Tonkatsu Sauce Recipe

How to Make Your Own Homemade Condiments « The Classy Geek

In my wanderings around the web for Lifehacker I often stumble on pieces that aren’t quite a great fit there but that I think are still worth reading. Pieces like this slideshow at Saveur about making your own homemade condiments . Everything from Ketchup and mayonnaise to the fancier stuff like making your own Sofrito or Tonkatsu sauce (shown above) is included, along with delicious recipes to make them your own.

Will you save money doing this versus buying it in a bottle off the shelf? Of course not. Is it still worth doing? Absolutely. Let me explain why.

First of all, with some condiments, specifically ketchup, whether or not it’s cheaper to make on your own is more than a little subjective when you break it down to serving size or price out different quality levels of the ingredients you plan to use. Use the top notch stuff? Of course it’ll be more expensive per serving – but it’ll taste delicious. Use the low-end stuff? It’ll be better, and possibly cheaper, but probably not enough to make you never buy a bottle again.

The biggest reason you should roll your own sauces and condiments is so you can control what goes in your face . After all, the first ingredient – at least here in the United States – for most condiments we enjoy is a little thing called High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is – I don’t care how much the Corn Refiners Association wants you to believe it’s some kind of “Sweet Surprise” and yes, “Corn Sugar” and HFCS are the same damned horrible thing – all around terrible for you. If you make your own, you won’t include that nonsense, and the end-result will be a tastier, more wholesome, and overall healthier product.