Homemade Duck Sauce for Passover is a sweet and tangy condiment made from fruit that is used in Chinese-American cuisine that’s delicious for dipping and glaze.
It’s so easy to make—only 6 ingredients!—and perfect to use on your chicken or meat dishes during the Passover holiday and even for your Seder meal!
You can even use it to flavor your Passover brisket.
All you have to do is to pour it on your chicken or meat and you will have a delicious tangy-sweet flavor to your dish!
You can also dip your matzo!
And, it’s vegan!
Duck sauce is a vegan condiment made from fruit (this recipe uses apricot, but you can use peaches, or other fruit) and is used in Chinese-American cuisine as a glaze or as a dip for sides.
Duck sauce, because it’s parve, became popular in Jewish cuisine after kosher food companies started manufacturing for their buyers.
On Passover, it makes a great glaze for meat or chicken (seriously, pour it on your brisket!) for the seder meal, shabbat, or any time!
And it refrigerates really well! (I’ve even used it on meat or chicken and then froze it!).
Eating on the day of the seder
Jews who keep the laws of Passover do not eat matzo or any foods that contain anything from matzo (such as matzo meal or matzo cake meal) the entire day before the seder, which is in the evening.
Some people even have the custom of not eating such foods for two weeks before, beginning on Rosh Chodesh Nissan or even as far back as Purim, which is a month before.
Food on Passover
Torah-observant Jews do not eat chametz (the fermented products of five grains: wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye).
In addition, Torah-observant Ashkenazi Jews do not eat kitniyot (or kitniyos as pronounced in Ashkenazi Hebrew). These include legumes, corn, rice, and similar foods that were deemed forbidden to eat by rabbis in the medieval period and are still not eaten today. Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews do not follow this tradition.
Many observant Ashkenazi Jews will not even eat the derivatives of these kitniyot, while others do (each family holds their own traditions regarding this).
Then, there are Ashkenazim who don’t eat “gebrokts” (or gebrochts).
Gebrokts (gebrochts) means “broken” in Yiddish, and in this case refers to matzo that has absorbed liquid. Not eating gebrokts is observed by many in the Hasidic Jewish community and Ashkenazim who have taken on this tradition, where they basically don’t mix anything wet with matzo.
So, things like matzo sandwiches, fried matzo, and even matzo balls are a no-no for them.
There is a joke that sums it all up:
On Passover, we should remember people who have little to eat on this holiday. They are called Ashkenazim.
Over the years, I have learned to adapt “normal” food for Passover so that my family won’t complain about boring, tasteless, or repetitive meals.
I find that having good food and variety makes the week of Passover a very pleasant experience, and I hope this recipe will help make yours just that!
How Chinese American food became popular within the Jewish community
It is well known that Jews (especially those with ties to New York) love Chinese food. You can find at least one and, more often than not, several kosher Chinese restaurants in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods. In the town of Cedarhurst, New York, for example, there are two within a couple of blocks – both excellent…and don’t even get me started on Brooklyn.
There is a popular joke, which has been passed around for many years, that describes the Jewish dependency on Chinese food: “According to the Jewish calendar, the year is 5749. According to the Chinese calendar, the year is 4687. That means for 1,062 years, the Jews went without Chinese food.” That was back in 1989, and who knows when the joke even started?
Jews as a group were probably first introduced to Chinese food in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where immigrants of various cultures settled in their own neighborhoods in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
By the early 1900s, approximately one million Jews from Eastern Europe and half a million Italians from Southern Italy shared the Lower East Side of Manhattan with only approximately 7,000 Cantonese Chinese, most of whom had moved from California.
Due to anti-Chinese laws and acts, which prevented them from competing with whites, many Chinese opened restaurants.
The majority of Jewish immigrants at that time were observant in their religion and ate only kosher food when they arrived in New York. But, over time, many assimilated, and their children, who were less interested in keeping “the old ways” and more interested in other cultural experiences, even more so.
Some continued keeping kosher at home while allowing themselves to stray while out. Sunday was a favorite time for eating out, and Chinese food was not only reasonably priced, but their restaurants were open on Sundays.
Not only that, but Chinese food didn’t use milk, and while excuses may be made for eating non-kosher meat outside of the home, there was still the forbidden mixing of meat and milk to consider.
Having been raised with what is forbidden, these Jews seemed to feel that if they couldn’t tell it was non-kosher, it wasn’t that bad (or wasn’t repulsive), even if it contained pork or non-kosher seafood. The attitude seemed to be, if I can’t see it, it won’t kill me.
But what about Jews who did keep kosher? It took decades, but finally one enlightened Jewish, kosher deli owner found a solution. Using Cantonese Chinese recipes and substituting kosher veal, beef, and chicken livers for pork, he began selling the first kosher Chinese food. This was Sol Bernstein, the eldest son of Schmulka Bernstein.
Schmulka Bernstein ran a kosher butcher store and smokehouse on the Lower East Side of Manhattan near Essex St. for approximately 30 years, from the 1930s until the mid-1960s.
In 1959, Sol opened a delicatessen on Essex Street and called it Bernstein-on-Essex. His slogan was “Where kashrut is king and quality reigns” (kashrut = kosher).
Although the deli was separate from Schmulka’s butcher shop and belonged to Sol, everyone still called it Schmulka Bernstein’s, and anyone who is still around and remembers still does so to this day. In fact, I doubt that many people even know that the deli belonged to Sol or that it was Sol who was the originator of kosher Chinese food in the US.
Sol continued to sell deli while he incorporated Chinese foods into the menu and did very well. The restaurant continued to prosper until he died in 1992, when it was sold.
What does it mean when recipes say “to taste” about an ingredient?
When recipes say “to taste,” it means that you can put in as little or as much as you like to your own taste. Some recipes have many ingredients that a cook can adjust to their own taste when cooking (not so much when baking though).
The best way to calculate what your taste is with a recipe that you are not yet familiar with is to first taste the dish and then add the “to taste” ingredient GRADUALLY, a little at a time—a splash of this or a pinch of that—until the dish is just the way you like it. Make sure to stir the ingredient after each time you add it so that the flavor will distribute evenly and become part of the dish. Then taste again. Repeat until you reach your personal preference.
Note: If you plan on using the recipe again, it is highly recommended to make a note of what and how much you added so that you can refer to it next time.
Kosher for Passover Pantry Essentials (Suggested)
Utensils:
- Measuring cups for liquid
- Measuring cups for solids (flour, sugar, etc.)
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Kitchen scale
NOTE: When using measuring cups and spoons, make sure that the measurements are comparable to one another (example: that 4 tablespoons equals 1/4 of your measuring cup). You’d be surprised to know that not all measuring cups are the same, and this can throw your measurements off.
Seasoning and flavoring:
- salt
- ground black or white pepper
- granulated garlic or garlic powder
- onion powder
- ground cinnamon
- sugar (granulated)
- brown sugar
- chicken consommé powder
- onion soup mix
- various herbs
- additional spices to adapt taste to preference
Misc:
- oil / margarine / butter / cooking spray
- potato starch as a thickening agent
- baking powder
- matzo cake meal (matzo meal, but ground into a powder)
- condiments, such as ketchup and barbecue sauce
- tomato sauce/tomato paste/canned tomatoes—diced or crushed/pasta sauce
Keeping eggs in the fridge and onions and potatoes on your shelves as well as having fresh vegetables, such as carrots, celery, bell peppers (red, green, etc), tomatoes (if you don’t want to use canned), etc. can be very useful when putting together a quick but delicious meal.
It’s also a good idea to have some ground meat or chicken (breast, ground, or in parts) in the freezer for anyone who likes meat dishes in a snap.
But what do you need for this recipe, you ask?
These are the ingredients that you need to make this recipe:
apricot or peach jam
potato starch
white granulated sugar
vinegar
paprika (for color)
salt
Can I make Chinese food on Passover?
Much of the American Chinese cuisine calls for cornstarch and soy sauce. Both corn and soy are considered kitniyot and many people (Ashkenazim and some Sepharadim) do not eat kitniyot on Passover.
That said, potato starch can be substituted for cornstarch and there are kosher for Passover imitation soy sauce products.
So, if you can use those substitutions and make sure the rest of the ingredients are regular KLP or Kosher for Passover, then you can make these recipes!
- Kosher Beef and Broccoli (you can use chicken instead of beef)
- Kosher Pepper Steak
- Kosher Mongolian Beef (you can use chicken instead of beef)
Easy Homemade Duck Sauce for Passover
Delicious Chinese-American fruity sweet and sour condiment for dipping, sauce, and glaze. Kosher for Passover.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup apricot or peach (or combination of both) jam *
- 2 tablespoons potato starch
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (have more on hand) *
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika (for color)
- pinch (1/8 teaspoon) salt
- water
Instructions
- Pour the jam, sugar, vinegar, and 1/2 cup water into a saucepan on medium heat and mix well.
- Mix in the paprika and salt.
- Place the potato starch in a bowl and add 1/4 cup water and mix well so there are no lumps, and pour into the jam mixture.
- Bring just to a boil while mixing and turn off.
- Let cool.
Notes
* If the jam you use is strong, your duck sauce will come out with a very fruity flavor, so if you don't want this, use a jam with a less strong flavor. If it is too fruity, add more vinegar - a little at a time. Note that the flavor will settle down a bit once the sauce has cooled.
MAKE SURE ALL INGREDIENTS ARE KOSHER FOR PASSOVER.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 56Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 6mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 1g