I came across a few recipes a while back, and wanted to modify the approach using low and slow style BBQ on my charcoal grill. My inspiration for the sauce base came from Nagi @ https://www.recipetineats.com. Based on my prior cooking knowledge I've modified not only the ingredients, but also the process along the way. I hope you all enjoy! 

Recipe/ingredients:

• Sauce / marinade – made at least the day or two before:

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of hoisin sauce

6 teaspoons of oyster sauce

1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce 

1/3 a cup of oil 3 Teaspoons of sesame oil 

3 Teaspoons of Chinese 5 spice powder* (see notes in “additional thoughts” if you can’t find it) 

2 tablespoons of the following: Fresh cracked pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder

Combine all ingredients, bring to a simmer, allow to cool, and then refrigerate sauce overnight in an airtight container.

•The mop – made the day of:

"about" 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the sauce / marinade – This is all preference, because we have a lot of other flavors here.

1 cup of sherry wine

A splash (about 1-2 tablespoons) of mirin (rice wine vinegar)

1-2 tablespoons of garlic chili sauce

1-2 tablespoons of honey

If you don't have sherry wine or mirin, you can substitute for your favorite wine and some good ol' apple cider vinegar. 

•Pork loin: Marinade step: 

After the marinade has been allowed to cool completely and refrigerate, give it a good shake in the container and pour a ½ a cup of the sauce into a 2 gallon zip style bag. Place pork loin into bag and squeeze out excess air. Seal bag and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. After marinating for at least 3 hours to overnight (I'm not your boss), preheat your coals @ 350 F /176 C and cook for 25 minutes per pound (.55 kilos) indirect heat / opposite the hot coals - Preferably with pecan wood added to hot coals.

Apply mop via brush every 20-30 minutes. Rotate the meat on the grill halfway through expected cook time. Once the pork reaches an internal temp of 150-155F / 65.5-68.3C remove from heat, tent with foil, and let rest for about 10-20 minutes. The meat will continue to cook while resting. 

Getting some of the sauce/marinade ready. 

Chimney is ready to pour!

The mop

Halfway through!

The finish line!

I remember how amazing this smelled when I pulled it the first time… That sounded wrong, but like many of you, I've done it many times.... The only part left was to lick the bark…Still a better love story than twilight... 

Finished up and additional thoughts 

In my conquest of exploration I have some additional thoughts on the ingredients, inspiration, and recipe:

*Chinese 5 spice powder: this one I want to cover first as I mentioned it in the recipe. If you want a down and dirty recipe Google it, but I’m going to tell you right now everyone does it differently, and that’s good thing! If you're too lazy to google: The current one I own from the international market contains the following: Cinnamon, black cardamom aka Siamese, fennel, star anise, fructus tsaoko (aka Cao Guo or red Cardamom).

The fun and challenging part is: I don’t know the ratios. This is a prime opportunity to experiment, and perhaps make the recipe closer to our taste. Personally, I think that’s what makes exploration worth it. The first time I tried Alton brown’s corn beef recipe I thought it was good, but wasn't quite were I wanted it. That didn’t stop me from trying it again with different ingredients that better aligned with my palette. 

So that’s what I’m doing when I revisit this recipe. I’ve already planned a cookout in the next month or so. I’m going to-share the recipe, and (hopefully) provide more in depth details with more sultry progress pics.

Until then, I wish you all well and let me know if you have any questions!

Homemade Sultry Taco Tuesday!!!

I’m not only going to show you how to make some bitchin tacos, but I’m also going to show you how to make homemade flour tortillas, and some savory salsa. 

@usernamerelevant