Well, after almost three days of being sick, I’m finally feeling normal again today.
Enough so, that Hisa and I went lap swimming this morning. For whatever reason it was super crowded this morning. More than I’ve ever seen. It reminded me of pools in Japan. Always super crowded. Hisa and I ended up swimming right outside of the lap swim lanes were the pool becomes really shallow for kids playing. Fortunately, the pool isn’t open for normal kids swim early in the morning, so there was no one there. This week is spring break here, so I thought that might be why it was so crowded, but there were only adults there so… I dunno.
I think I’m rambling…
Can you tell I’m not awake yet?
Ah well.
Let’s talk ketchup.
America’s favorite condiment, baby!
Supposedly, the word “ketchup” derives from the Chinese amoy dialect ke-tsiap, a pickled fish brine sauce (although some have also said it has Malay/Arabic/European origins, so who knows really).
Ketchup traveled to many countries before making its way to the U.S., and had many different ingredients, but I believe it is Americans that added tomatoes to this most ancient of condiments. Unfortunately, we also added huge amounts of high-fructose corn syrup, so there you go.
Making your own ketchup at home is one way to avoid the un-healthy store versions, and return to ketchup’s healthier, more humble origins. Oh, and it’s super easy too. That’s always a big plus.
Recipe adapted from Nourishing Traditions.
Homemade Ketchup
(makes 1 quart)
- 3 c. tomato paste
- 1/4 c. whey (optional)
- 2 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 c. pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 c. fish sauce (available in most grocery stores in the Asian foods section)
- Add everything to a food processor, and process until smooth.
- Pour into a 1 quart glass mason jar, and screw lid on tightly.
- Leave at room temperature 1 – 2 days.
- Transfer to refrigerator.
I have wanted to try this forever. Must try.
This sounds really great! Can it be hot water processed so that it I can make a really big batch and store it? Also, once opened, what is the shelf life?
I’m pretty sure you can hot water process can the ketchup. I haven’t tried it yet, but I heard tomato paste freezes great, so you I think you could even freeze some if you wanted. This recipe is from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, and it doesn’t specify how long it will keep, but as long as it’s refrigerated, I don’t think you should have any problem keeping it for a few weeks.
Just curious what the function of whey is in this process. Dairy is off-limits and I’m wondering how this recipe could be modified.
The whey helps with the lacto-fermentation process, but it’s not a necessary ingredient. You can leave it out, and you’ll still have great ketchup!
I just can not find whey! Regular grocery store, health food grocery store, no luck. There is vanilla or chocolate flavored whey protein powder but no straight whey. I am glad to see that you can leave it out. Thanks!
I don’t think you can buy whey. I should’ve mentioned it in the recipe… Whey is super easy to make! Just buy a tub of plain yogurt (full fat, 2%, or fat free, doesn’t matter), dump it all in some cheese cloth or a clean, non-terry, dish towel, tie the ends up on a wooden spoon, and hang it over a bowl or glass jar all day or overnight (I just do leave it on the counter, but you can put it in the fridge too). The liquid that drains off from the yogurt is whey. The solid part left over in the cheese cloth is yogurt cheese. It’s a delicious (and healthy!) substitute for cream cheese. It’s great on toast, bagels, crackers, just about anything really!
But, yeah, you can just leave the whey out if you don’t want to mess with it! :)
Thank you! That is so interesting!