Spicy Plum Sauce

I love plum sauce - you get it less and less in restaurants these days, and it's always too damn sweet for my liking. I like it spicy and vinegary. So, when I was making some salt and pepper eggplant and tofu, I thought that the best thing with them would be plum sauce. And here's the recipe I made up!

Spicy Plum Sauce

Ingredients

Ten plums, seeded and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Spring onion, equivalent to garlic
Optional – fresh chilli (half the amount of garlic), minced
1 tablespoon Vegan chinese bbq sauce
1 tablespoon Vegan oyster sauce (more to taste)
1 tablespoon Soy sauce
1/3 to ½ cup Vinegar (apple cider works really well)
Water
Vegetable oil

Method

Heat a splash of oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and spring onion (and chilli, if using) to the oil, and cook until fragrant. Add the plums, and stir thoroughly. Add the BBQ, vegan oyster and soy sauces, and stir until well mixed.

Pour in the vinegar, and add water to almost cover the plums. Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the plums have broken down, and the sauce is quite thick. You may need to add a little more water and vinegar during the cooking process.

When cooked, take off the heat and allow to cool a little. Slowly push the sauce through a sieve with a wooden spoon, making a smooth and thick end result. Allow to cool completely.

Tastes amazing with the salt and pepper eggplant.

You can also make this with apricots rather than plums – or a mix of them!