Make catsup more clingy

I made traditional catsup with tomatoes, vinegar and spices, boiled down.

It is very tasty, but consistency is quite stiff, with a lot of structure. The problem with this is that it does not dip well. For example, with shrimp cocktail, it tends to fall off the shrimp and not stick to it.

I think the reason why regular catsup is more soupy is because it is mechanically pureed, so it gets chopped into very small particles that ultimately makes it into more of a sauce.

My catsup, which is mashed, not pureed with blades does not have this liquid nature.

Short of puree'ing it, is there any way I can saucify my catsup?

(Note that simply adding more vinegar does not help because the tomatoes keep their structure and vinegar separates out in a puddle.

ketchup

Best Answer

The go-to industry standard additive to ketchup to make it "optimally clingy" is xanthan gum. It makes all water-based fluids into shear-thinning non-newtonian fluids, which means they flow just okay out of a bottle, but cling to surfaces well.

If you can't (or don't want to) use that, there's a bunch of easy natural thickeners. Potato or bean puree (blend with a small amount of your ketchup to make it easy to mix in), gelatin or potato starch (prepare hot with water, pour/mix when lukewarm). Arrowroot.

Also, consider reducing the tomatoes some before preparing the ketchup. Less water since moment one will make it thicker.