Uncle Ho’s Most Decidedly Eastern Finishing Sauce

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Here's a recipe that attempts to duplicate the nation's original barbeque
finishing sauce, the one developed in colonial Virginia and North Carolina
during the 1600s and 1700s. I went to the Lexington North Carolina Barbeque
Festival last weekend, and I have recipes published in the local paper that
I'll post soon, as well as some words on an excellent book on North
Carolina barbeque I bought down there called "North Carolina
Barbecue--Flavored By Time", by Bob Garner. It does an excellent job of
making up for the near total omission of North Carolina barbeque in the
otherwise excellent book "Smokestack Lightning", IMHO.
Enjoy the recipe. It may seem strange at first glance, but it is pretty
good.
As a long time afficianado of Eastern North Carolina style barbeque, I have
been intrigued by the origins of the vinegar/red pepper sauce used by the
pit masters in that region. It is unique among all barbeque finishing or
dipping sauces in that in contains no tomato extracts--owing to the fact
that, at the time of it's origins in the 1600s and 1700s, tomatoes were
thought to be posionous. What was used instead was "English Ketchup", a
concoction containing cider vinegar, red peppers, spices, and oysters. This
basic blend is in use to this day with one notable exception--the oysters
have been discarded.
Well, I got to wondering what that original barbeque might have tasted
like, seasoned with the English Ketchup of the time. Having no reference
and no clue as to how oysters were incorporated into the original mix, I
instead decided to substitute nuoc mam--a Vietnamese fish sauce made from
fish extract, water, and salt. While I cannot say this is an exact
replication of the nation's original barbeque finishing and dipping sauce,
it is in all likelihood a pretty decent semblance of what our colonial
ancestors seasoned their barbeque with. In addition, it's also pretty damn
tasty, IMHO--complementing, rather than masking, the smoky rich sweetness
of slow cooked barbeque.
Simply combine all ingredients, and let alone to marry for one or two days
before using. If you use it as a finishing sauce, add about 12 ounces of
the sauce to roughly three pounds of smoked and pulled pork barbeque in a
cast iron pan, add water to cover, and simmer on medium heat, stirring
frequently, until the sauce *just* barely oozes over the barbeque when
pressed down upon with a spatula. Or, just mix with smoked and pulled pork
barbeque before serving if using as a dip.
Recipe By     : Tom Solomon
Posted to bbq-digest V4 #21
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 08:28:20 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Solomon <bigheat@earthlink.net>
NOTES : It is very important to use authentic Vietnamese nuoc mam in this
recipe--that is, a nuoc mam made in Vietnam, with Phu Quoc brand being
considered the best brand widely available. Nuoc mam made in Thailand tends
to be too coarse and salty in taste to blend well with the other
ingredients, and thus produces too much of a pronounced fish and salt taste
to suit fine barbeque.

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