Caribbean Barbecue Sauce

This spicy and tangy sauce is perfect with barbecued spare ribs and chicken thighs, but can also be eaten as an alternative to ketchup on burgers, or even with french fries. The rum gives it that Caribbean zing. It reminds me of Notting Hill Carnival in London and Zomercarnaval in Rotterdam, where the stands cooking ribs and chicken in oil drum barbecues line the streets.

Ingredients

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 Scotch Bonnet or Madame Jeanette pepper (optional)

6 Tb tomato ketchup

1 Tb olive oil

2 Tb Hoi Sin sauce

2 Tb vinegar

2 Tb orange or pineapple juice

2 Tb spiced rum 

1 Tb brown sugar

1 tsp chili powder

1 Tb molasses

10 Pimento berries crushed finely or 2 tsp Allspice/Pimento powder (optional)

1/2 tsp ginger powder or 1 2cm piece fresh ginger, minced

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

Method

Cut the onion finely and gently fry this in a pan with a little sunflower oil until soft and translucent. Chop the garlic cloves fine and add these to the pan. Carefully remove the seeds and membrane from the Madame Jeanette pepper, and chop this very small; add to the pan.

If using pimento berries, crush these finely using a pestle and mortar. Use a pinch of salt in the pestle and mortar as the grains will help to crush the berries into powder. 

And all other ingredients to the pan and gently simmer the sauce for about 20-30 minutes. Make sure the sauce does not get too thick as it should be a barbecue sauce not a barbecue gloop! 

Use a hand mixer to blitz the sauce to remove any remaining pieces of onion and garlic.

You are done! 

This sauce can be used for adding a spice to already barbecued ribs or you can baste the ribs as you cook them for that extra kick.

This delicious sauce will keep for several weeks if kept refrigerated in an airtight container. 

Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW?

Molasses is one of the byproducts created during the refining process to turn sugar cane into sugar. It is also the main ingredient in the production of rum.

DID YOU KNOW?

In Suriname, mothers use molasses to clean the inside of the mouths of their newborn babies!