North Carolina Eastern-style Mop Sauce

Recipe by Catherine Neville

Some traditional mop sauce recipes include butter (or even lard) in this style of sauce, giving it a rich, silky texture that helps pork retain moisture. If you’d like to add fat to this recipe or the Lexington-style version below, just heat the sauce ingredients along with a stick of unsalted butter until the butter melts, stirring to combine.

  • 2 cups apple cider vinegar

  • 1 tsp hot sauce, plus more to taste

  • 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes

  • 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

  • 1 Tbsp sea salt

  • 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

| Preparation | Stir all ingredients together in a bowl (or shake in a jar) until sugar and salt have dissolved. Allow to stand at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

North Carolina Lexington-Style Dip

  • 1½ cups apple cider vinegar

  • ½ cup water

  • 1 Tbsp sea salt

  • 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper, plus more to taste

  • 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes

  • 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

  • ½ cup ketchup

| Preparation | In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar and salt have dissolved, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool and then pour into a jar, letting sauce rest for 6 to 12 hours. Sauce will become spicier as the red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper infuse the vinegar; the longer the sauce infuses, the spicier it will become.

Catherine Neville