Ingredients

   
120g ketchup
45g prepared horseradish, drained
15g lemon juice, fresh
5g Worcestershire sauce
1g Tabasco
1g Diamond Crystal kosher salt
  Black pepper, freshly ground

Steps

  1. Drain the horseradish in a fine-mesh sieve, pressing lightly. The liquid it sits in is vinegar, and it thins the sauce without adding heat.

  2. Whisk everything together.

  3. Rest 30 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

Notes

  • Start at 30g of horseradish if you’re unsure. You can add more; you cannot take it out.
  • The 30-minute rest is not optional — the horseradish needs it to bloom into the ketchup. Straight from the bowl it tastes like two separate things.
  • Fresh horseradish, grated, is sharper and fades faster. Use about two thirds the weight and serve the same day.
  • Heat from horseradish is volatile and disappears with time and warmth. Prepared horseradish more than a month open has usually gone flat — smell it first.
  • Keeps 2 weeks refrigerated, losing heat over that time. Bring back with a spoonful of fresh horseradish rather than remaking it.
  • For Shrimp Cocktail. Coctel de Camarón does not use this — the lime and Mexican hot sauce do that job.