As I experiment with new flavors and seasonings I will get on a serious kick and apply it to everything I am making that week. A couple weeks ago I put Harissa seasoning on everything…meat, veggies and pineapple. Think of it as a cousin of Chorizo seasoning.

This week I’m all about Chinese BBQ pork or Char Siu. It’s what you find at Chinese restaurants on the cold pork and mustard/seeds…and it’s delicious. Recipes abound online and the ingredients are easy to come by.

Last week I experimented with pork tenderloin and the results were great!. My first thought was this would be a perfect flavor profile for ribs so I grabbed some St.Louis and Baby Backs from the shop and got to work.

I marinated the meat for about 36 hours and threw it on the Pitboss. My temp for the first 2 hours was set to 200 and then I wrapped them all together in foil and increased the heat to 225 for the next 2 hours. After the first 3 hours the loin had hit 160 so I pulled that and let rest. At the 4 hour mark I unwrapped the ribs and increased the temp to 250. As the ribs continued to cook I was thinking that the proper way to finish this would be over searing hot coals. It only took about 10 seconds per side to get some good char and color on them. I transferred back to the Pitboss and shut down the heat and let them rest while I cleaned up.

To serve I went traditional with a seriously hot and slightly sweet Chinese style mustard and sesame seeds. I nailed it! If the weather holds out tomorrow I might just cook ‘chicken on a string’ over an open fire with the same marinade. In any case there WILL be Char Siu chicken in my near future!