Red Chinese Sauce

It is impossible to imagine Chinese cuisine without red plum sauce. It has a thick consistency, sweet and sour taste and spicy aroma. It serves as an ideal addition to dishes of meat, fried vegetables, side dishes of rice. Red Chinese sauce has gained popularity all over the world. It is often popularly called Chinese ketchup, as well as duck sauce. This sauce got its name because of the perfect combination with such a famous dish as Peking duck.However, it can be used not only in Asian cuisine. The sauce goes well with grilled dishes, and can be used as a marinade for pork, beef or poultry.

First you need to prepare the products for the sauce. Wash the vegetables under running water and dry. Cut the plums in half, remove the seeds. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes. The onion is also peeled and finely chopped. Grate fresh ginger on a grater - you should get about 2 tablespoons of grated pulp. Peel and chop the garlic. Put all the cooked ingredients in a saucepan or a deep frying pan, pour in apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, add honey, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce the heat and continue to boil for another 30 minutes. During this time, the plums will completely boil. Remove the resulting mixture from the heat and grind to a puree-like state using a blender.

In a separate frying pan, mix a stick of cinnamon, anise, cloves, add hot pepper and fennel. In a dry frying pan (without oil!) heat the spices until a characteristic aroma appears. The main thing is not to overcook the spices, otherwise they will be bitter and spoil the finished sauce. Then remove from heat and cool. Transfer the cooled spices to cheesecloth, wrap in a bag and tie. Place the bag of spices in a saucepan with plum puree and boil over medium heat for half an hour until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency. Remove the spice bag from the saucepan and let the sauce cool. Transfer the finished sauce to a clean, airtight container. Thus, the sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Ready-made red Chinese sauce is served with meat, side dishes or snacks. It goes especially well with Peking duck and pork. Bon appetit!