you're confused about who's being wrong here

[unclejampuff]

One of the reasons I love my job at the Chinese restaurant is because I can learn a lot. I've always had an avid curiosity; I'm the kind of person who reads encyclopedias for fun. I ask the cooks everything about anything... the head cook is constantly (jokingly)complaining it's like having a small child about, always asking "Why? Why? Why?". So I've had a chance to file away quite a few trivia facts about Chinese cuisine. I don't know everything, but I know a lot more than I used to.

So when you come to my restaurant, don't act like I know nothing about our food. Please don't act like YOU know so much more than I do. Are you Chinese? Are you a cook? Food critic? Server? Anything other than a blathering soul-sucking HARPY of a cow?

Customer: Can I get some plum sauce?
Me: The duck sauce is right there, next to our mustard.
C: No, the plum sauce.
Me: Oh, I'm sorry. You see, plum sauce and duck sauce are the same thing.
C: No, they aren't.
Me: Actually, they are. The literal translation for the Chinese term for duck sauce is "sour prune sauce".
C: So? Duck sauce is completely different.
Me: I made that duck sauce right there.* I promise you I made it with plums. Therefore, plum sauce. You can even ask the cook if you like. Heck, even Wikipedia will tell you the same thing.
C: Fine. If you're lying to me....

This was a serious problem this week. Of course, never at a time when I could stop and chat and explain further in a more cheerful tone. No, this was always during the dinner blitzkrieg. I hardly have the time to give people their food, let alone give lectures on common misconceptions of Chinese-American food.
If you don't want trivia, that's cool. But stop insisting I'm wrong. Who died and made you Martin Yan?

*Yes, I actually do make our sauces most of the time. Whenever it's slow at work, I play prep cook and make a lot of fun stuff. I think har gow is my favourite thing to make.

[Norton]

I think I understand why the customer was confused. At our local Chinese take-outs, we get little packets of sauce. The packets labeled "duck sauce" have peaches/apricots for the main ingredient. From what I've seen, all of our Chinese take-outs use this pre-packaged peach-apricot-sauce.

[marasbaras]

While I completely understand ... and, I too like to read encyclopedias for fun (just not Wikipedia), and love to cook, especially Chinese ... I'd suggest a different way to do it next time:

Customer: Can I get some plum sauce?
Unclejampuff: The plum sauce is right there, next to our mustard.

If they then argue with you "but, but, that's duck sauce!" ... then you can display your knowledge.

[marasbaras]

BTW, anytime you want to share Chinese Chefs' Secrets ... feel free to post.

[ShadedWings]

I've always seen "duck sauce" as the sweet orange-apricot type sauce too. Not saying you're wrong, since you know more than I do obviously (I've never worked at/made chinese food before, except for home made general tso's... mmm!), just labels that companies put on their products insinuate otherwise.

I still think the SC was definitely being sucky, since he was arguing with you. I hate it when people argue with me about something I know 100%.

[tollbaby]

I agree that, while you're very knowledgeable and kudos for you for wanting to educate yourself, serving customers isn't the time to show it off. Customer asks for plum sauce, give him plum sauce, plain and simple. Do not take it upon yourself to educate the unwashed masses about the finer points of chinese cuisine... they will *not* appreciate it.

As per wiki:

Duck sauce is an orange-hued Chinese American condiment used in Chinese American cuisine as a dip for deep-fried dishes, such as spring rolls, egg rolls, noodles, and deep-fried chicken balls. Duck Sauce is suspected to be an American invention, as it is virtually unknown in authentic Chinese cuisine. It is possible however, that Duck Sauce is a Chinese-American invention, but no details exist to confirm such claims. It is made from sweet plums or other fruit such as peach or apricot, sugar, vinegar, ginger, and chili pepper.

[Apathy]

C: Fine. If you're lying to me....

Yes, I'm lying to you. I have a lot of incentive to lie to you about mundane shit like this when there are tons of other people around that need help.

[Record Store Tough Guy]

@Tollbaby: This customer sounds like if UJP had brought more of the same sauce out, she would have just said it was identical to what was on the table, necessitating an impromptu lesson on the fact that she was still, in fact, wrong.

[air914]

I'd be looking for the "orange" duck sauce too - since I don't like the plum sauce. So what the heck is the orange stuff then?

[Evil Queen]

Points for referencing the Blitzkrieg Bop!

I used to make the Hot Mustard sauce where I worked way back when. Now I make it for BF. He can't get enough of the stuff. <3 I still remember how to make it too. (surprisingly easy, takes normal ingredients that most people even have on hand)

[tollbaby]

@Tollbaby: This customer sounds like if UJP had brought more of the same sauce out, she would have just said it was identical to what was on the table, necessitating an impromptu lesson on the fact that she was still, in fact, wrong.

But that was my point... why call it duck sauce to begin with? That's not what most people call it, and I hate to break it to our educated OP, but duck/plum sauce isn't even an authentic phenomenon of Chinese cuisine... it was invented in America... Calling it duck sauce when she asked for plum sauce unnecessarily complicated things, and quite frankly, the SC probably just thought the OP was showing off (I used to get reactions like that when I was young and wanted to demonstrate what I knew, so I can sympathize).

[Seraph]

/twitch

Tell me how they make that awesome yellow fried rice. I have tried so many flipping times to make good fried rice and I make....clumpy mess.

[Samaliel]

[...]
As per wiki:

Duck sauce is an orange-hued Chinese American condiment used in Chinese American cuisine as a dip for deep-fried dishes, such as spring rolls, egg rolls, noodles, and deep-fried chicken balls. Duck Sauce is suspected to be an American invention, as it is virtually unknown in authentic Chinese cuisine. It is possible however, that Duck Sauce is a Chinese-American invention, but no details exist to confirm such claims. It is made from sweet plums or other fruit such as peach or apricot, sugar, vinegar, ginger, and chili pepper.

You forgot to mention the end of the next paragraph :
"It is also commonly referred to as plum sauce and is likely to be a refining of original Chinese cuisine for the American palate."

[friendofjimmyk]

It's like when I worked at Carrabba's - tasty Italian food for a chain.

The folks that would insist that REAL caesar salad dressing is NOT made with anchovies or anchovie paste. I had one tell me that "real" caesar dressing was basically ranch dressing with different spices added.

Really tripped their trigger when I told them not only does our REAL caesar salad have anchovie paste in the dressing, as it should, so did our HOUSE dressing - which both were tasty in their own right. And I took great - GREAT - pleasure in telling our "guests" that there was absolutely NO ranch dressing in the house.

[Samaliel]

Well, most of the Caesar salads I tasted didn't have any anchovies. I can tell, because I wouldn't have eaten it if there were some. Wikipedia states that the recipe including anchovies is the "Nouveau Caesar" recipe, not the original one. I bet one could raise the price of such a salad by $5 only calling it "Nouveau".