Recipe: Homemade Ketchup

This is a recipe for homemade ketchup using fully ripened tomatoes. I hope you will like them

Tips: (1) Please have your sterilized clean glass jar ready before making this. (2) If you don’t mind bumpy texture, you can omit the use of blender. (3) Each tomato differs in its acidity and sweetness. Please adjust the amount of vinegar and sugar to your taste. (4) You can also add chopped carrots or celery into the tomato mixture.

                            Recipe: Homemade Ketchup

Yield: About 1 cup

Ingredients

• 1kg fully ripened tomatoes
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 3 tablespoon sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 2 to 3 tablespoon cane sugar (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon pink himalayan salt (substitute with regular sea salt)
• 1 teaspoon mix of herbs (e.g. basil, oregano, thyme)
• 1 teaspoon mix of powdered spices (e.g. nutmeg, white peppercorns, cloves)

Cooking instructions

1. Make a small cross incision on the bottom of tomatoes and roast over gas fire. Once you start to see skin getting peeled off, transfer to a bowl of cold water and remove the skin. Then transfer to a blender.
2. Turn on the blender and mix.
3. Transfer the tomato mixture into a cooking pot. Add the rest of ingredients and mix. Cook over medium fire. Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer. Simmer until the mixture reaches the thickness and the taste of your liking.
4. Transfer to a sterilized clean glass jar while the mixture is still hot. Cover with a lid and allow to cool with the lid on the bottom; The jar should be kept upside down while cooling. (The same process we make homemade jam)
5. Once cooled, transfer to the refrigerator. The jar no longer needs to be upside down.
6. Enjoy your homemade ketchup! Once opened, it should be consumed quickly.

This article was written by Chia.
I’m a freelance translator with background in biology. Upon meeting my future husband in Spain, I moved to Hong Kong to start our lives together. I’m still exploring what Hong Kong has got to offer