Nic's 'not so secret' BBQ Sauce

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A couple of weeks ago I visited London to go try the rib rolls made by The Rib Man, which he claims to be 'The Best Ribs in London'. It's his BBQ sauce that really makes these rolls. 

I wanted to make my own sauce to serve with the pork I cook at The Gog Magog Hills Farm for the Big Green Egg demos. It had to be more than just a tomato and vinegar sauce like most of the bottle sauces seem to be in the shops. A bit of research later and some experimentation and this is what I came up with, a sauce that pleases and has a lingering, pleasant after taste. 

I have to say I used Dr BBQ's excellent book 'Slow Fire' for a lot of the inspiration although most recipes on the web have very similar ingredients. 

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 25 grams butter
  • 1 hot chilli, finely diced (leave the seeds for a hotter punch)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 120ml apple juice (1/2 cup)
  • 120ml cider vinegar (1/2 cup)
  • 480ml Heinz tomato ketchup (2 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 80ml French's American mustard (1/3 cup)
  • 120ml runny honey (1/2 cup)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato puree
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
  • 1 tablespoon hot chilli sauce (I use one from one of the asian supermarkets on Mill Road, Cambridge)

Method

  1. Melt the butter and cook the onion, garlic and fresh chilli.
  2. Once the onion is cooked add all the other ingredients and mix.
  3. Bring to a simmer then turn down to just heat the sauce through. Cook for 30 mins, the sauce will thicken nicely. 
  4. Add more chilli sauce if you like it spicy (as The Rib Man does). 

This is a great sauce with pork belly, pulled pork, as a side for ribs…

The sauce will keep for a week in the fridge. There's quite a lot of it so I'll experiment on storing in jars or the freezer. I'll let you know how it goes. 


© Nic Williams 2014