Classic Kansas City sauces are brass bands with multi layers of flavor, sweets, and heats. Because they are thick they sit on top of the meat, not penetrating very much. A KC sauce can afford to have big bold flavors because the meat flavors will not be masked unless you use too much (click here for saucing strategies).

There are a lot of ingredients, but they are easy to assemble, and each contributes complexity. There are multiple sources of sweetness (brown sugar, molasses, honey, and onion which gets sweet when it is cooked); multiple sources of acidity (vinegar, lemon juice, hot sauce, and steak sauce); multiple sources of heat (chili powder, black pepper, mustard, and hot sauce); and it gets layers flavor from all the above as well as ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic, and salt. It's not a KC MAsterpiece, but it is a KC CLassic. Try it and you'll never use the bottled stuff again.

Yield: 6 cups, enough for about 10 slabs of St. Louis Cut ribs
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons chili powder*
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon table salt
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup yellow ballpark-style mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon hot sauce such as Tabasco
3 tablespoons cooking oil or butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
1 cup dark brown sugar (you can use light brown sugar if that's all you have)

Optional. If you are cooking your ribs indoors, or if your meat does not have a lot of smoke flavor, or if you just want more, you can add 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke.

Note. Not all chili powders are created equal. Many of the common grocery store chili powders are lifeless and dumbed down for the Anglo consumer. Buy your chili powder from a Mexican grocer or online.

Do this
1) In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, black pepper, and salt. In a large bowl, mix the ketchup, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire, lemon juice, steak sauce, molasses, honey, and hot sauce.

2) Over a medium heat, warm the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and saute until limp and translucent. Crush the garlic, add it, and cook for another minute. Add the dry spices and stir and cook for about 2 minutes to extract their oil-soluble flavors. Add the remaining wet ingredients and then the brown sugar. Simmer over a medium heat for 15 minutes with the lid on.

2) Taste and adjust. Add more of anything that you wish a little bit at a time. It may taste a bit vinegary at first, but that will be less obvious when you use it. Strain it if you don't want the chunks of onion and garlic. I like them in. Gives the sauce a home-made feel. You can use it immediately, but I think it's better if aged overnight. You can pour it into clean bottles and refrigerate for a month.

This page revised 4/6/08

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