OT Southern BBQ Ribs

[Daddy Dee]

Here's a pretty good slide show on a whole pig roast. I've heard of folks cooking in a deep pit covered with earth during cooking time.

It's not really a southern thing, but looks like it would be pretty good.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/07/16/dining/20100721-pig-slideshow.html

My pork lust is running pretty high right now. They are doing it just right. I just had Pork Belly cooked properly for the first time. Where has it been my whole life.

pork belly done right? could you say more about that?

Well yes pork belly is bacon but roasted pork belly to me is bacon++++++++++.

Bacon Sen at Uchiko in Austin. It was roasted perfectly with a apple puree on the side.

When the pork belly is roasted the meat parts are chunkier and crispy leaving the fat to almost liquefy and spill onto the plate. I am going to try a couple recipes to see if I can get close. I think I had a dream about pork belly last night.....

still trying to imagine this. wonder how it would be to put it out on the smoker.

let me know how your project turns out.

[seti]

The roasted pork belly I had the fat sort of runs out onto the plate. What remains is the meaty party you usually see in bacon only bigger pieces. Porky salty meaty goodness.

I am still trying to find the best Japanese roasting method.

Welsh Pork Belly

Filipino Pork Belly

[Dflip]

Here are a number of recipes for either Chinese or Japanese Pork Belly. They include roasting and braising (cooking slowly in soy sauce, leeks, star ainse, ginger sake and water) for 2 1/2 hours or so). You can always combine several of the methods to see how you like them. After the quick sear in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes it could be cooked with indirect heat at 225 or 250 until done. It should be done at the same temperature as a pork butt, 196 - 200 F. The fat cap can be made crisp by putting it on the grill at high for a few minutes to finish it off.

These recipes are from a Word file and the blank spaces are where pictures existed within the original file.

Enjoy!

Japanese Braised Pork BellyVery similar recipes exist in Chinese (from Peking-style especially) cuisine, and a great Okinawa speciality israfute. This is a bit like rafute but has a bit more spice and things in it, so it’s closer to the Peking style I think. Either way it’s a great treat once in a great while. It’s definitely a cold weather dish.Buta no kakuni (Japanese braised pork belly) About 450g / 1 lb pork belly2 Tbs sugar1 piece of leek (about 6 inches / 15 cm long or so. You can use the green part too.)1 large piece of fresh ginger1 star anise3 Tbs. soy sauce2 Tbs. sake2 cups water Cut the pork into cubes about 1 inch / 2cm or so square. If the skin is still on, leave it on. Heat up a large pot with a heavy bottom. Sauté the pork belly cubes, without any added fat (you don’t need it…) until browned.When the meat is browned, scrape it to one side and put the sugar in the fat that’s accumulated on the bottom, and stir around until it’s a bit caramelized. Stir and toss so the meat gets coated by the sugar.Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a simmer and lower the heat. Put a lid on and let it simmer gently for about 3 hours, turning occasionally.To serve, dredge the pieces carefully out of the very oily cooking liquid, and peel of the thick layer of fat that’s on the skin side of the meat. Drizzle a little bit of the cooking liquid over the cubes.We have this with very plain vegetables, like broccoli with wasabi sauce. Pickles (oshinko) are good to have too. Hot, plain rice is essential. To eat, take a small piece and put it on top of your hot rice, and let the sauce and fat sort of melt in. A little goes a long way. Fuss-free pork belly
1.5kg pork belly, tell the butcher it is for roasting to get a sufficiently fatty cut
4 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepperPreheat the oven, set on roast, to 230 deg C.Score the skin of the pork belly length-wise. The cuts should be about 0.5cm deep and about
1- to 2cm apart.Rub 1 tsp of salt and black pepper on the underside of the pork belly, then turn it over and rub the remaining salt over the skin (right). Ensure that salt is rubbed between each slit in the skin, and if necessary, use more salt.Place the pork belly on a grill rack and roast on the middle tray in the oven for 30 minutes or until the skin starts to brown.Reduce the temperature to 180 deg C and roast for another 45 minutes to an hour until the skin is golden brown.Switch to grill mode and raise the temperature to 230 deg C for seven minutes. Check frequently to ensure that the crackling does not burn.

Lower to 220 deg C and leave the oven door partially open. Roast for seven more minutes. Tap the back of a metal spoon against the crackling; if it produces a hollow sound, the pork belly is done.Serves eightCHILI SAUCE10 red chilies
2 bird’s eye chili (optional)
2cm piece ginger
3 cloves garlic
60ml rice vinegar
1 small cube red fermented bean curd
2 tsp sauce from the jar of red fermented bean curd
2 tsp sugar
4 small Calamansi limes, juiced
2 tsp mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
2 tsp soya sauce
2 tsp sesame oilBlend chillies, ginger, garlic and rice vinegar in a food processor on high speed until a fine paste forms. Set aside 4 tsp and keep the remaining chili paste as a condiment for flavouring other dishes.Mix 4 tsp of the chili paste with the red fermented bean curd, sugar, lime juice, mirin, soya sauce and sesame oil until well incorporated.BUTA NO KAKUNI You love this dish from the Japanese Ramen restaurant by The Gallery Hotel. About 450 grams / 1 pound pork belly.2 tablespoons sugar.1 piece of leek (about 6 inches / 15 centimeters long or so. The green part can be used too.)1 large piece of fresh ginger.1 star anise.3 tablespoons soy sauce.2 tablespoons sake.2 cups water. Cut pork into cubes about 1 inch / 2 centimeters or so square. If the skin is still on, leave it on. Heat up large pot with a heavy bottom. Sauté pork belly cubes, without any added fat until browned. When meat is browned, scrape to one side and put sugar in the fat that is accumulated on the bottom, and stir around until it is a bit caramelized. Stir and toss so meat gets coated by sugar. Add rest of the ingredients, bring to a simmer and lower heat. Put lid on and let it simmer gently for about 3 hours, turning occasionally. To serve, dredge pieces carefully out of the very oily cooking liquid, and peel of thick layer of fat that is on the skin side of the meat. Drizzle a little bit of the cooking liquid over the cubes. Red-cooked pork belly Red-cooking is a Shanghainese technique that involves braising meat, tofu, or eggs in a richly flavored dark soy sauce. When I was a young girl, my parents used to take me to a Shanghainese restaurant every weekend for their famous red-cooked pork belly, which came in a traditional clay pot on a bed of jade-colored bok choy vegetables. Years later, my husband and I make this dish at least once a week in the fall and winter. The texture of the pork belly after its been braised for three hours is magnificent—each bite yields a morsel of lacquered pork rind, then the soft striation of fat, and finally, the nugget of tender meat. · 3 lbs. pork belly, cut into 2″ cubes· 1.5 oz. Chinese rock sugar, palm or brown sugar can be substituted· 3 star anise· 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the heel of a knife· 1 3″ knob of ginger, sliced into 1/2″ medallions· 1 bunch scallions· 2 tbsp light soy sauce· 3 tbsp dark soy sauce· 1/4 cup Shao Xing wine· 2 cups low sodium chicken stock· 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder· *optional for serving, Japanese mustard (karashi) Place all the ingredients together into a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Bring the ingredients up to temperature on high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer, covered, for 2 ½ hours, until the pork is very tender when pierced with a fork. Uncover the pot, and turn the heat to medium-high, allowing the sauce to bubble and reduce for 10-15 minutes, until the sauce is reduced to a thick consistency. Skim off the fat floating on the surface of the sauce, and discard. Remove the star anise, ginger pieces, and scallion from the pot, and discard. Serve the pork with steamed rice, spooning some of the sauce over top.(Our friends Jay and Akiko once served us red-cooked pork belly with karashi, a Japanese hot mustard/horseradish hybrid. It’s an addictive combination. You can find karashi locally at Uwajimaya, though I suspect mostJapanese grocery stores would carry it.) Oh pork belly, how I will miss thee! The thing about pork belly is that it's highly addictive. Look at bacon. Who doesn't want to eat bacon at every meal everyday of the week? But even plain old roasted pork belly will do it for me. The meat is so succulent and the fat cap becomes so pleasantly crisp. Oh sure, I'm fully aware of how unhealthy it is, but it's not like we eat it every day

To close out the pork belly eating season (at least at Chez Pedersen), I made a roasted pork belly short rib drizzled with a teriyaki sauce spiked with gochujang (Korean pepper paste). Combining Korean and Japanese flavors is not something I admit to doing very often because I know it's bound to piss some people off, but I think the flavors can go very well together. They did in this case, anyhow. Again, no real recipe, but so easy anyone can do it! The perfect cut of meat for this is pork belly with the bones still attached, sometimes called pork belly short rib. If you can't find pork belly or the short rib, butt or any other fatty cut will work (1.5 to 2 lb roast). Even better if it has the fat cap (one reason I love my pork guy; all the cuts come with fat cap!). To get this roast perfect, salt the meat with a generous amount of salt, score the fat cap, put it in a shallow roasting pan with a rack, then stick it into a 450F preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then lower the heat to 300F (or 275F with convection). The mantra is low and slow. In fact, you could go as low as 225F, but that would significantly increase the cooking time. Roast till the internal temperature reaches 200F (yes, 200F!). Depending on which cut you use and how big it is, roasting time could be about 1 hour per pound, so plan accordingly. Remember to let it rest for about 20 minutes before cutting into it! For the sauce, simply combine equal volumes of tamari (or regular old soy sauce) and mirin. Add sugar (or honey) and gochujang (Korean pepper paste) to taste. You can add a splash of sake if you've got it too. Heat the sauce over medium heat until it reduces and thickens a bit. Use it to drizzle over the sliced pork, or as a dipping sauce. If you go the dipping sauce route, spruce it up with toasted sesame seeds or a splash of sesame oil and grated fresh ginger. Serve with Japanese sticky rice and an assortment of Japanese pickles or kimchi. Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils

I've been trying to improve my crispy pork belly method (first seen here) because I really, really, really want that crackling skin with still soft-and-tender meat. I hoped that slow-roasting was the way to go.

First, I rubbed the pork belly pieces with some salt, crushed black peppercorns, and crushed coriander seeds. I placed them on a rack with celery, onion, and carrots.

I pricked the skin using toothpicks and roasted them in a 250F oven for about 3 hours.

The smell coming from the oven was delightful.

After the 3 hours, I checked on the pork bellies and I was feeling trepidatious when I felt the the still-uncrispy skin. Crossing my fingers, I put them back into the oven and turned up the heat to 450F for about 20 minutes.

When I took them out the second time, I was heartened when I saw the blistery skin. When I finally sliced them up, I was delighted by the sound of the crackling skin and the tenderness of the meat.

Japanese Braised Pork Belly

I decided to try a Japanese version of braised pork belly (buta no kakuni) and see how it tastes compared to the Chinese counterpart, red-cooked pork. The two cooking methods seem pretty similar side-by-side. There are some minor differences: fewer spices used, and lack of par-boiling the meat prior to browning it. Also, I was curious how pork braised in soy sauce, sake, and star anise would taste with mustard. So, save this for a day when you have just run 10 miles, did an intense Bikram session, or maybe just had salad for lunch. You'll want the butcher to leave the skin on, because really, that's the only way to eat braised pork belly. I think the hardboiled egg is a nice addition for a side, although the Japanese also eat it with daikon. Either white rice or ramen is great for soaking up the sauce. Japanese Braised Pork Belly (Buta no kakuni)Serves 41 pound pork belly (skin on is best!), cubed
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/4 cup chopped leeks or scallions
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sake
1 to 2 pieces star anise
4 eggs
A dab of mustard on the side In a large pot, sauté pork belly on all sides until it starts to turn golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. There's not need for any oil; the fat coming off the pork is plenty. Sprinkle in the ginger and leeks and sauté very briefly, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar over the pork and stir. The sugar should sink down to the bottom of the pot and begin to caramelize. Toss the pork so that it gets coated by the caramelizing sugar. Careful to not let the sugar burn. Add enough water to the pot to fully cover the pork. Add the soy sauce, sake, and star anise. Adjust the heat to low, and allow your pork to simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours Your house will start to smell nice. When the pork is close to done, hard boil your eggs. Once your eggs are cooked, rinse them under cool water, and remove the shells. Add your eggs to the pot for about 5 to 10 minutes so the outside absorbs some of the braising liquid.When you think the pork is melty enough for your liking, remove from heat and serve over ramen or rice.

[Daddy Dee]

Time for a road trip to my neighborhood. Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas is a three generation BBQ tradition going back over 100 years. Haven't been there yet, but it's up on my radar screen now. Jones Diner is one of the oldest African-American owned businesses in the United States. All they do is pulled pork. The original Mr. Jones sold BBQ off his back porch on Friday and Saturday back in the day. They still do the sauce and cooking the same way they always did.

They have just won a James Beard Foundation honor, also new on my radar screen, but a waaay cool thing to get.

Here's a couple of links:

http://www.arktimes.com/EatArkansas/archives/2012/03/13/jones-bbq-in-marianna-wins-beard-foundation-honor

http://thebbqgrail.com/2012/jones-bar-b-q-diner-a-james-beard-american-classic-honoree/

[Daddy Dee]

a pic of the wall menu. The sandwich is served on white bread with a generous amount of vinegary sauce.

There's only a couple of tables in the place. It's mostly carry out.

[Daddy Dee]

One more place in my neighborhood to visit, but haven't yet been there. Looks pretty good, though. It's a small store that serves BBQ, too.

[seti]

YUM

[fini]

One more place in my neighborhood to visit, but haven't yet been there. Looks pretty good, though. It's a small store that serves BBQ, too.

It certainly looks authentic, Dee. I like the name...

[Daddy Dee]

Indeed!

[Gary Boone]

Big Jim's BBQ brings his smoke trailer up every summer. This is an interesting read below. Jim Sullivan, an ex NFL player, originally from Hope, AR, and now teaches and cooks BBQ in Parker, CO. He still gets his hickory wood from Arkansas.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=5200004

[Daddy Dee]

Cool. Thanks for the link Gary.

[seti]

I wish I had the time and the Zantac but it would be cool to cover Arkansas Tennessee Alabama Mississippi and Louisiana to document southern back woods bbq joints. Most of these have been around for a while. It would make a cool book. I hate thouse Food TV bbq shows. They don't even hit the highlights.

[germerikan]

Mabie you could get free BBQ if you told them you were writing a book!! Then you only need gas money, time is relative!!

[Daddy Dee]

Seti,

The back woods bbq reviews sound like an awesome project. When we have a chance to talk I'd like to hear more about what you are thinking.

[pmsummer]

Check out a friend of mine's BBQ blog, though it's mainly Texocentric.

[Daddy Dee]

pmsummer, that link is killing me. the photography of those bbq plates is fabulous. yum.

[moray james]

I just had a heart attack in December so is ther a vegan BBQ option cause this stuff is looking so good I want to break ranks. MMMMMM. Best regards Moray James.

[Daddy Dee]

it wouldn't technically be bbq, but veggies on a grill can turn out some pretty good stuff. even pineapple.

I'd say think kabobs w/o the meat. if you can manage grilled fish or chicken, mmmm. good stuff.

otherwise, some of the meatless sausage and burger options would be complemented well with grilled kabob veggies.

[oldtimer]

Especially the pineapple! Always a hit at parties, people just go crazy for grilled fresh pineapple.

[seti]

it wouldn't technically be bbq, but veggies on a grill can turn out some pretty good stuff. even pineapple.

I'd say think kabobs w/o the meat. if you can manage grilled fish or chicken, mmmm. good stuff.

otherwise, some of the meatless sausage and burger options would be complemented well with grilled kabob veggies.

Thick sliced butternut and acorn squash on the grill is very nice. mmmmmm