I was just reminded of this condiment while watching TV.
I remember getting it in Chinese food on the east coast of the US, but I have never seen packets labelled “Duck Sauce” in Seattle, where there is lots and lots of various Asian food.
Do they serve “Duck Sauce” where you live?
Nope…it’s just called Plum Sauce here.
[Edit - to be clear - yes, we use it, no, we don’t call it Duck Sauce…it’s Plum Sauce.]
I’ve never seen Plum Sauce either, that I remember. Hoisin Sauce (purple) we have, but not Plum/Duck Sauce.
I love the way people answer questions like this without telling us where they are.
Here in suburban Cleveland, I can get duck sauce, plum sauce and hoisin sauce, and others as well.
I’ve never seen Duck sauce or Plum sauce in Minnesota or Illinois. All I ever get with my Chinese takeout is Sweet and Sour sauce.
Yes. I’ve seen those little packets at Thai and Chinese places in Nashville. Kroger also has bottles of it in the Oriental section of spices and condiments. The hot mustard packets are often in the same little rack in the restaurants and fast food places. And when we order for delivery from several such places there will be packets of Duck Sauce, Soy Sauce, Hot Mustard and Sweet and Sour Sauce tossed in the bag.
It’s all duck sauce in Chinese restaraunts in the Chattanooga area and it’s one of three sauces offered at the “Japanese” teppenyaki place at our food court at work. Soy sauce and hot mustard being the other two.
OK, I had never heard of duck sauce before, but I assumed that duck sauce could be hoisin sauce because that is what they serve on Peking duck with the pancakes. According to Wiki, plum sauce (made from plums and kind of translucent orange) was mistakenly served with Peking Duck in America, earning the sobriquet duck sauce.
In my own case, it was exactly the opposite. When I first had Moo Shoo Pork, the people I was with called the condiment plum sauce, when it was in fact hoisin sauce. It was several years until I figured out the truth. By the way, hoisin sauce is actually made from soy beans.
Most of the chinese restaurants I frequent here in Cincinnati do have Duck Sauce. Here, it’s also known as Apricot Sauce. I’ve never heard of Plum Sauce.
Wabbit sauce
Duck sauce!
The Chinese restaurant we order from in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago always sends along a couple of packets of Duck Sauce. I’ve never actually tried it though.
In case you’re interested, the restaurant is China Dragon and their food is pretty amazing.
Boston area here; duck sauce is a staple of any Chinese restaurant. However, most restaurants here have a thinner, much tastier version than the kind that comes in packets.
Duck sauce (translucent orange) packets are common at Chinese restaurants throughout Florida, as well as soy sauce, hot mustard, and the occasional hot sauce. I personally love mixing a bit of duck sauce into my house special fried rice.
*I * said it’s wabbit sauce. You know what to do with that blender, Doc.
So it does seem as though “Duck Sauce” is an East Coast/east of the Miss. phenomenon.
Around here, the sauces are much less mixed. There’s not even soy sauce at Thai restaurants here, unless you ask. (Which you shouldn’t, because soy is Chinese/Japanese.)
I’m not an expert, by any means, but it seems that since there are more Asian restaurants here, they can afford to diversify.
The Marx Bros made a film, it was called…Duck S…
Oh Forget it
I’ve seen duck sauce in restaurants in both Oklahoma City and Dallas. I’ve never seen it called “plum sauce”. If I hadn’t read this thread and was asked about plum sauce, I’d wonder if maybe you meant hoisin, which for some reason tastes plum-y to me, even though it doesn’t have plum in it.