Mumbo Sauce - D.C.'s Famous Sweet & Sour Sauce

Apparently, this sweet-and-sour condiment came to Washington D.C. via Chicago, where it somehow became a staple in Chinese take-out restaurants served as a condiment with fried chicken wings, among other things. This is my version.

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 0.6666666666666666 cup ketchup
• 0.6666666666666666 cup white sugar
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 0.25 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Steps

1. Place tomato paste, ketchup, sugar in a saucepan. Pour in pineapple juice, white vinegar, lemon juice, and honey into the pan. Add soy sauce, grated ginger, and cayenne pepper. Whisk together thoroughly. Place pan over medium-high heat. As soon as mixture starts to bubble, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until mixture has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
2. Remove pan from heat; allow to cool about 10 minutes or so. Pour sauce through a fine strainer to eliminate solids.