Tue Aug 3, 2010
That Carolina Tang
Two years ago I went through a truly transcendent experience, one involving the introduction of vinegar to pork. While visiting two of my most favorite people in world in Eastern North Carolina, it was a given we'd be hitting up some local joints like Allen & Son and Ed Mitchell's The Pit. There I learned, without a doubt, just how well dressed up vinegar could enhance the flavor of barbecued pork.
My instant enthusiasm led me to the purchase of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, a tome of all things North Carolina barbecue. Captured within those pages was an original recipe for North Carolina vinegar sauce, which I made during my next pulled pork cook, and with just a little cut down on the salt, it tasted pretty good to me.
Little did I know that the evolution of the sauce had come such a long way from that dated recipe, and Serious Eaters let me know it in no uncertain terms. With the breadth of comments that post elicited, I've been able to piece together and refine a sauce that I finally feel confident enough is in proper shape to present to the finest smoked swine and the interweb masses at large.
From my original post, where the recipe called for only four ingredients—cider vinegar, crushed red pepper, ground black pepper, and salt—I've added only three additional. First is dark brown sugar, adding a nice molasses sweetness that balances out some tartness and also deepens the overall color of the sauce. Ketchup is next up, which gives a little redness to look and thickens it up ever so slightly. Finally, and most importantly, is Texas Pete's Hot Sauce. The cayenne based sauce was created in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and I don't think I could make anything and label it "North Carolina" without adding at least a little Texas Pete.
With a couple sugars and salt in the mix, I thought it would be best to give the sauce a quick boil to help dissolve the solids. I believe this step ended up being pretty crucial, since the sauces that got the heat treatment ended up tasting a little more vibrant and cohesive in the end.
Finally, the vinegar sauce really needs a nice rest to finish it off. After cooling to room temperature, sauces that were refrigerated at least one day ended up having a stronger flavor that was more distinguishable when doused onto to meat.
Finally comes the pulled pork, the most perfect pairing for this sauce. I fell in love with the magic it imparted onto some smoky pork in North Carolina and I feel it's replicated incredibly well at home now. Although the sauce is quite strong on spice and tang on its own, when added to the meat, it feels like the natural pork flavor is only enhanced rather than getting a mouth full of hot vinegar. That's the beauty of this sauce and why, after posting a seemingly "wrong" recipe, I took a couple years to refine it to what I now consider its proper state. Not being a North Carolinian though, I still have to ask, "How am I doing?"
North Carolina Vinegar Sauce
- Prep Time:
- 5 Minutes
- Cook Time:
- 5 Minutes
- Total Time:
- 10 Minutes
- Yield:
- 2 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Texas Pete's
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Procedure
- Place all of the ingredients in a small, non-reactive sauce pan and bring to a boil. Whisk until the sugar and salt is completely dissolved, remove from heat, and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Pour the sauce into a jar or squeeze bottle and let rest in the refrigerator one day before using.
Comments
I am slowly learning about the different sauces,styles and their roots. this was really interesting to me. I passed this post on to my friend @cyndiallison that lives in NC and knows here sauces.
It will be interesting to get her take on it.
Posted Tue, Aug 3 2010 10:52am
Oh, this looks delicious. I miss pork.
Posted Tue, Aug 3 2010 11:18am
@Wilfred Reinke Thanks! I'd love to get a local expert opinion.
@Bryan Koen I'll have your own pork butt waiting for the day you start eating meat again.
Posted Tue, Aug 3 2010 2:09pm
The fact that you added any ketchup will get you beat up by East NC diehards (ha ha). But my BBQ experience was from Bladen County and theirs is more of a cross with a Piedmont (Western NC) style sauce, including some ketchup. So I'd be fine with your revised sauce.
Posted Tue, Aug 3 2010 11:47pm
Great pics! I love Carolina sauce as a finishing sauce for pulled pork. I'm also growing to love their mustard based sauces for pork and chicken.
Posted Wed, Aug 4 2010 7:45pm
Chris is correct. Typically, Eastern NC sauce only consists of vinegar, sugar, salt and hot sauce/peppers. So the ketchup is a no-no for Eastern NC style, if you want to stay traditional. I live in the piedmont, west of Charlotte, so our sauces normally consist of vinegar and ketchup. I smoke my own pork butts for pulled pork about 14-18 hours, and I think it's better than anything I can get locally. My go to sauce has:
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper
1/4 cup de-fatted pork pan drippings
No cooking, just mix and throw it on. This is still a thin sauce, but not as thin as eastern NC style. Everyone who has tried it has loved it on pulled pork with coleslaw on top and a toasted bun.
Mustard based sauces are typically from SC, and is a whole different ballgame.
I definitely will be giving your sauce a try, as it appears to be a good one. Besides, I'm not a purist. I tend to like stuff that tastes good, irregardless of whether it crosses the line of tradition or not.
Posted Fri, Aug 6 2010 10:31am
What's texas pete sauce and what can I substitute for it in the UK? Franks hot sauce? Tabasco?
Posted Sun, Aug 8 2010 4:26pm
@Ben Cops Texas Pete is a hot sauce born in NC and made from cayenne peppers. You can certainly substitute another hot sauce, like Tabasco, but Texas Pete has a flavor and history unique to NC, which is why I used it here.
Posted Sun, Aug 8 2010 10:07pm
Have you tried the mustard/vinegar sauces from South Carolina? Most famous is Maurice's.
Posted Sun, Aug 22 2010 3:35pm
I just became a big fan of pulled pork about a year ago. Now I love collecting pulled pork recipes. Thanks for posting this! I made Crockpot Old South Pulled Pork on a Bun recently and it was delicious! Keep up the great work here!
Posted Wed, Aug 25 2010 10:50am
I moved to MD from NC last year and MISS BBQ!!! No one here does it right. Had to drive to Hursey's in Burlington NC last month while visiting a friend to bring 5# of it home. It's under lock and key, and won't be casually doled out to just anyone!
Posted Tue, Mar 8 2011 10:48am
I'm from SC, too, where have sort of a sauce schizophrenia, based on region, but I've always been partial to the eastern NC and SC vinegar based or the midlands SC vinegar/mustard base. I think you got it right here except for the addition of the ketchup and the Texas Pete -- ketchup doesn't belong east of Durham at all, and you don't need the premade TP (or tabasco or even crystal, my favorite for flavor) if you steep the crushed reds in the vinegar/sugar/salt. We call it a mop sauce, and then put on the table Crystal or TP or Tabasco for extra heat.
Posted Fri, Sep 2 2011 12:31am
Made the Carolina Tang sauce yesterday. Was a bit hot for me so added another TBL dark brown and 2 TBL white sugar. Mellowed it out some for my taste buds that love hot but can't handle too hot anymore.
Was fabulous, my family enjoyed it immensly even though we usually eat my dad's Tennessee sauce on our pork. Thanks so much-it's a Keeper!
Posted Mon, Oct 24 2011 11:42am
I hate to admit it, but this Dallas-born and raised boy had to modify the original recipe - it was TOO Hot!
I used a different hot sauce, so that might have been the reason, but I doubled (at least) the brown sugar, and tripled the ketchup - was still a little bit too vinegar/spicey, but I thought I'd chalk it up to the experience...
we in the western-most Southern state prefer our bbq sauce sweeter and with more tomato...remember, it's just a preference, not a requirement...
thanks for the recipe to try!
Posted Sun, Jan 8 2012 9:07pm
You forgot the most important thing.. 1 half a stick of butter.. I have been eating carolina sauces all my life and cooking it at firestations all over NC. That's the secret of good sauce for chicken or pork. Try it and tell me what you think...
Posted Fri, Jan 27 2012 1:51pm
my parents owned restaurants for 35 years my daddy's family is originally from benson, nc. but he grew up in fayetteville nc. I opened a restaurant in tyrone ga. called barbeque junction where i served a wide variety of sauces hence "the Junction" the house sauce was a half gal of cider vinegar, a qt or so of water,1/4 cup of salt, 3tbl sp granulated garlic, 3tbl sp onion powder, 5 tbl sp crushed red pepper brought the mix to a boil on the stove then put in the fridge over night. Smoked 6 cases of butts 8-10 lb avg ea. in a pit covered with roofing tin along with 2-3 inside round beef roasts 18-20 lb average . it took 9-10 hrs for the butts to 170 degrees the beef to 130 degrees. I mopped the meats every hr or so with this carolina sauce. it gave me a 2 inch deep hickory smoke ring all the way around the meats. Only hickory wood. picked, pulled and chopped the pork drenched with the sauce then added what ever other sauce the customer wanted or sliced "naked" my personal favorite...couldn't use tomato, sugar or butter or the meats would char before they cooked thru. The beef was chilled and thin sliced for barbeque, fajitas, philly's, italian(chicargo beef) or stroganoff.....kb
Posted Wed, Apr 18 2012 10:46pm
Lived in the Chapel Hill/Durham area for about twelve years, but wasn't sure where the line of demarcation was for the sauces. I gues I was stuck in the middle. Not sure why those in East NC have such disdain for a little ketchup--just brightens up the sauce and adds a little body and complexity, IMHO. Not the end of the world! I'm making some crock-pot pulled pork right now and I added some Buffalo Salsa Chipotle from Mexico in place of the Texas Pete in my sauce. I'm hoping the smokiness of the chipotle will make up for the lack of smoke flavor in my meat.
Posted Tue, May 22 2012 5:04pm
Eastern North Carolina Style is strictly east of Raleigh. Sorry, but what makes it truly "Eastern North Carolina Style" is the absence of Ketch-up or any tomato based product. If it has tomato of any kind in it - it's not Authentic Eastern North Carolina Style.
Signed,
A Proud Born and Bread Eastern North Carolinian
Posted Thu, Jul 12 2012 9:50am
I live in the NW part of the state, and we have amazing 'que here. The best I've had omits the molasses and flakes. I use a similar recipie for anything smoked or grilled. I make a thicker sauce for my grill, the thin for a long cooked smoked something.
Posted Mon, Jul 16 2012 3:49pm
I put a pork butt in the smoker an hour ago and thought I would find a NC style sauce to go with it. Looks like this is the one...I'll let you know how it turns out. My brother is a judge on the Memphis BBQ scene and I'm using a rub he gave me for the pork. I wonder how the two will go together... Memphis meets North Carolina
Posted Sat, Aug 18 2012 11:33am
Josh, thanks for the recipe, it turned out great! I don't know what is or isn't authentic about this since I've never been to any part of NC but if this is how pork is done there then I'll have to make a trip one of these days.
Posted Sat, Aug 25 2012 11:26am
OK, for those trying to figure out the regional argument:
1) Eastern NC sauce
Primarily vinegar and crushed peppers, with salt and varying amounts and types of sugar. Very thin, usually clear. When used as a mop, butter is often added. NO TOMATO ALLOWED east of the capital (then again, Raleigh is full of relocated Yankees now anyway, so that's confused things, but we'll try to get y'all up to speed.
2) Western NC sauce
Still heavily dependent on vinegar, but a bit more relaxed about some tomato sauce. Usually a bit sweeter and thicker than Eastern style. Crushed red pepper is not usually used, the heat (if any) coming from cayenne or Texas Pete.
3) South Carolina sauce
Mustard based. Fairly sweet, tangy from the mustard rather than vinegar. A good example is Maurice Bessinger's, based in Columbia. This style carries south and west into western Georgia and eastern Alabama.
4) Piedmont style sauce
The Piedmont is the region in between eastern, western, and South Carolina, so it's not surprising that the typical sauce there is often a combination of all three styles. Good sauces, but usually with a lot more ingredients.
All of these are meant for use on pulled pork, which is what God meant when He said "Let there be Barbecue."
Rib sauces are thicker, with a base of ketchup and sugar (molasses, brown sugar, whatever.) That same style sauce will be used on pulled pork up and down the Mississippi (Memphis style, Chicago style, etc.) They usually start with dry rubs, too, and get some or all of the heat from that rather than the sauce.
Texas sauce is a lot like Memphis rib sauce, except it's sometimes a bit hotter (the south-of-the-border influence) and may have a bit of added mustard or black pepper (the German influence.) Then again, down there they think barbecue is beef brisket, so Texans may be beyond saving.
Posted Wed, Sep 12 2012 10:52am
Cracker from Florida with Northern and Southern roots. Makes no matter wether you want to bicker where the sauce is famous or what part of which state....FACT IS that Josh's "Carlolina Tang" sauce is an awesome blend for pulled pork! It all comes down to taste not whether tomatoes are allowed or not. Thanks again Josh for all of your BBQ triumps and sharing. Hope to be able to join one of your get-to-gethers someday.
Posted Wed, Sep 12 2012 12:35pm
Just got a smoker and a 130 lbs of pork. The smoker has been running non stop since Sunday. Bacon, ribs, and tonight, rump roast. Started searching for some sauces for the pulled pork, and think it's the coolest thing, all the differences in sauces even from county to county in the Carolinas- to this kid from the Adirondacks, it's all good. We were on a two week vacation in Florida, and on the way home, stopped at Duke's BBQ, which was in my top 3 favorite restaurants (and we visited some great places) and will be trying to come close to those great, thin, vinegar based sauces. Definitely trying all the variations here.
Posted Tue, Oct 16 2012 6:39pm
I doubled the recipe with slight changes, including ditching the ketchup, and substituting cayenne pepper for texas pete and kicking up the heat a notch and it was a hit at our annual bonfire party last night:
4 cups apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 teaspoons kosher salt
I added this to a 4 quart crockpot full of diced roast pork. (Just used the crockpot on low to keep it warm while serving)
We thought we we never go through that much since we had pulled pork with other sauces, but we ran out early while the other options did not "sell" as well. If you don't want it with as much kick, reduct the red pepper and cayenne by a teaspoon each, and increase the brown sugar by a tablespoon back to the original proportions.
Posted Sun, Oct 21 2012 7:44am
Just wanted to say thank you for posting this. I wanted to make my first homemade sauce for some pork that we cooked Imu style (we are living in Hawaii for the year). I usually like Texas style with a kick but this was my first homemade trial. We are going to a friends house for Thanksgiving and we are bringing the pork. I followed the recipe that you gave and it is super yummy. I used to live in Chapel Hill and Greensboro so am no stranger to NC style Q and your recipe hit the spot. Thanks
Posted Thu, Nov 22 2012 7:40pm
Just one additional note - I think it would be totally complete to add some slaw to this:-)
Posted Thu, Nov 22 2012 7:41pm
Sorry folks but there is NO sugar and CERTAINLY NO ketchup in Eastern NC bbq sauce... It's just white and cider vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper... If your going to do anything add a couple of whole peppers (select hotness to your taste)... The peppers are more about the flavor and not the heat so... So mix it up, shake it up and eat it up... and, remember the longer it sits the more the flavors will be released... Just cooked a shoulder today so I'm enjoying some right now... :)
Posted Fri, Nov 23 2012 6:34pm
I grew up near Winston-Salem, where Texas Pete is made, so I tend to drown just about anything in it. If I remember my T.W. Garner history correctly, TP was originally conceived as a buffalo wing sauce, so I find the sauce it was designed to mimic, Frank's Red Hot, to be an acceptable substitute for those horrific occasions when I have a plate of hashbrowns and scrambled eggs but am out of Texas Pete. When I eat NC BBQ I apply the sauce to the pork and basically just dump a bunch of TP on everything on the plate.
Posted Wed, Dec 19 2012 5:00pm
Phillip, I agree that Texas Pete is great on just about anything, but you're mistaken about it being conceived of as a wing sauce. Texas Pete has been around since 1929, when it was first mixed up by Thad Garner, who was at that time the owner of the Dixie Pig BBQ in Winston Salem.
That was long before buffalo wings were invented in Buffalo, New York some time in the '60s, with another couple of decades before they caught on nationwide. Until well into the '80s, wings were practically throw-away cheap, because there was so little use for them.
By the way, you're right about Frank's being almost as good as Texas Pete, but Frank's Wing Sauce is even better than original Frank's as an all-purpose hot sauce. I like the "natural butter-type flavor" that's listed on the label as one of the ingredients, although for the life of me I can't decide exactly what "natural butter-type flavor" actually means.
Posted Thu, Dec 20 2012 2:43pm
Hello there, just emailing from Glasgow, Scotland as I have just 'boiled', yes boiled some pork and it looks a bit on the pale side and lacking in taste although I did put in a few carrots, onions, bay leaf etc., Anyway rather than have it with plain old gravy I noticed your receipt, liked the sound of it and have made it. I will have to serve it up tonight as I cant wait but I will let you know how it goes down with the rest of the family. Wish me luck. Many thanks, Maggie.
Wishing you a very happy, healthy and peaceful 2013 with lots of love, laughter and delicious food.
Posted Thu, Jan 3 2013 10:02am
PS For the red pepper flakes, I have used chillie flakes, hopes thats OK!!!!!!!
Posted Thu, Jan 3 2013 10:06am
This is off the barbecue topic, but since there are a lot of North Carolina carnivores in attendance, I thought this would be a good place to post this question: does anyone have a good livermush recipe?
For those of you who do not know, livermush is a mixture of pork liver, pork broth, cornmeal, red pepper and other spices which is all cooked together, then allowed to cool into a brick shape. It can be eaten cold, but is much better sliced and fried (in bacon grease, ideally) and served as a breakfast item.
Livermush is similar to the scrapple of Pennsylvania (and no doubt evolved from the recipes of the same German settlers) but has relatively less cornmeal than that, I believe. It's found primarily in western NC, but is impossible to get in Georgia, where I live now.
I've finally found a local source for fresh pork livers, but I have no idea how to go about making my own livermush. I'd love guidance from somebody on how to make some that's similar to the store-bought Neese's or Carolina Pride I remember from when I was a kid.
Posted Thu, Jan 3 2013 12:15pm
The above comments about no ketchup in Eastern NC dip are correct, but you have so little in there I can't imagine it will supply much more than color. Leave it out, and you would have an "authentic" Eastern dip. Not that I stand too much on authenticity. For example, I don't do whole hog in my backyard. Allen & Son uses butts, but I don't know about anyone East of Chapel Hill doing that. For backyard, I do butts with eastern dip.
I found my favorite vinegar recipe at Weber's site:
1-1/2 cups cider vinegar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt (to taste)
Ground black pepper (to taste)
(Bring to boil, simmer 10 minutes)
Of course I prefer Texas Pete to Tabasco. It's not quite as hot as Tabasco, so I raise it up closer to 1 tablespoon Texas Pete. I'm not religious about measuring the flakes, either, but I probably double them. I also tend to use turbinado or demerara sugar rather than white.
Posted Sun, Feb 3 2013 9:30pm
Tried this sauce and loved it.THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING IT! I made a couple changes to reduce the carbs. Making a 4 cup batch, I used 1 packet of Raw Sugar and 1 teaspoon of molasses (as I was out of brown sugar). After simmering for a few minutes and cooling, I added several packets of Splenda and adjusted the salt to taste. It was absolutely excellent. I'm on my second batch in two days! I plan on using it as a low calorie, low carb sauce for my salads and veggies too.
Posted Thu, May 2 2013 9:46pm
I don't care where the darn sauce is from,if it is good...eat it!
Posted Tue, May 7 2013 3:22am
Well said AL! But Josh's fixings really got me hooked. His style and tastes are just too awesome for words. ONE OF THESE DAYS I am going to join a cook out in NY!
Posted Tue, May 7 2013 8:27am
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