Need help in duplicating an unusual Chinese duck sauce for egg rolls..
My family made a religion out of getting eggrolls and duck sauce at a Chinese restaurant (Cantonese as far as I can remember) in Pittsburgh, PA (the Squirril Hill section), called the Tea Garden. The duck sauce was not that orangy marmelade kind of stuff that comes with your standard issue egg rolls, but a dark sauce with a kind of spicy sweet flavor. I've been told it had plums and apricots in it. Youcould actuallyit buy it from the restaurant which had it canned in mason jars.
Does anyone have any recipes for a dipping sauce that sounds like this? It was thick with a consistency similiar to pureed tomatoes. But it was very dark chocaltey brown. THank you!!!
cimero
Jun 20, 2007 05:17PM
Was it anything like hoisin sauce or plum sauce? It sounds more like those than the duck sauce.
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Sounds like hoisin sauce. It is good stuff. From your posts, it looks like you're in LA, you should be able to find it in your local supermarket.
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Nope, it's not hoisin. It is indeed called duck sauce. I'm originally from Boston, where duck sauce was practically a beverage in our house! When we moved to California, many years ago, I couldn't find a substitute. On our visits back home, we used to bring back half gallon milk cartons full of the stuff. The chef of a Chinese restaurant in Boston finally gave up the recipe. Here it is:
8 ounces plum sauce (sold in jars in markets, usually made by Dynasty)
12 ounces applesauce
4 ounces white vinegar
6 ounces molasses
1/2 cup white sugar (if necessary)
If you use applesauce made with sugar, you may not need to add additional sugar. Or, if you like it sweeter, just add sugar till it suits your taste.
Mix all ingredients together, and refrigerate for a day or so. This makes a large amount, but it keeps, refrigerated, for quite a while.
Hope this is exactly what you're looking for.
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My sister and I used to make the duck sauce recipe from the original Moosewood cookbook. It was delicious -- not as syropy tasting as the bought bottled stuff.
Hmmmm -- think I'll male some this weekend....
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I was also raised on the Tea Garden's shrimp egg rolls and duck sauce. Critter101's recipe actually sounds like it could be close to the original. I'll have to try it this weekend and report back. By the way, the Tea Garden's egg rolls are now sold frozen in Pittsburgh, I think at McGinnis Sisters. I believe they're made by a daughter of the Ung family. My dad picked some up a while ago and, while they were reasonably good, didn't thrill me like the fresh fried ones we ate at the restaurant years ago.
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AmyH,
Your info on Tea Garden egg rolls at McGinnis Sisters was very helpful.
I contacted them and they were not aware of the Tea Garden rolls at their stores. Any more info on how to find these special egg rolls would be sincerely appreciated.
Thanks very much.
Ron
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That plum sauce by Dynasty at my market sells for around $4 per jar. I wigged out at first and thought I read 8 Jars! Thank goodness I read it again and now am making it. Want to find out why you all love this so much.
Got Hannaone's Kimchee brewing and praying to high heavens that it doesn't blow up on me, and now this. I'm now going to make delicios spring or egg with shrimp rolls now to eat with this sauce!
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Thank you all!!!! I'll be playing with that recipe from Boston this weekend!!!! It does sound like it might be it! And to AmyH, how great to find another fan of the Ung's Tea Garden! You don't have a brother-in-law named Roland do you? Then I know you!! Anyway, I did buy the frozen Ung Family eggrolls when I was in Pgh. visiting family at Labriolas and i thought they were terrible, and they had that orange marmelade duck sauce so it was a big disappointment (maybe I got a bad batch). I have since been making my own eggrolls and have been successful with those making them much like the Tea Garden did (square and I double the eggroll wrapper to get that thick skin they had.). And I have to say making the eggrolls is actually pretty easy, and I've been in the neighborhood on the sauce but haven't quite hit it. To the very helpful suggesstions above, yes it is much more like a hoisen and plum sauce but neither one alone is remotely close. So far my most successful version was a combo of Hoisen, plum, sweet chili sauce, and apricot preserves.
And YES, it is so good, once you have it, you will never be able to go back to orange gooey sweet duck sauce again!!!!! It's a show stopper.
Thank you CRITTER 101 for sharing the recipe, I can't wait to try it out!!
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Nope, no Roland in my family. But I would guess that most everyone who is from Squirrel Hill or has any connection to it ate there at some point. Did you get a chance to try the recipe this weekend? I didn't. Maybe I'll wait until I get together with my dad so he can enjoy it, too.
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I grew up with Charlie Ungs Tea Garden as well and when I moved away, I made it a habit to always go in and order a few dozen partially cooked, and frozen eggrolls with lots of the duck sauce. I have tried repeatedly and can not duplicate it either. Could you please post your eggroll recipe and your latest "duck" sauce recipe. My family would be ever so gratefull.
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Rockville,
Do you have anyinfo on how to find the special egg rolls like those at the old Tea Garden Restautrant.
Any info would dbe sincerely appreciated.
Thanks much,
Ron
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OOOH-- I think this is a recipe I have been looking for. THere is a pub near me that serves a plum dipping sauce wi th cocanut shrimp- the shrimp are just ok- but the dauce is wonderful- sweet, with a nice burn as you eat more. And this sounds like it might just be the one! Have tried to replicate it, but falls hort. Will give this a try.
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I finally got to try this recipe for my dad when he was visiting this weekend. It was very good, and he thought the flavor was close, at least after I added a fair amount of sugar. But it was too loose. The Tea Garden's duck sauce was very thick. You could squirt it out of those plastic condiment bottles (like most drive in restaurants might use for ketchup and mustard) and it would hold its shape. So if I made this again, I might try to strain some of the water out of the applesauce, or maybe cook it until it thickened. And I'd cut way back on the vinegar. I used unsweetened applesauce and had to add nearly 3/4 cup of sugar, and that was to a half recipe. Even halved, the recipe made about 2 cups of sauce. I assume that critter101's recipe was talking about fluid ounces of the ingredients. Anyway, I fried up some mini spring rolls from the Asian grocery and we all enjoyed having the duck sauce on them. Thanks!
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Try baking the apple sauce instead of cooking it on the stove. It comes out much drier.
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Yes, I suppose that might dry it out. Just pour it into a baking dish and bake it for a while? I guess if it goes too long I might end up with fruit leather! Or maybe I can find another brand that is thicker to begin with.
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hi there, it was a sad day when the tea gardens closed. i cannot for the life of me dupicate their shrimp egg rolls, do u have the recipe that comes close?? please let me know, thanks...craig
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