A sharp, tangy and spicy bbq sauce recipe to use up that seasonal glut of loquats.
So what do you do when life gives you loquats? Give a wry smile and make some sauce. I was pretty amused to find loquats in my mailbox last week, but also really happy to try cooking with something new. The salsa was definitely a success but barely made a dent in the pile of loquats I had, so I turned my hand to sauce.
This barbecue sauce follows a fairly traditional sauce recipe - lots of fruit, vinegar and sugar, and a few spices. The flavour is very sharp and tangy, fruity, a little bit spicy and pretty delicious. So far I've used it in a tofu marinade, and in the typical way alongside (vegetarian) sausages. I can't comment on what type of meats it would suit but I'm sure it would do the job just fine.
This is a pretty vinegary tasting sauce, which suits my taste. If you like your sauces a bit mellower I'd recommend adding an extra half a cup of brown sugar. You could also change the flavour profile by swapping out the malt vinegar and using cider or wine vinegar instead.
If I had room, I wouldn't mind a loquat tree. They're quite attractive, almost tropical looking trees and the fruit has a unique flavour which I really rather like. My suburban backyard is planted to the max with trees though, so looks like I'll just have to rely on random mailbox deliveries to get my loquat fix. Long may they last.
INGREDIENTS
- 900 g loquats
- 1 cup soft brown sugar
- 3 cups malt vinegar
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 cloves whole or ½ teaspoon ground cloves
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare loquats by washing them, cutting them in half and removing their stones. The loquats will lose about a third of their weight once stoned (900g of whole fruit = 600g of fruit, stones removed).
- Add loquats and all remaining ingredients to a large saucepan.
- Bring to a low boil, then simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. The liquid will have reduced quite a bit and the fruit will be collapsed and very soft.
- Allow to cool slightly, then liquidise the sauce in your blender or food processor. Be careful, hot sauce really burns!
- Pour into sterilised jars and seal.
- Makes approximately 1 litre of sauce.
How long do you process the pints for? If a lot more sugar is added, does it affect the processing safety?
Hi Cindy, I didn't process mine. Partly because it's a fairly small batch so I just stored it in the fridge and used it promptly, also because I'm not an expert on canning or preserving processes. I found an interesting article here which might be helpful for you.
keep acidity lower than 4.6 and you'll be fine
I am making this as I type - it's on cooking right now. I used fresh chilies instead of cayenne - just because I had some left over from another recipe. Forgot not to touch my eyes after cutting chilies up. Ouch.
Oh no! ouch. Hope your sauce is lovely 🙂
This sounds refreshing! Not too many loquat recipes out there. Your last entry indicates 6 cloves whole or 1/4 tsp of ground cloves. What type of clove did you use?
Thanks
Hi Carol, this recipe calls for cloves - the spice. As far as I'm aware there is only one type. Look for whole or ground cloves in the dried herbs and spices section at the supermarket 🙂
My tree has tons of fruit and I would like to attempt this recipe. After sealing the jars, how long will they last?
Hi Danielle, it depends what type of preserving method you use. If you just cook the sauce and put it in a jar/bottle, it'll need to be kept in the fridge and used promptly. If you use a water bath or open pan preserving method, it will last a lot longer. I'm not an expert in that area sorry, so I'm not sure what the maximum storage time would be. This article has some good information about preserving methods that you might find helpful.
Not really a loquat sauce, far too much vinegar.
Absolutely delicious. I left out the cayenne (I have a bit of an allergy) and added a just a little more black pepper. Used apple vinegar as that's what I had in the house what a great recipe. I live in Tenerife and Loquats or Níspero as they are called here are everywhere at this time of year. Great way to use them.