Easy fermented ketchup

[Linda O]

This is what I did when my husband bought about 8 bottles of ketchup at the store because it said "no corn syrup!" Well, I guess that's better than what you normally get, I thought. But what to do with all of this ketchup with sugar that I still didn't want anyone eating...

I made a batch of mineral-rich fish broth a while back and froze it into small amounts (little jars or ice cube trays work). So, what I did was empty the ketchup into quart jars and add a small amount of fish broth and some whey. I let this set out to ferment the sugar out. The taste is really good with the broth, though it sounds pretty weird. It's really good!

Whenever we get a new bottle of ketchup, I just take a little frozen amt. of fish broth out of the freezer, plop it into the jar with the ketchup and whey, and viola....fermented ketchup in a day or so! Great to get those probiotics with our meals.

That's my cheating way of making easy, fermented ketchup!


P.S. I've made it totally from scratch before from the Nourishing Traditions Cookbook (with fresh tomatoes, too). That's a LOT of work for not much output. You could start with organic tomato paste or puree, if you cared to, to save some time.

[JoyfulMomof6]

Very clever

Would this work with turkey stock?

[Linda O]

I am sure you could use any type of stock available. The Nourishing Traditions recipe calls for fish sauce. I used home-made fish stock, including fish bones, shrimp tails, etc (with apple cider vinegar), for the minerals...not sure if there is a difference, actually. I should look that up. The flavor might be a bit different with the turkey, but I would go for it! Let me know how you like it, if you try it. I would think that beef stock would be good, also.

[ayj67]

Fish sauce? The Vietnamese Fish Sauce? It is a fermented salty liquid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_sauce

[TalyQ]

That's a good idea, although we dont' buy ketchup at all. What I do when the kids really really crave some, I just take homemade tomato sauce, cook it down a bit with some herbs, red wine vinegar, a pinch of sugar and if it is still too runny, I just make a little paste with starch and water and thicken it with it. They eat it fresh and then don't ask for ketchup for a while Maybe I should can some this fall..... just a question, since English is not my first language - what is whey exactly? Is it what it left after making butter or when straining curdled milk? THank you.

[JoyfulMomof6]

AYJ- I love fish sauce in Thai recipes....don't think it would go over too well here in ketchup, though!

Natalija- whey is the liquid leftover from straining yogurt to make Greek-style yogurt or from making ricotta or cottage cheese
Your English is very, very good. I'm always impressed at those of you on the forum whose first language is not English!

[TalyQ]

Natalija- whey is the liquid leftover from straining yogurt to make Greek-style yogurt or from making ricotta or cottage cheese
Your English is very, very good. I'm always impressed at those of you on the forum whose first language is not English!

Thanks, I wasn't sure. I do make homemade cottage cheese often when I have older milk (we buy fresh milk, not homogenized) and it goes sour. That's good to know.