ketchup K E T C H U P ketchup LOVE

[melonpan]

we confess our love for this often unfairly vilified, sometimes outright banned, highly underappreciated red jewel:

ketchup butter onigiri

spaghetti napolitan (and here too<-- this is a SMAP recipe!)

omurice

help for fried foods in your bento

korean style thousand island dressing (1 part ketchup + 1 part mayo) -- i know this is the japanese forum but i wanted to sneak this in.

nikomi hamburg

ketchup love in yakisoba

loco moco

in your curry

ketchup chips

in your tonkatsu sauce

on hotdog pan

karaage marinade

on okonomiyaki

in your ochazuke (!!) (unrelated but kris also mentions cola ochazuke. huh)

in sushi rolls

hayashi rice

on your pizza

yay yay YAY for ketchup!!

[andiesenji]

I too love ketchup, so much that I often make my own.

[Hayley Casarotto]

I love love ketchup too. Omurice is my all-time favourite comfort food - soft egg, squiggle of ketchup... YUM

My husband is disgusted with himself for liking it - he feels that as an Italian, he should really know better

Still, I haven't tried half of that list - I'll have to get busy eating.

[sanrensho]

My husband is disgusted with himself for liking it - he feels that as an Italian, he should really know better 

That reminds me of a Japanese travelogue program that I once saw. I can't remember the details now, but a Japanese woman who had been staying in Italy wanted to make a Japanese dish for her friends/hosts. She ended up making the classic Spaghetti Neapolitan (w/ketchup) and her Italian hosts just loved it. They had no idea it contained ketchup until they were told.

Maybe this will make your husband feel better.

I don't have problems with using ketchup as a cooking ingredients. Honestly, how different is it from other bottled condiments in the Japanese kitchen such as tonkatsu sauce?

Edited September 30, 2008 by sanrensho (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Great thread, melonpan! Despite the subtitle, I believe that we can turn haters into lovers!

[cakewalk]

Great thread. (True ketchup lover here.) But quite a suprise for me -- since I (chauvanistically, I admit) always think of ketchup as the all-American condiment. Thanks for that list of links to learn from!

[nakji]

korean style thousand island dressing (1 part ketchup + 1 part mayo) -- i know this is the japanese forum but i wanted to sneak this in.

My favourite izakaya serves this on raw cabbage leaves as a table charge dish, and it's awesome. I think they sneak dashi powder or shoyu in as well, it's got a salty kick.

If it didn't come automatically, I'd order it anyway. This made me realize I had no ketchup in my cupboard: I'll have to pick some up the next time I'm at the store.

Which begs the question: Which brand?

For me, it can only be Heinz.

[jgm]

Just last night I was reading an excerpt from Marcella Hazan's autobiography in the October 2008 Gourmet. In it, she describes receiving a call from James Beard, who was asking her about an ingredient in an Italian recipe he wanted to use. He was making a recipe of shrimp with a pink sauce, and the "rubra" in the recipe had to be the critical ingredient, because nothing else in the recipe would turn the sauce pink. But he didn't know what 'rubra' was, and was hoping she could help him out:

“ 'Oh, sure, Jim, it’s ketchup.'

'Ketchup?'

'That’s right. It is the best-known Italian brand of ketchup.'

'Ho, ho, ho, the big laugh came rolling over the phone line, over and over, such a happy laugh, as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.'

[melonpan]

one more nikomi sauce mix (vague but you get the idea).

[Hiroyuki]

Which begs the question: Which brand?

For me, it can only be Heinz.

←

For me, it's Del Monte, and sometimes Nagano.

[Hayley Casarotto]

My husband is disgusted with himself for liking it - he feels that as an Italian, he should really know better 

That reminds me of a Japanese travelogue program that I once saw. I can't remember the details now, but a Japanese woman who had been staying in Italy wanted to make a Japanese dish for her friends/hosts. She ended up making the classic Spaghetti Neapolitan (w/ketchup) and her Italian hosts just loved it. They had no idea it contained ketchup until they were told.

Maybe this will make your husband feel better.

←

He does feel a little more at ease knowing that he's not the only one. Thanks!

I'm a Heinz girl too, although that's as much due to habit as anything else.

[andiesenji]

Great thread. (True ketchup lover here.) But quite a suprise for me -- since I (chauvanistically, I admit) always think of ketchup as the all-American condiment. Thanks for that list of links to learn from!

←

You should try Banana Ketchup, a product I buy at my local Fillipino market

[Peter the eater]

Great thread. (True ketchup lover here.) But quite a suprise for me -- since I (chauvanistically, I admit) always think of ketchup as the all-American condiment. Thanks for that list of links to learn from!

←

You should try Banana Ketchup, a product I buy at my local Fillipino market

←

I've had banana ketchup and it's good. I'd like it more if it wasn't artificially colored red to look like tomato ketchup -- like it's trying to be something that it's not, in a veggie burger kinda way.

Ketchup is like cola or Hannah Montana -- suffering from over exposure.

[HKDave]

My husband is disgusted with himself for liking it - he feels that as an Italian, he should really know better 

←

Here's how to deal with ketchup guilt: call it something else.

"Tonight, our pommes frites will be served with sauce Heinz, a delicate coulis of sweet tomato concasse. Please enjoy!"

[Hayley Casarotto]

My husband is disgusted with himself for liking it - he feels that as an Italian, he should really know better 

←

Here's how to deal with ketchup guilt: call it something else.

"Tonight, our pommes frites will be served with sauce Heinz, a delicate coulis of sweet tomato concasse. Please enjoy!"

←

HA! I'll try that one out for sure

[sanrensho]

Would anybody like to comment on the flavor differences between Japanese ketchup (Del Monte, Nagano, etc.) versus Heinz? Is it less sweet?

I actually don't eat that much ketchup, and I never did a side-by-side comparison during the entire time I was in Japan.

[melonpan]

ive only ever bought heinz. boy, i am such a mindless sheep

Edited October 1, 2008 by melonpan (log)

[Hard H2O]

Heinz is the only way to go. They make a vinegar that is exclusively used in there ketchup.

It is a tomato sauce. I do not understand why it is so vilified. It has it's place.

Do not ask for it at my table when I have presented you with a nicely grilled steak however. I will give you grief if you ask for steak sauce as well.

[melonpan]

frank pan that i bought a couple years ago.

they still make it and that ketchup is still baked on. gotta love it!!

[cakewalk]

Would anybody like to comment on the flavor differences between Japanese ketchup (Del Monte, Nagano, etc.) versus Heinz? Is it less sweet?

←

Del Monte is Japanese?

I used to eat only Heinz, until one year around Passover time I bought a kosher-for-Passover brand called Gefen. And I really liked it, much more than Heinz. I was trying to figure out what the difference in taste was -- because it was very noticeably different -- and then I realized that since it was kosher for Passover it must be made with sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. I like the taste so much better. I usually buy two or three bottles every Passover. (Gets me through the year.)

I've never tried banana ketchup. I have to admit that the idea sorta grosses me out, I guess because I'm not used to it. And now reading that it's red!! But I'll have to get over it and try it out. (What do you do with it? -- Does banana ketchup have a thread of its own?)

[petite tête de chou]

I love banana ketchup. It's really quite sweet but sometimes the super thick texture weirds me out. I use it over rice and to dip chicken and spring rolls in.

Edited October 1, 2008 by petite tête de chou (log)

[sanrensho]

Del Monte is Japanese?

My bad. I was under the impression that Del Monte ketchup was for Japan and other markets outside of NA, but I see that that isn't true. It's been awhile since I checked out the ketchup shelf at the supermarket.

I guess the major brand of Japanese ketchup is Kagome. Has anybody compared it against Heinz?

[HKDave]

Del Monte is Japanese?

My bad. I was under the impression that Del Monte ketchup was for Japan and other markets outside of NA, but I see that that isn't true. It's been awhile since I checked out the ketchup shelf at the supermarket.

←

You're actually right. Del Monte ketchup - in Japan - is Japanese. The Del Monte name for Japan was bought in 1961 by a subsidiary of Kikkoman, who now also have the rights for a few other Asian countries.

Kikkoman used to manufacture Del Monte ketchup in Japan; not sure if they still do. Most of the rest of Asia is now supplied by their Thai factory.

[andiesenji]

If you want to try making your own ketchup or catsup,

click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page to find Mary's sun-dried tomato ketchup, which is fantastic.

You can also make your own Banana Ketchup

from a recipe I got from a Fillipina I met in my local ethnic market.

and there is also an interesting variation on the subject

homemade Mushroom Ketchup which is somewhat similar to steak sauces.

And this thread has some ketchup (and other condiment) recipes

here

There was a topic titled Ketchup Conundrum but it has disappeared, apparently merged into another thread.

There were several interesting ketchup recipes in that thread, one was very, very spicy and as I recall, contained bourbon.