bring all ingredients to the boil while mixing well to make sure you don’t end up with any sticking to the bottom of the pan and that all sugar is dissolved.

Keep on a rolling boil for 15-20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

Either use an immersion blender (stick blender) and blend it to a puree. If you do not have one cool the whole thing down to room temperature and blend in the blender or food processor until you have the same effect. If you do not have any of those use a sieve, not a metal one, preferably a plastic mesh sieve and push all of the solids through until you have a wonderful puree. Yes you can also use a hand food mill but I would wait until its cold to use that to avoid burns.

Bring pureed sauce back up to the boil for 5-10 minutes.

Pour the sauce either into sterilized bottles or sterilized jars and place on the lids or corks.

Due to the sugar and vinegar content of this sauce there is no need to water bath or pressure can it. If you place one piece or (lug lids) on the jars they should seal themselves if you place the sauce straight from the boiling pot into them. If you are using bottles, use sterilized reusable corks and if you so wish once cool dip in wax and seal but it really isn’t necessary.

This sauce is shelf stable for up to 2 years. Honestly probably longer but ours never allowed to sit on the shelf long enough for us to find out.

Here’s the video 🙂 Enjoy guys let me know how you enjoyed it if you made it I’d love to know.