I'm looking for some recipe help. My Dad only barbecued one thing, chicken. When he came back from Vietnam in 1969 he brought with him an original Portable Kitchen and a chicken rub and mop that he said he got from a guy in his unit, who was I believe, from North Carolina.,
I remember chili powder. I remember vinegar. I have tried for 40 years to replicate the flavor of that chicken cooked on indirect heat with hickory smoke.
Any help in recreating this recipe would be appreciated.
Not enough information. It sounds like an Eastern Carolina type of sauce. I can produce a recipe for one if you'd like. Note, it doesn't have chili powder in it.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Anova sous vide circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
Just out of curiosity, I googled "carolina bbq sauce vinegar with chili" and got a bunch of interesting hits. Perhaps one will be close to what you remember ...
white vinegar
BBQ rub (I've used MMD and Gates AP Spicy... I add tabasco to the MMD version, or chili flakes)
Shake it up.
Let it sit for at least an hour. Everything has to bloom and merge. If you're not letting whatever you're making with the vinegar sit for a good while, that's likely the problem.
I cannot comment on the use of vinegar but my standard adaptation of MMD is to replace the paprika in the recipe with Hatch New Mexico red chili powder. Hatch chilis have a distinct, delicious chili flavor and depending on your source, you can mix mild, medium, and hot chili powders to get to the heat level desired.
I admire your quest Bkhuna and hope you keep at it. I agree with other posts that it sounds NC. Similarly I had what was known as Diablo Chicken at a local tavern that we tried for years unsuccessfully to duplicate. Was a unique blend of turmeric/tamarind/saffron and an unidentified chili heat source that we could never nail down. Maybe I will rev that search up again. Thanks for the memory jarring post.
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