FANCY HANKS: BBQ Sauce Original – 330ml

The recipe that predates the Instagram account

Fancy Hank's have been making this sauce in their Bourke Street kitchen since 2012 — first for the restaurant, then for anyone who kept asking what was on the ribs. It's a Southern-style original: the signature bottle, the one the pitmasters reach for, and the one that walked away with gold the first year it was judged.

The flavour

Ripe tomato and brown sugar lead, sweet and thick. Cider and white vinegar cut straight through the middle so it never turns cloying, and molasses and treacle pull it darker and deeper. Tamarind brings a sour-fruit twang most sauces don't have, and a trace of chipotle powder sits right at the back — smoke rather than burn. It finishes long, sweet and savoury at once.

How to cook with it

• Pull a smoked pork shoulder, then fold the sauce through the meat while it's still steaming so it soaks in rather than sits on top.
• Glaze spare ribs in the last twenty minutes over indirect heat, one thin coat at a time, until they go tacky and dark.
• Cut it with a splash of cider vinegar and use it as a mop through a long brisket cook.
• Stir a spoonful into the pan after browning mince for a burger sauce that tastes like it took hours.
• Brush it onto halved onions and throw them on the coals cut-side down until they caramelise into something worth fighting over.

In the bottle

Deep mahogany brown and thick enough to hold on a spoon. It pours slow and coats the back of a brush properly, which is exactly what you want when you're layering coats onto ribs.

Ingredients & Dietary

Ingredients: Tomato, Brown Sugar, Cider Vinegar, White Vinegar, Onion, Molasses, Capsicum, Tamarind, Salt, Worcestershire Sauce, Brown Vinegar, Apple, Treacle, Sugar, Garlic, Salt, Spices, Black Pepper, Chilli Chipotle Powder, Xanthum Gum (415).

Dietary: Vegan. Preservative free. No gluten. Always check the physical label.

The Rub Smuggler's Verdict

Gold medal, first time out, and they still bottle it in a restaurant kitchen at midnight — that's the sort of cargo worth running. Rub the shoulder with SINS Q Grunt Cherry Pork Rub and inject it the night before with Smoke on Wheels BBQ Marinade. Sauce it after the pull, never before — sugar on a twelve-hour cook is just charcoal with extra steps.

FAQ

Is Fancy Hank's Original BBQ Sauce hot?
No. There's a trace of chipotle powder for smoke, but no real heat. It's sweet, tangy and smoky.

What has it won?
A Gold Medal at the 2018 Australian Food Awards. Every sauce in the debut range took a medal that year.

Is it vegan and gluten free?
The brand lists it as vegan, preservative free and no gluten. Always check the physical label.

What's it best on?
Pork. It's the signature sauce for their pulled pork and spare ribs, and it works on burgers and smoked shoulder.

When should I put it on the meat?
Late. Glaze in the last twenty minutes, or fold it through after pulling. The sugars will burn over a long cook.