Food That Time Forgot: Mushroom Ketchup

Because of all of your wonderful comments, we decided to make this recipe again ten years later. Mushroom Ketchup is a delicious sauce that can elevate just about any dish you use it in. No tomato ketchup here!

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[dafhgadsrhadjtb]

They say "no sloppy steaks" but they can't stop you from ordering a steak and a bottle of mushroom catchup.

[Exayevie]

In 2018 or 2019, I went to feast of the hunters moon in tippecanoe county, indiana. There was a stand there selling mushroom ketchup. I had a great chat with the vendors about their research and products - but unfortunately I was on a strict budget for the day and had already run out of cash ☹️ had to pass on the mushroom ketchup that time, but I decided as soon as I got home I was going to look up a recipe and make it myself. Went to google, and the very first result was a video. My jaw dropped. The video was the same guy who had just been trying to sell me mushroom ketchup a few hours earlier!

That’s the story of how I discovered the Townsends - and I’ve been following them ever since! If you guys ever come back, I promise I won’t pass up the ketchup next time! 😅

[emligj]

It originated as a thin soy sauce made from fermented fish most likely from a region called Tonkin, or in what we call Vietnam today. It was common throughout Southeast Asia in the 17th century. Ketchup was called kêtsiap, a Chinese word from the Amoy dialect that translates to "brine of pickled fish."

[yoururmum]

there's something so wholesome about watching this man make food, the way he smiles and enjoys the dishes you can really feel his heart is in it ... sauce looks amazing... i would use it as a base for a mushroom cream sauce!'

[djdrack]

I dehydrate puffballs to powder, along with Chicken/Hen of the woods, some boletes when I do find them, a lot of chantrelles.

I see this as being great the more 'flavors' of mushrooms you add in it: I'd just caution and say that if the mushroom is the type you want a parboil a few washes (to remove some 'indigestion' chems it produces and usually more bitter flavors)..then do that before putting them in the mushroom ketchup 'stew'. I've done this with young Pheasant backs one of the 2 times I've made this, and it turned out great.
For modern approach (and as a brewer) I still add a pinch of potassium metabisulfate/sorbate into the mix as a +1 over the salt to prevent yeast etc growth. It lasts years no prob that way.

Great Video.

[Dexterity_Jones]

The original mushroom ketchup episode was how I found this wonderful channel, all those years ago. Still my favourite internet refugee, Cannot believe its been ten years! ♡ to all you and crew

[quinjimlan]

I remember this being in grocery shops in Ireland in the 1970’s. Often used to flavour stews and mince dishes. Not seen it for years.

[WeightlessBallast]

"And she said I'm gathering mushrooms to make my mammy ketchup O". The lyrics of an Irish traditional song, Gathering Mushrooms, that I heard nearly 40 years ago (by the band Clannad, arranged by Ciaran Brennan). OK, they put mushrooms into their tomato ketchup, I thought. Little did I know. Thanks for clearing this up, and for the video!

[joshuameaders]

i just found this guy this morning, and I already stored some salmon in butter and wanna make a earthen oven. Great wholesome stuff.

[martyquirke]

😃My grandmother used to make this in the 1980s! We'd go out picking field mushrooms as children. She'd put a load of them in a big basin and smother them with salt. Never knew the spices that she used; only that it tasted delicious. We'd have it with bacon and cabbage. My Dad found a bottle that was over ten years old.(They stored it in dark brown bottles with a cork.) He tried it and said it was just like he remembered it, only better. Aging it seemed to help the flavour in his estimation. (He's still alive by the way with no ill effects.😄) Thank you so much! I am SO making this. Dad will be thrilled!

[mzimmerman]

I believe the reason why they seasons afterwards is that its easier to control the final product. Just like with stock, if you season and then reduce, you could end up with something that tastes too strongly of spice/salt.

[annslow]

I never grew up eating mushrooms, but as an adult, boy I've learned what I was missing out on. Mushrooms, prepared right, are now one of my favorite foods

[sometimesoccasionallyme]

This has massively inspired me to try cooking some older recipies, but had to point out The infamous Worcestershire sauce is an anchovie ketchup at heart, lovely stuff.

[christopherching]

I didn't realize how long I've been watching this channel until you said it's been TEN YEARS since you made the mushroom ketchup the first time around.

I remember making it at home and it's AWESOME. I can't believe so much time has passed - your channel has exploded and rightly so! Love the quality and love the content.

Much love from Canada

[robertcole]

10 years? I didn't' know I followed you that long. LOL. What a journey! Thank you John for the long journey. Oh.. did I mention my library is 46 + volumes now?

[evilscience]

Iv'e made the recipe you posted 10 years ago on 3 occasions and like it. A friend of mine is a deer hunter so I gave him a bottle and the dried mushrooms, I did not make a powder but chopped it leaving small chunks, he was skeptical but tried it and now he makes his own. It's a teach a man to fish type of tale that you taught me and inturn I taught him. My sister won a vegetable chilly contest using the dried mushrooms as her secret ingredient. Thank you sir.

[horsenuts]

As alluded to, mushroom ketchup is a commercial product sold in the UK, but I wouldn't call it 'common', but more 'niche'. There are many brands of tomato ketchup, but you need to go to a larger, or specialist, supermarket to find mushroom ketchup. That said, I used to use it back in the 1980s to add 'umami' to dishes long before I ever learned the word 'umami'.

[abbym]

There's actually a mushroom powder available on American shelves- it's by McCormick, and it's called like "Umami seasoning" or something along those lines. It's salt and mushrooms and a few other things, and it really IS a major flavor booster!

[jessefriegang]

I just finished making my own mushroom ketchup, and it is amazing. I can't believe that this isn't the standard form of ketchup.

[rigues]

Here in Brazil we have a recipe for a ketchup made from Guava (Goiaba), nicknamed "Goiachup". Still uses a bit of tomato paste, orange juice (for acidity), laurel, garlic, onions, soy sauce and cinnamon. Never tried it, will give it a shot.