Spiced Plum Sauce
I've been looking for a decent plum sauce recipe for a while. I hunted through all of Nana's old recipes, and sadly it seems that her famous plum sauce recipe has vanished for good. (Either that, or she used the tried and true Edmonds recipe all those years). Anyway, here's one my sister sent from London. It worked well for me, and the taste of a good sauce was there, so it might just become a new recipe to keep in the family files.
Spiced Plum Sauce
Ingredients
1.5kg of plums
2 small onions
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
5cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
1 small cinnamon stick
4 allspice berries
2 teaspoons salt
2 star anise
5 whole cloves
300g soft brown sugar
500ml white wine vinegar
1 to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
Method
1. Wash and quarter the plums, removing the stones. Peel and chop the onions and place in a preserving pan with the plums. Add the garlic, ginger and put all the spices in a muslin bag and add to the pan.
2. Add the sugar and vinegar and set the pan over a medium heat, stirring from time to time until the sugar has fully dissolved. Bring the mixture slowly to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook until the plums and onions are very soft. (This can take up to an hour).
3. Remove the muslin bag of spices and tip the sauce into a mouli set over a clean pan. Stir it through the mouli to remove any tough plum skins. Place the pan over a low to medium heat and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, until thickened to the consistency of tomato ketchup.
4. Taste, then add the soy sauce and a little more sugar if needed to balance the flavours.
5. Carefully pour the sauce into sterilised jars and seal. Leave to cool.
Like other sauces this recipe will store for months unopened in a cool dark place. Once opened, store in the fridge. Makes 4 x 450g jars.