Although gluten is commonly used in many products including different types of sauces, ketchup, mustard, and others as a binder and thickener, it has some health-related drawbacks too.
So if you prefer gluten-free sauces/dips but don’t know which condiments contain gluten, you may want to know whether the famous duck sauce is gluten-free or not. So, let us go through the explanations thoroughly to know the exact answer if this query of yours.
Is Duck Sauce Gluten-Free?
Duck sauce is a traditional Chinese side sauce that claims to be gluten-free because this sauce is made with apricots, plums, peaches/pineapples, and seasonings. Most of the brands that make this sweet and sour sauce has claimed their duck sauce is gluten-free but still check the ingredient lists.
Here short explanations of the most common brands of duck sauces regarding whether their duck sauces contain gluten or not have been included for your knowledge and safety.
W.Y. Duck Sauce:
Duck sauces made and manufactured by the famous W.Y. Industries are gluten-free. The W.Y. being a proud producer of condiments affirmed that any of their condiment including duck sauces have no gluten-containing elements.
Ka-Me Duck Sauce:
Ka-Me duck sauces are made of all-natural ingredients such as peaches, pineapple, mango, water, sugar, seasonings, and none of them have gluten. Therefore, Kane duck sauce has been affirmed to be gluten-free.
Peking Duck Sauce:
Peking duck sauce produced by the brand Ah-So is gluten-free.
It’s because the Ah-So brand is a chain of Chinese and East American dips, therefore, it has been maintaining the authentic and traditional Chinese duck sauces recipe that has gluten-free ingredients.
Gold’s Duck Sauce:
Duck sauces made by another famous condiment-making brand the Gold Pure Food Products Co., Inc. are gluten-free.
Gold’s Duck Sweet & Sour Sauce is made with peaches/apricots, sugar, water, and seasonings that don’t contain any gluten-containing element.
Ty Ling Duck Sauce:
Ty Ling Naturals Duck Sauce is completely a gluten-free condiment because the sauce is made of gluten-free ingredients.
Dai Day Duck Sauce:
The Dai Day Sweet and Sour Duck Sauce are gluten-free as well as dairy-free, and artificial ingredients-free sweet and sour condiments.
Kari Out Duck Sauce:
Kari Out is a brand that specializes in carry-out condiments offers the best gluten-free duck sauce at a cheap price.
Saucy Susan Duck Sauce:
Saucy Susan Duck Sauce, an authentic Chinese flavor containing sweet and sassy duck sauce is a gluten-free dressing made of apricots or peaches. This Saucy Susan Duck Sauce certainly will add additional flavor to your meal.
San Luck Duck Sauce:
San Luck Duck Sauce is an all-natural ingredient-made condiment that is gluten-free and contains original Chinese duck sauce flavor.
What Is Duck Sauce Made Out Of?
To provide you an insight into the main ingredients of duck sauce, here brief explanations of the ingredients have been listed.
Peaches/Apricots:
Peaches or apricot are one of the base ingredients of this sweet and sour fleshy duck sauce. Both fresh peach or apricot jams can be used for making duck sauce.
But to get the authentic Chinese flavor in the duck sauce, fresh peaches or apricots are used widely by manufacturing companies.
Plum Juice:
To get a plum-like flavor in the duck sauce, plum juice is used in the duck sauce. Both the canned and bottled plum juice can be suitably used in the duck sauce.
Dried Fruit:
Many duck sauce manufacturers use dried fruits including dried mango, dates, pineapples, or apricots in the duck sauce for extra fruity flavor and flesh in the sauce.
White Sugar Or Brown Sugar:
Sugar is an obvious ingredient in the duck sauce as it adds sweetness to the sauce. Depending on people’s preferences, duck sauce is now made with both white and brown sugar.
Vinegar (Apple Cider, White, Or Rice Wine):
To add the pungent taste in duck sauce, vinegar is added to the sauce recipe. Duck sauce can contain either white vinegar, rice wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar as any of these kinds of vinegar are suitable.
Ginger-Garlic:
Ginger and garlic are the two most important ingredients among all the seasonings because they are the ingredients that level up the taste. Crushed, minced, or paste ginger and garlic are used in the duck sauce.
Crushed Red Pepper/ Chili Powder:
Finally, the red chili. Eithercrushed red pepper or red chili powder is used in the making process of duck sauce for spiciness.
What Duck Sauce Is Gluten-Free?
The majority of the duck sauce-making brands make absolutely gluten-free duck sauce to preserve the authenticity of traditional Chinese duck sauce.
The most commonly eaten and trustworthy duck sauces include Wok Mei Plum sauce, San Luck Duck Sauce, Gold’s Duck Sauce, Ying’s Sweet & Sour Sauce, Peking Duck Sauce, W.Y. Duck Sauce, Ty Ling Duck Sauce, Dai Day Duck Sauce, Saucy Susan Duck Sauce.
Why Is Duck Sauce Gluten-Free?
There is no history found why the traditional Chinese duck sauce had started to be made gluten-free.
However, in recent times, several health issues have been brought up to the light which is caused/worsened because of consuming gluten and these health issues are the reason why duck sauce is being produced gluten-free.
Go through the reasons are included below to know precisely.
Celiac Diseases:
Celiac disease is the core reason all brands are making gluten-free duck sauce. If people with celiac disease consume gluten-containing duck sauce, the gluten in duck sauce will damage their small intestines, also nutrients will not be absorbed.
Therefore, they will face bloating, pain, constipation, and diarrhea.
Wheat Allergy:
Many people have a wheat allergy that is caused by consuming gluten or any other proteins of wheat. So they can go through allergic reactions such as mild to serious itchiness in the throat/mouth, itchy eyes, cramps, shortness of breath, anaphylaxis because of gluten.
To avoid this health condition and make duck sauces safe to consume for consumers, brands are making gluten-free duck sauces.
Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH):
People with gluten sensitivity and sometimes the celiac disease can face a skin condition named Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH) which causes a consistent itchy and red skin inflammation that may turn into blisters and swellings.
So to avoid such a health condition in consumers, duck sauce is now being produced gluten-free.
Healthy Lifestyle:
As gluten doesn’t have any nutritional value, thence, a gluten-free diet has become a very popular lifestyle among Americans. So the brands are making gluten-free duck sauces to attract their target consumers in the consumer market.
Why Is Chinese Duck Sauce Called Duck Sauce?
The first version of duck sauce was served along with the famous Peking duck (a crispy-skinned roasted duck) which is still being served as a significant Chinese dish in China for over hundreds of years. And from that event, duck sauce has been named as “duck sauce”
Gluten-Free Duck Sauce Recipe:
Now you can make your favorite duck sauce as deliciously as any store-bought one at home just by following the steps of the gluten-free duck sauce recipe is described below.
Duck sauce recipe with fresh fruits –
Remove Pits And Cut The Fruits:
Start off with cutting the fresh peaches, apricots, and plums in halves and remove the hard pit using a knife or spoon.
Peel And Mince Ginger And Garlic:
Peel both ginger and garlic and mince them finely. You can use ginger and garlic paste too.
Boil And Simmer The Fruits:
Now put all the fruits, 1 cup vinegar, and water in a saucepan and cook in medium heat until it boils. Then simmer for about 15 minutes.
Mix And Heat The Liquid Ingredients:
Next, mix 1 cup ACV, sugar, and a little lemon juice in a different pot, and bring the mixture to a boil. Curtail the heat and allow it to bubble for about 10 minutes. Then cool the mixture down.
Add And Mix All Ingredients Together:
This time, pour the simmered fruits, the sugar-vinegar mixture, and the seasonings (ginger-garlic paste, salt, red pepper) together and simmer for about 45 minutes.
Make A Puree:
Pour the simmered mixture into a blender and blend it until it becomes a smooth puree.
Simmer Again:
Simmer the puree again until it thickens. Then cool it down
Store It:
Lastly, store your homemade gluten-free duck sauce in sterilized canning containers and store in refrigerator.
What Is The Substitute For Duck Sauce?
Chutney is the ultimate substitute for duck sauce. Chutney is also one kind of sauce which has a chunky thickness and its flavors are sharper than duck sauce. Therefore, it makes a good substitute that can be consumed with fried items and lamb/beef dishes.
Final Thoughts
Duck sauces made by most brands are gluten-free. And made with all gluten-free ingredients including peaches, apricots, plums, vinegar, sugar, and seasonings to offer the taste of authentic Chinese duck sauce to consumers. However, it’s better to check the ingredient label before consuming.