Kansas City Style(3rd in a series)

Kansas City style barbecue came to be in the early 1900's from the pits of Henry Perry. Kansas City, Missouri, boasting over 100 barbecue restuarants is another barbecue capital of the world.(I think I detect a trend here).

Kansas City style barbecue is known for its use of many different types of meat. These include beef brisket,beef and pork ribs,pulled pork,smoked sausage,chicken and in my opinion one of mans greatest discoveries, the burnt end. Burnt end is the ends of the brisket after its long cooking times. The ends get cooked more due to their thinness compared to the rest of the cut. This gives it a crunchy texture and is simply delicious. The sauce is a sweet and tangy tomato base and is intended to be used liberally. Most sauces can be found in spicier versions as well. Favorite side dishes are baked beans,cole slaw and fries.

(from wikipedia)
Kansas City traces its barbecue history to Henry Perry, who operated out of a trolley barn at 19th and Highland in the legendary African-American neighborhood around 18th and Vine.

Perry served slow-cooked ribs on pages of newsprint for 25 cents a slab. Perry came from Shelby County, Tennessee near Memphis and began serving barbecue in 1908. The style of Kansas City and Memphis barbecue are very similar, although Kansas City tends to use more sauce and a wider variety of meats, including pork, beef, chicken, sausage, and turkey. Perry's sauce had a somewhat harsh, peppery flavor.


Arthur Bryant's Barbecue at 18th and Brooklyn in Kansas CityPerry's restaurant became a major cultural point during the heyday of Kansas City Jazz during the "wide-open" days of Tom Pendergast in the 1920s and 1930s.

Kansas City Style Barbecue Sauce Recipe

This is a rich, thick, tomato based Kansas City style barbecue sauce recipe. Adjust the heat by changing the amount of cayenne.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
•1 cup ketchup
•1/4 cup water
•1/4 cup vinegar
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•3 tablespoons olive oil
•2 tablespoons paprika
•1 tablespoon chili powder
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•1 teaspoon cayenne
Preparation:
Heat oil in a saucepan. Add garlic and sauté until brown. Add remaining ingredients and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.
http://www.bbq.about.com

Texas Style

This is the second in a series about the best barbecue states. Today we will be looking at the great state of Texas and all it's glorious barbecue history. What makes Texas barbecue so special? Well Texans have developed an affinity for taking the less desireable cuts of meat and turning them into masterpieces. The meat of choice for a good texas barbecue is the venerable brisket. Brisket is a cut of meat from the lower chest of the cow. You could probably take this cut of meat to a bar fight and come out the winner every time. This is one tough hombre. How do Texans take this piece of meat that a pitbull would have a hard time chewing up and turn it into something so tender and delicious? They start with a dry rub that is rubbed into the brisket. This rub consist of spices such as salt,pepper,dry mustard,paprika,brown sugar,onion powder and garlic powder among others. The meat is then cooked at a temperarure between 200 and 250 degrees for at least 10 hours. During the cooking process a vinegar based sauce is "mopped" onto the meat. This is done to add juices to the meat but also to add the crust on the outside of the brisket. Nothing that will burn is in the mopping sauce. It is mostly vinegar and dry mustard with some other spices. Once this meat has been through the cooking process it turns from one of the toughest cuts of meat known to man into one of the juiciest, most tender and delicious cuts of meat found anywhere. If you have never tried Texas Style Barbecue Brisket I urge you to mosey on down to the Lone Star State and give it a try.

DRY RUB:

2 tbsp. seasoned salt
1 tbsp. cracked black peppercorns
1 tbsp. cracked white peppercorns (I substitute ground white pepper)
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. dry mustard
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. distilled white vinegar

MOP SAUCE:

5 slices bacon, minced
1 c. minced onions
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 lemon, quartered
2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

North Carolina Style

Today we begin a new series dedicated to finding which state has the best barbecue. I like all types of barbecue so I will be totally subjective.

The first state we will explore is North Carolina. Residents of the Tarheel state will certainly tell you that to find the worlds best barbecue you simply come to North Carolina and the barbecue will find you.

North Carolina BBQ is all about the pork and sauce. First a select pig is picked out and prepared for cooking. Once ready this pig is going to cook slowly at a temperature around 250 degrees for anywhere between 14 and 18 hours. This slow cooking allows the pork to age without drying out the meat. Seldom will you see sauce applied to North Carolina BBQ while cooking unless its a vinegar base to aid in keeping the meat moist. Once done the pork will be "pulled" into bite size chunks and eventually chopped even finer. If you see someone in North Carolina slicing the pork it's time to walk away because they obviously don't know a thing about North Carolina barbecue.

Once the meat has been pulled and chopped it's time to add the sauce. Here is where North Carolina barbecue differs from others. Rather than your traditionally red tomato based BBQ sauce Carolina style sauce is vinegar based and boy is it good! Just enough sauce will be added to the meat to awaken they taste buds. To much sauce and and the vinegar kills the wonderful flavor of the meat. The next step is to put this wonderful concoction in between two buns and add a little cole slaw and enjoy some of the finest BBQ the world has to offer.

If you're planning a trip to North Carolina be sure to follow the Barbecue Trail. You won't go wrong stopping at one of these joints. So stop in and try one or better yet try them all

North Carolina BBQ Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

..DIRECTIONS
1.Combine the white vinegar, cider vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper in a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days before using so that the flavors will blend. Shake occasionally, and store for up to 2 months in the refrigerator.

Soybean paste (doenjang)ssamjang gochujang

From Wikipedia

Doenjang can be eaten as a condiment in raw paste-form with vegetables, similar to the way some people dip celery into cheese, but it is more commonly mixed with garlic, sesame oil, and sometimes gochujang to produce ssamjang which is then traditionally eaten with or without rice wrapped in leaf vegetables such as Chinese cabbage. This dish is called ssambap. Like this, doenjang is basic sauce when Koreans eat meat(samgyeobsal - 삼겹살) which is one of the most popular meat dishes.

It can also be used as a component of soup broth, for example in a popular stew (jjigae) called doenjang jjigae which usually includes tofu, various vegetables such as chile peppers, zucchini and welsh onion, and (optionally) mushrooms, red meat, or scallops.

Gochujang is a savory and pungent fermented Korean condiment, a kind of hot sauce. Traditionally, it has been naturally fermented over years in large earthen pots outdoors, more often on an elevated stone platform, called jangdokdae (장독대) in the backyard.

Ssamjang is a thick, spicy paste used in Korean cuisine, where it complements meat dishes such as galbi and samgyeopsal. The sauce is made of doenjang and gochujang, as well as sesame oil, onion, garlic, and scallions.

The name derives from the words jang (meaning "paste" or "thick sauce") and ssam (meaning "food wrapped in a leaf"), hence "sauce for food wrapped in a leaf."

For more info look at wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doenjang