Filipino BBQ Sauce that can be used on a wide variety of Grilled Meats. This BBQ Sauce is pretty unique in that it uses Banana Ketchup! The Sauce is really a marinating and Basting Sauce. This is a very thin BBQ sauce that is portioned in half for marinating the meats and the other half reduced a bit for the basting sauce, depending on how strong you like it.

This is a new BBQ Sauce to me that I thought I would try after someone suggested that I should try Philippine Foods.

I must admit I was thrown off by the Banana Ketchup, but I was curious, and a good thing too. This is a fantastic tasting BBQ Sauce. So much so that it opens the door for other possibilities. One of such is a Hawaiian BBQ Sauce which uses Pineapples.

On First testing, I didn’t have Banana Ketchup & Calamansi Juice and so substituted these to get an idea of the Sauce taste profile. It still turned out really good and so this sauce is added to my arsenal of BBQ Sauces and shared here.

Filipino BBQ Sauce Components

Surprisingly, this is one recipe that remains almost the same everywhere, at least ingredients-wise. The Ratios is what differs. There are some additions of other ingredients, however it does extremely well to maintain the main components which are listed below.

Soy Sauce

Soy Sauce adds the Salt to the BBQ Sauce, so additional Salt is not required. It also assists in the over all color of the meat when cooking.

Almost the same as the Asian method of Red Cooking, which requires a good amount of Soy Sauce. Usually the meat is braised and as it absorbs the cooking liquid it colors the meat with a reddish tinge.

This recipe marinates the meat and then baste in your typical BBQ Style Fashion with the BBQ Sauce.

Sugar

Typically, brown Sugar is used, although you can use White Sugar with a bit of Molasses since it is going into a sauce that will be cooked. Other forms of Sugar can be used as well.

Calamansi Juice

The Fruit Calamansi is a cross between Orange and Lime. Grown in South Eastern Asia and is used often in cooking.

If you can’t source this, a good Substitute is a mix of 1 part Orange Juice & 3 parts Lime or Lemon Juice. For the recipe below, that equates to 1/4 C Orange Juice and 3/4 C of Lime or Lemon Juice.

Gingerale

Ginger Ale Soda or a good Ginger Beer. If using Ginger Ale, then you may want to add a bit of minced Ginger to bring up the Ginger. I use Canada Dry Ginger ale with 1/4 tsp of Ginger powder in the recipe below.

Sprite is also sometimes used, especially the Lemon Sprite, and I have seen Coke used as well.

Banana Ketchup

When first testing this BBQ Sauce and not having banana Ketchup, I used 1/2 C French’s Ketchup & 1/2 C Banana Pulp. It actually worked out pretty well. The Ketchup will also assist in coloring the meat.

There are recipes for Homemade Banana Ketchup online, and I will be experimenting with this from time to time to develop my own. However, you might be able to pick up a bottle at your local Asian Store. Either way, the Ketchup and Banana Pulp works really well.

The Banana Pulp used has been previously frozen, and I believe there is more flavor in frozen Banana Pulp, but fresh can be used too.

Other Ingredients

Other Common Ingredients added to this BBQ Sauce is Black Pepper, Ginger, Garlic, Onion, Vinegar.

Filipino BBQ Sauce/Marinade

This Sauce acts as a Marinade and Basting Sauce. Feel free to not only add additional ingredients, but to adjust the ratios to suit your taste preferences.

Marinade

For the marinade, just combine everything until everything is blended in well. Remove Half or however much you need to use for the marinade.

Basting Sauce

Simmer the remaining Sauce until the desired consistency for a thin BBQ Sauce. I just reduce it a bit so that it’s a bit thicker but still a pretty thin Sauce. About 10–15 minutes of simmering.

Flavor Profile of Filipino BBQ Sauce

This is a potent BBQ Sauce initially. When basted on the meat and cooked, it seasons the meat extremely well. There is no seasoning that needs to go on the meat before basting it.

It’s a BBQ tasting sauce mainly Salty, Sweet, and Sour with Banana Tone flavors that surprisingly is very much desired and uplifting. It’s definitely an interesting BBQ Sauce that we really enjoy.

If you taste this from the start it will taste too salty which might lead you to think that it will be too much. However, it’s not. It actually works quite well both as a marinade and a reduced BBQ Sauce.

Don’t reduce it too much. It is a BBQ Sauce that is on the thinner side, so simmering for about 10–15 minutes should bring it to a BBQ Sauce with some consistency but still relatively thin for basting.

Filipino BBQ Chicken

Marinate 4 Chicken Quarters in some of the BBQ Sauce. The remaining BBQ Sauce can be brought to a simmer and reduced until thickened.

When ready to cook the Chicken. Place the chicken into a preheated oven at 375 F for about 25 minutes, skin side down. After 25 minutes, baste the chicken and flip skin side up, and baste again. Cook another 10 minutes and then repeat basting the chicken, flipping it over, and basting again every 5 – 10 minutes for a total cook time of 1 hour.

Kebabs

Marinate the 1 inch Diced Chicken or Pork.

Skewer and Place on a casserole dish so that the meat is not touching any surface and the dish can act as a catch pan. Place 1 cup of water in the casserole dish to prevent fat from smoking.

Broil the Chicken on the second notch down from the top for 10 minutes. Flipping every 2 minutes. At about 4 minutes, start brushing the BBQ Sauce on and cooking for 2 minutes. Repeat this for a total cook time of about 10 minutes or slightly more.