MAMBO SAUCE—MUMBO SAUCE

MAMBO SAUCE—MUMBO SAUCE

This sweet, tangy, sticky, spicy, sometimes really spicy, sauce reportedly originated in the Midwest.  It’s kinship to Kansas City-style barbecue sauce is unmistakable.  But it came to fame and fortune in Washington DC—where every Soul Food restaurant and Asian oasis seems to have its own variant.  It’s a mix of tomato, pineapple or other heavy fruit juice, vinegar, and assorted Asian and Caribbean spices.  There’s a copycat recipe around that mixes ketchup, hot sauce and a few other things.  Here’s a more complex version that’s probably closer to the original.  All ingredients to personal taste, but the tomato makes the base. Dip fries, barbecue meats, fried fish or chicken, vegetables and even the last bit of baguette!

  • Tomato paste (or ketchup, for convenience}
  • Grated onion
  • Grated garlic
  • Hot peppers, finely chopped—or commercial hot sauce
  • Lemon juice
  • Molasses
  • Mustard powder
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Soy sauce
  • Pineapple juice (or mango, or papaya)
  • Brown sugar
  • Salt
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Ginger powder
  • Paprika
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Water

Put everything in a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer ‘til it starts to smell wonderful.  Start tasting then, and add more of whatever you think it needs.  Keep simmering until it’s the consistency of honey.  Stores well in covered jar in fridge. 

The Kitchen Hive

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