Easy Plum Sauce Recipe

Plate of braised duck leg with a rich plum sauce, served alongside white rice with sesame seeds, garnished with a star anise and parsley.

Easy Plum Sauce Recipe

A quick pan sauce of plums, apricot and star anise simmered down with beef stock, mirin and vinegar. Sweet, sharp and glossy, and made for duck.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Servings: servings

Calories: 125kcal

Author: Chef Łukasz Babral

Equipment:

Saucepan A small heavy one
Fine Mesh Sieve Only if you want it smooth

Ingredients:

15 ml olive oil
1 shallot - finely chopped
40 g brown sugar
2 ripe plums - seeds removed and cut into wedges
1 apricot - seed removed and cut into wedges
300 ml thick beef stock - or gravy
30 ml mirin
30 ml red wine vinegar
2 star anise
3 slices of orange

Instructions:

Heat 15 ml of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the finely chopped shallot and sauté for about 5 minutes until it becomes soft and translucent.
Add the brown sugar to the pan and stir until it begins to dissolve. Add the plum and apricot wedges and continue stirring until the sugar is fully melted and coats the fruit pieces.
Pour in the beef stock, mirin, and red wine vinegar. Add the star anise and orange slices to the pan. Stir well to combine all the ingredients.
Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow it to thicken and for the flavours to meld together. If you prefer a thicker consistency, continue to simmer for a few more minutes until it reaches your desired thickness. Remember it thickens further as it cools, so stop while it still looks slightly loose. Alternatively, you can blend the sauce briefly after removing the star anise for a smoother texture.
Once the sauce is cooked, you can remove the star anise and orange slices if you prefer a more refined texture. Alternatively, you can leave them in for added flavour and a rustic presentation. The star anise keeps getting stronger the longer it sits, so take it out if the sauce is not going straight to the table.
Before serving, taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. You may wish to add more vinegar for acidity, a pinch of sugar for sweetness, or a little salt for balance.
Once the sauce has the right consistency and flavour balance, remove it from the heat. Set it aside to cool or reheat later as needed. Serve warm with duck, venison, game birds or pork. It keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes for up to 3 months, but do not can it: the stock makes it a low-acid sauce.

Notes:

Weigh the fruit. Plums run from about 40 g to 100 g each, so two plums and an apricot is roughly 200 to 250 g. Counting them means two cooks can be more than double apart.

Makes about 300 ml. Enough for four as a sauce. It doubles and triples happily if you have a glut, but allow a few extra minutes to reduce.

Taste it at the end, and reach for the vinegar. If it tastes like ketchup, the balance of sugar to vinegar is the cause, not the fruit. Add vinegar a teaspoon at a time.

It thickens as it cools, so stop while it still looks slightly loose.

Fridge 3 to 4 days, freezer up to 3 months. This sauce contains stock, so it is not a preserve and must not be water-bath canned at any vinegar level. Freeze it instead.

Nutrition: