Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Eastern North Carolina-Style Barbecue Sauce with a West Coast Twist

I’m not sure if using honey instead of sugar really qualifies as a “West Coast twist,” but it does ensure that people from North Carolina can’t attack me for this Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue sauce not being authentic. 

Anyway, while this isn’t exactly what you might find in the Tar Heel State, it was fantastic on the pork, and I hope it inspires you to add this deliciously different barbecue sauce in your repertoire.

As I mentioned in the video, I’m heading down to SoCal to work on a top-secret project, but since I teased this sauce in the recent paper pork recipe, I wanted to get this posted before I left. Unfortunately, I can’t give any details about what I’m doing down there, but let’s just say…actually, I can’t even say that. So stay tuned, and in the meantime, I really do hope you give this a try soon.  Enjoy!


Ingredients:
1 tablespoon honey, or other sweetener to taste
1 generous tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 generous tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

24 comments:

Unknown said...

The sauce was great on some smoked pork shoulder I made two nights ago. Not as hot I was expecting, but hopefully it'll get stronger as it sits.

Dave said...

Would you say this Western-style eastern North Carolina sauce is a Southern recipe, Chef John?

Anonymous said...

Chef,

Theoretical Scenario: Let's assume that one would want to emulsify this with a bit of mustard. Without ANY hesitation, what would your Mustard of Choice be???

Thanks,

Daisy said...

Looking forward to trying this with that paper pork!

rashep142 said...

Chef, was that one of your famous bread and butter pickles on that plate? I have a triple batch of them in the fridge in the salting stage as I type. I can barely keep up with the demand!

Thanks, and bon voyage!

Unknown said...

Chef John! Enjoy beautiful SoCal! We hope that you're signing a TV deal so we'll get to see even more great cooking!

Frank said...

As always, if you or any of your staff get caught, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This PC will self-destruct in 15 seconds.

Explainer Video Company said...

It,s an amazing, really like this .you will rock in near future.

mom of chef said...

Ooh - So Cal and secret - hope you are getting a TV show!

FSB said...

You didn't cap the squeeze bottle, CJ.... folks are going to blame you for the mess after they shake it up.

juvat said...

Why you got to be hatin on the South. North, East and West, but no South? :-)

Unknown said...

Chef John I love your videos and the food you cook. Recently I have read a book on cooking called On Food And Cooking The Science and Lore Of the Kitchen. In the book there is a paragraph about making Margarine. In the past margarine has been made from tallow and skim milk. I wonder if a margarine can be made from beef bone marrow. I believe that this is entirely possible and will have interesting property's. I hope you will response to me. thank you for your Tme and keep up the good work.

Aaron said...

Awesome! And it's eastern NC style, none of that ketchup-infused western NC heresy.

Unknown said...

Possible to thicken this up and use for smoked ribs?

David said...

Am I the only one who sees the sly Chef John reference to the Dr. Seuss book "If I Ran the Zoo", in which the zoo keeper catches an animal called an Iota from the "north-eastern west part of South Carolina"?

Unknown said...

Why don't you respond to my questions? That said, what are your suggestions for a honey/sweetener substitute?

The Cooking Corner said...

Jim, They/He never respond not sure why anyone leaves comments, they don't ever reply...

rodentraiser said...

Jim, he probably already left for So Cal. Or, as Crow would sing, "Gone, gone, gone....."

Have a good time there, Chef John! And hurry home - we already miss you!

Eric Shook said...

To advance the curing of this sauce -- heat it up.

Unknown said...

Made this with molasses instead of honey and it is FIRE

inchrisin said...

I didn't think much of this sauce when I tried it by itself. And, I love vinegar. I made a pork shoulder the next day and tossed the meat in this sauce. Believe you me that I get excited when I can say that a food will change your life. Absolutely incredible! Maybe I'll never go back to a KC sauce again. Thanks for the introduction.

Unknown said...

Wow! What a really good post this is. This post is too damn good. I really love it and the way you've composited your writing is just fabulous. Keep it up, mate!. BBQ sauce

Unknown said...

IMHO a little pineapple juice added to it does wonders for this type of sauce.

hopp94 said...

I just want to ask what percentage the white distilled vinegar has you used? I live in hungary and here is a 10% and a 20% available and don't know which one to use. Thanks for the answer, keep up the good work.
A fan from Hungary.