Foodtown Tomato Ketchup

Ketchup is classic with burgers and fries, but home cooks and superstar chefs alike have devised clever methods to leverage its sweet-and-tangy flavor. There are other ways to cook with ketchup, from a classic Chinese-American stir-fry sauce to Jacques Pépin’s glaze for chicken livers.

1. Glazes: Blend ketchup with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sherry to make a sweet glaze for a tofu-mushroom salad.

Combine it with red wine vinegar, curry powder, and honey mustard to dress grilled salmon.

Or be like Jacques Pépin and mix it with balsamic vinegar to make a superfast glaze for seared chicken livers.

2. Barbecue sauce: To make it sweet and spicy, add chipotle in adobo and maple syrup. Or blend equal parts ketchup and peach jam with just a touch of lemon juice to make a sticky and addictive sauce for ribs.

3. Stir-fries: Use it like Chinese-American home cooks and make a sweet-and-sour stir-fry sauce, as in this recipe from Boston chef Joanne Chang.

4. Meatballs: Instead of the usual tomato sauce, simmer meatballs Southern-style in a mixture of ketchup, currant jelly and Worcestershire.

5. Pickles: Add it to star chef Michael Chiarello’s tomatoey brine for a pickled vegetable antipasti.

6. Coleslaw: Make one of the more obscure Southern styles: the pink-tinged “red slaw.” Just whisk ketchup with cider vinegar, sugar and hot sauce.

7. Shrimp cocktail: Mix in some Worcestershire, Cajun seasoning and lemon for a Bloody Mary–inspired cocktail sauce for shrimp.