This sauce is proof that sometimes your failures can lead to unexpectedly delicious results. No, no, not mine, not this recipe specifically, but worcestershire sauce in general. See, it was invented by two chemists (lea and perrin) who were trying to replicate a sauce someone else had enjoyed in india, or a new twist on a classic roman sauce, depending on which story you believe. Regardless, their attempt was a failure, it was strong, rank, and not fit for selling, so they tossed the barrels into the basement until they could figure out what to do with it. After a period of time, months or years, again, depending on what version of the story, they popped open said barrels to discover it had aged and mellowed and created a wonderful brown elixir of yum. Sorry, this is going to be a long, descriptive post. Or maybe not sorry, maybe you’re a food geek like me and will enjoy, or you can just skip everything and go straight to the recipe. Do you. This version is more closely styled after the british version, which is less sweet, salty, and thick than the american version.
(Now, don’t get carried away and start storing your kitchen flops in barrels in dark places and eating them later, that is definitely not the moral here. Please, please don’t do that.)
The ingredients for the original (at least the spices and “flavourings”) are a closely guarded secret but, over the years many many versions have popped up, people have speculated and experimented and we can get pretty darn close. The major ingredients of the “original” (UK version, the US version is different) are Malt Vinegar (from Barley), Spirit Vinegar, Molasses, Sugar, Salt, Anchovies, Tamarind, Onions, Garlic, Spice, Flavourings. Doesn’t sound too tough, though, i’m not a fan of using rotten fish, so we shall skip that part. Also, i’m not sure that distilled vinegar (spirit vinegar) would have been a part of the original recipe, perhaps it was, but i think we can do better, it really doesn’t bring anything to the plate besides sour, so we’ll bump that off too. The generic spice and “flavourings” part is the stick in our spokes, it’s the part we have to tinker with and guess, but luckily, lots of people have done so over the years and with a little exercising of our brain palates, we can discern which ones make sense.
Okay, so let’s go through these ingredients. Malt vinegar forms a good part of our base (as in the original recipe), now there is a lot of hoo-ha, debate, conjecture, and test results saying it is or is not free from gluten, you gotta make this call on your own if you’re gluten-free, you could also sub with half balsamic and half rice vinegar, which should get you pretty close in flavour if you wanna play it super safe. Molasses, no issues there, it goes in. Sugar? Check. Salt, tamarind, onions, garlic…all check. Now we get to the fun part! Let me say that you’re not going to find another whack-a-doodle combination of ingredients as mine, but there is a reason behind it all and a method to my madness. I’ll walk you through it.
Chinese Light Soy: This is NOT “low-sodium” soy sauce, it is LIGHT soy sauce, very different things. Got it? okay. Light soy is fermented for a shorter period of time than “standard” soy sauce (i’m simplifying things here, so no one jump down on me for this) and has a lighter body, saltier flavour, and is less rich. We want that. Now, there is a difference between chinese and japanese light soy, you want the chinese (i use pearl river “superior light soy sauce”) HOWEVER, i don’t believe there is a gluten free version….also, maybe you want to use what you have on hand. If you need to, i would suggest tamari first, diluted 2 parts tamari to 1 part water and up the salt in the recipe some. This same ratio of dilution should get you acceptably close with japanese dark soy (standard kikkoman, table soy) as well, do not use japanese light soy, it is much sweeter and has a different flavour that won’t work as well here.
To add umami (provided in the original by anchovies and possibly the enigmatic “flavourings”) we are going to use a mixture of dried shiitake mushrooms (use the dried, not fresh, flavours are different), capers, kalamata olives, and kombu, as well as some dark vegetable broth (a “no-beef” version works well here.) The capers and kalamata olives also help to provide some brininess and fermented funk to the formula without having to age it for some crazy amount of time.
Before we get to the laundry list of spices and herbs, i want to talk about the big left field ingredient here, shaoxing rice wine. If you’re not familiar, let me tell you about it. It is very different from mirin or sake, it has a richer nutty flavour, and i’m totally in love with it, you’ll see me use it quite a bit as it has an incredible ability to meld flavours and round out sharper notes. If you need (or want) to substitute for it, your best best is a pale dry sherry and not a different rice wine (bet you didn’t see that coming.)
There is a certain ingredient here that may have people running for the hills and questioning my validity as a food geek and my commitment to “natural” foods and healthy stuff and maybe my sanity. It’s MSG. Yup, that overly maligned, hated, despised, delicious, misunderstood, wonder of crystalline magic. I hate to burst your bubbles nay-sayers, but there is nothing wrong with MSG. It is responsible for the NATURAL umami quality in tons of foods you probably enjoy every single day (tomatoes, cheese, sea vegetables, etc and so forth), it’s been used for a very long time and many many studies have shown it is perfectly safe and does not cause headaches or whatever such nonsense has been attributed to it. Now, if for whatever reason, science is not your friend, or you are on a sodium restricted diet, you can skip it. I won’t be torn asunder from your decision. I also don’t want to see any comments about how evil it is or whatever, i don’t want that here, so keep it to yourself please, if you don’t like it, don’t use it. Let’s hug it out and move on.
Okay, now to the part that’s going to make your head reel if you don’t like long ingredient lists. Sorry. Yes, they are all necessary, yes you COULD leave something out, no there are not substitutes you could use instead. A lot of these play dual roles and i’m going to list everything by the notes they bring to the recipe. Garam masala won’t be listed as it provides a nicely balanced blend of all the notes we are looking for and covers all these bases.
For herbal notes we have thyme, sage, and turkish bay leaves.
For earthy and woodsy notes: sage, turkish bay leaves, turmeric, black peppercorns, and chiles de arbol, brown mustard
For bright ethereal spice notes: sichuan peppercorns, green cardamom, ginger, tejpat, brown mustard
For sweet rich spice notes: cloves, tejpat, fenugreek seed
**btw, if you aren’t familiar with tejpat, i have a little blurb about them in my green mex post
Overwhelmed yet? Don’t be, despite this crazy list of tomfoolery and nonsense, and all my babbling, this recipe is stupid easy to make. Onward!
So, hopefully you have an instant pot or other electric pressure cooker, and some good quality canning jars and lids. If so, you are going to be shocked and amazed with this next part. Typically i would simmer most of the ingredients for this recipe on the stovetop for an hour, then add the remaining ingredients, pop the whole thing in the fridge and let it age for about 3 weeks, then strain it and use it. HOWEVER, through the magic of science and technology, i discovered an infinitely quicker way to get the same wonderful complex flavour in just a few hours. This was a VERY exciting discovery for me. VERY. The bulk of your ingredients will be split between two pints jars (or if you’re doing only half a recipe for some crazy reason, 1 jar) lids screwed on to fingertip tight (don’t over tighten!), set onto a trivet in your pot with some water in the bottom, then processed for 60 minutes at high pressure with a natural release. Then you’re gonna turn off your magic machine, remove the lid and let your jars cool in the pot until you can handle them (this can take a long time btw.) Then you pop them open, strain them into your remaining ingredients, shake it or stir it up and BOOM! done. Told you it was stupid easy.
Sprinkle or drizzle or douse things in this, use it as a marinade, add it to sauces for depth, brightness and complexity….there are so very many uses for it that it’s almost impossible to list them all. (it is friggin amazing on grilled portabello mushrooms btw)
Now, if you don’t have an instant pot or electric pressure cooker, don’t fear, you can still make this magical elixir of yum filled with umami, sourness, sweetness, everything your heart desires….it’s just gonna take some (a lot) more time. BUT, it is totally worth it. If you haven’t run screaming for the hills yet, let’s get on with it.