Burnt sugar with scotch bonnet steak sauce
Burnt sugar with scotch bonnet steak sauce
This sauce is a riff on the Caribbean method of stewing meats by first caramelizing sugar to a dark brown then adding seasonings and water. In this thick steak sauce we use both brown sugar and molasses to create layers of flavor.
Scotch bonnet or habañero peppers are commonly used in Caribbean stew sauces and they are incredibly hot—that’s why we only call for ¼ of one small pepper in this sauce. Of course you can add more as you like. Whenever you work with extremely hot peppers we suggest using gloves and keeping white vinegar handy—it’s extremely effective for removing the pepper oils from counters, knives, cutting boards and hands. Another key seasoning in this sauce is culantro, a tropical herb similar in flavor to cilantro but without the soapy aftertaste many people perceive from cilantro. If you can’t find it, substitute cilantro instead.
Ingrediënten
MAKES: 480 ml
- 30 ml safflower oil
- 1 small shallot minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 g fresh thyme minced
- 4 g chopped culantro or cilantro
- 2 tsp 10 g dark brown sugar
- ¼ small scotch bonnet habañero pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced finely
- 120 ml spiced rum
- 15 ml tomato paste
- 240 mltomato purée
- 1ÂĽ cups 300 ml Meat Stock
- 30 ml molasses
- 30 ml Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp allspice
- â…› tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp salt
Instructies
- Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the safflower oil.
- Add the shallot, garlic and thyme and sauté until the shallot is softened, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped culantro and sauté for 30 seconds more.
- Add the sugar and heat, until it becomes caramelized and medium brown in color, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the scotch bonnet and sauté for about 30 seconds.
- Pour in the rum and simmer until the liquid is reduced down to 1 tablespoon (15 ml), about 2 to 4 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and sauté for 1 minute; while whisking add the tomato purée, beef stock, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, allspice, cloves and salt and simmer on medium high for 20 minutes until the mixture is reduced to the texture of marina sauce.
- Pour the sauce into a food processor or heavy-duty blender and purée until it is smooth.
- Return to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes more.
- Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Use as a dipping sauce for steak.
