Technique for Fruit-based Ketchups and Hot Sauce

For this post, I want to outline a technique, rather than a specific recipe.

For fruit-based ketchups that I've used both at the Locavore, at the place-that-shall-not-be-named and in others, the rules change but the ingredients largely stay the same. In my experience, exceedingly tart or bitter fruit works best for ketchups because naturally, the addition of vinegar, tomato paste, sugar, and salt, automatically work to tame the strong flavor. 

Good local midwest fruits for ketchups:

Rhubarb (great, because usually it's free if you know the right people)

Cranberries

Currants (although, arguably more expensive - they can be $10/lb or more)

Montmorency Cherries (the frozen-in-buckets, pitted, without added sugar version is best)

Arguably, you can use stone fruits, sour grapes or other fruits similar to these as the base for your ketchup as well, but I find that the more tart the fruit, the better it stands up to the competing strong flavors also in the ketchups.

Equipment: you need a pot and a very good blender. There's no getting around it. Beg, borrow, or steal a good blender like a Ninja, Blendtec or a Vitamix. I love Vitamix blenders but the only way to justify spending that kind of money on a blender is if you plan on doing smoothies on the regular, making your own baby food or doing batches of hot sauce and ketchup like this recipe. 

What about vegetables? Sure, the technique is the same BUT you will have to adjust one major ingredient: sugar. And you'll probably not be able to taste the flavor of the vegetable unless it is a very strongly-flavored or colored one (i.e. beets). Tart, bitter, sour fruits work best but you can use anything for the base of your ketchup as long as you adjust the other ingredients to suit your flavor profile. However, one thing I recommend you keep in mind if you endeavor to make your own ketchups: you will use a lot more sugar and salt than you think is necessary. 

My favorite chiles for hot sauce: dried serranos, hands down. 

Ingredients

Garlic, for this recipe, the fresher the better and if you can get Chesnok Red or German Red direct from a farmer, those are my favorites to use for ketchup and hot sauce)

Onions, sweet or white

Tomato paste

Apple cider vinegar

Sugar - a fuck ton

Salt - just under a fuck ton

Vegetable Stock that does NOT have brassicas (i.e. cabbage/broccoli stems, etc) or water

Oil 

Basic Ratio

For a quart of ketchup or hot sauce:

1lb of your chosen fruit or fresh chiles, or half lb of dried chiles

2 onions

12 large cloves of garlic or 2 entire bulbs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1 cup oil

1/4 cup salt

Water or vegetable stock to cover in medium stock pot

1 cup tomato paste

Technique

1. Since you'll be blending these ingredients, there's no need to prep any of the vegetables/fruit beyond removing any seeds, hulls, or peels. Add all of your ingredients except tomato paste to the stock pot and simmer for at least an hour. 

Simmering dried serrano hot sauce

2. After the mixture has reduced by at least half, add in your tomato paste and stir to combine while simmered ingredients are still hot.

3. While the mixture is still very hot, blend the shit out of it in batches in your blender, adding water when necessary so as to not overload your blender. BE VERY CAREFUL not to fill your blender more than halfway with hot liquid and make sure to hold a towel over the top. This is the best way to burn the fuck out of yourself so please take the necessary precautions.

Yes, that's 6 quarts of hot sauce

Yellow tomato ketchup and hot sauce - making your own sauces is pretty!

Why it's important to blend the sauce while hot:  when the mixture cools down, some of the ingredients will firm back up - especially if left in the fridge overnight. While it's hot, all of the ingredients remain soft. Additionally, the large amount of garlic and onions when reduced slightly, in addition to the sugar, will emulsify and combine the other ingredients with the oil. This gives you a silky smooth texture that simulates the texture of the garbage you get from Heintz or some other brand. (They use corn syrup or shittons of crappy GMO beet sugar to achieve this same result - YOU can do it without using those ingredients)

4. When everything has been blended to absolute oblivion, add it to a bowl and carefully taste it for seasoning. Here's where the art is involved. You will probably, based on which fruit you use, need to add more sugar - and another reason to do this while the mixture is still hot is because the sugar will dissolve immediately and combine rather than staying separated in granules. Check and recheck until you've tasted your sauce at least 20-25 times. Adjust your vinegar, salt, and sugar levels to your personal taste. If you think your palate is becoming overwhelmed, take a 5 minute break and taste again. Eventually, you'll recognize when your sauce is appropriately seasoned because there will be a moment of epiphany. Trust me, it will happen. Listen to your instincts on this one. Keep tasting until it's right.

Keep in mind for hot sauce that dried chiles will have a different flavor than fresh. You may need to add more liquid to hydrate the dried ones. 

Did we used to bring our own ketchup to the bar? Totally.

Why did I charge $1 off the food truck for my sauces? 

If you've read this entire post and still don't know, then you either need a new prescription or a new brain. 👍