Home made ketchup and sauce (no sugar)

Again, the entire blog post...

Making a BBQ Sauce


I decided to have a pulled pork sandwich for dinner tonight. I cooked the pork butt yesterday, pulled it and gave it a little extra seasoning. But, what is really going to make the sandwich work is going to be the sauce. Now, I have a plethora of commercial sauces for testing and others that I have come to consider 'house' sauces, but, since I want this sandwich to be something special, I decided to make my own sauce. First up, I need ketchup that is low in sodium and without standard sugars common to commercial ketchup. I made this.
Ketchup Recipe
2 cups cider vinegar (in my case, organic Spectrum Cider Vinegar)
1 tablespoon oil (can be olive oil, I used canola oil)
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground Phu Quoc Black Pepper
8 whole cloves
2 small bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or chile powder
1 teaspoon ground mace
2 large cloves garlic, coarsely chunked
1/2 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup Bragg's Amino Acids
1/8 cup Red Boat Fish Sauce
32 oz. can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
8 little packs of Truvia Sweetener ( I really need to find the spoonable stuff)

Bloom spices in oil over medium heat until aromatic, I add the powdered ingredients at the last moment. Then add the garlic and onions and sweat until translucent. Add vinegar and bring to simmer for 15 minutes. Once slightly reduced, remove bay leaves and cloves, then blend until desired texture is achieved. I like a little bit of texture left. Return to pot (unless you used a stick blender) and add fish sauce, Amino acids and San Marzano tomatoes. Cook over low for 10 minutes. Add Truvia to taste. Allow to cool.

Here is the sauce made, after the addition of 1/8 cup of Black Currant infused balsamic vinegar, 1 more packet of Truvia and 1/8 cup more cider vinegar and a teaspoon of Lucky Dog hot sauce. This remained uncooked.
The above ketchup recipe creates a spicy flavor with distinct tomato and savory flavors and a nice sweet heat on the finish. I really want a rich tomato flavor to ring through on the initial taste. This is not at all as thick, sweet or salty as commercial ketchup, it is more of a ketchup sauce. The additions for the BBQ sauce punches up a few of the flavors and adds a fruity character as well. Here is a close-up to show the thickness and texture of this sauce.
This sauce is closer to the pork sauces you see in the south, thin with a distinct tang and a little heat. It is a sauce designed for pork. And this was it's final destination.
A pulled pork sandwich, soft white bread, sweet pulled pork, spicy red sauce and some cole slaw and green tomato relish to round it all out. This is what a nice pork cooks ends up being all about.

1_T_Scot said:

Sounds great not sure I would call it Ketchup though.

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I kinda figure it as ketchup since the main ingredients are the same as ketchup. I am not sure there is a specific definition of ketchup, maybe I should look it up.

Yes, and if you go back even further, it was actually primarily a sauce common in many parts of Asia. It has it's origins in the fermented condiments common to Asia and the Mediterranean. But, for these purposes, this is American ketchup. I don't think it is any more complicated than most common commercial ketchups except that I use whole ingredients and not industrial processes and ingredients. It is miles different in terms of taste. That much is true.

Curt, so far what I have learned...

1. heat moderates the sweetness of Truvia, I am not sure about all stevia products.
2. The stevia/erythriol blend creates a milder sweetness that is less cloying, but, takes more product (expensive product I might add) to achieve versus artificial sweeteners or sugar.
3. Add Truvia just before taking off heat is best.
4. I didn't detect any off flavors, especially the bitterness that I first encounted years ago with pure stevia.
5. I will use this in BBQ sauce again, I actually liked the subtle sweetness it added. It does not appear to glaze however, which is an appearance issue. It works great as a mix in sauce though.
6. It is ridiculously sweet for coffee, with 3/4 teaspoon equaling 2 teaspoons of sugar, I do not like it in coffee. Then again, I rarely opt for sweetened coffee or tea.

Smiter Q said:

I just learned recently that ketchup as we know it was quite later in the game of its history. Vinegar and mushrooms was an early English style one.

Wiki Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup#History

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I am also considering making an umami liquid additive for cooking. I am thinking of concentrating mushroom (most likely crimini and shiitake), fish sauce, amino acids, nutritional yeast, red wine vinegar and perhaps some carrots, tamarind and celery into a thick syrup. I have seen similar products, it would allow me to add a Worcestershire effect without all the moisture.

Never had ketchup from over the pond. I have had Japanese ketchup which was horrid, pink and sugary. No spices or heat, just pink and sugary is what I remember. It matched with what many Japanese consider the perfect tomato, pink and sugary.

deguerre said:

Nice recipe Bob. Is Truvia equivilant by volume?

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No, in raw form it is quite a lot sweeter than sugar, once cooked, it is less sweet than sugar. 3.5 grams of Truvia is equal to 2 teaspoons of granulated table sugar. There are 5 grams of granulated table sugar per teaspoon. So, for coffee, 1/2 pack if very sweet to me, 1 pack in a pint glass of tap water makes it sweet. But, once cooked, the sweetness moderates, which is typical for any sweetener with sugar alcohols in my experience.