Barbecue Hash!

If you are not familiar with it, Barbecue Hash is South Carolina's contribution to the three main barbecue stews which are Brunswick Stew, Burgoo, and Barbecue Hash. I have found it to be an acquired taste. My favorite is the style with a sweet mustard sauce added for seasoning. This recipe can be the style served at Midway BBQ and, by adding a SC mustard BBQ sauce, can be a mustard based style. The recipe will follow soon for those who are interested.

One thing I've learned the hard way is, Barbecue Hash needs a lot of onions to be authentic. In fact, I think it needs the same amount of onion (pounds) as meat. Barbecue Hash is cooked just like Brunswick Stew and Burgoo but the process for cooking it doesn't have the second stage of adding veggies like Brunswick stew and burgoo has. In fact, SC Hash is much like the original Brunswick Stew which was basically just squirrel meat and onions cooked into a gelatinous gruel. That's basically what hash is but the meats used are beef and pork rather than wild game.

Here is a pic of the pot just before it comes to a simmer. It will take about 8 hours for this little pot of hash to cook.



Stay tuned!

Here is the finished hash. Barbecue hash and grits for lunch!

BTW - Here is the recipe - This stew is made in the style that you would find at Midway Barbecue in Buffalo, South Carolina. Add a sweet mustard/vinegar based sauce at the end for a style similar to what you would find at Maurice's Piggy Park in West Columbia, South Carolina. Use cheap cuts of meat like chuck and pork shoulder.

3 pounds of cubed beef
2 pounds cubed pork
3 - 5 lbs chopped onions
32 - 48 ounces water
1/2 stick of butter
salt, pepper, cayenne to taste

Put meat and onions in a pot, cover with water (about 32 to 48 ounces) and simmer until the meat is tender and the onions can be easily mashed. This should take about 4 to 6 hours. Remove meat from the pot and let it cool enough to handle. Once the meat has cooled, put it through a meat grinder or just chop it fine. It should be at a consistency that a young child could eat without needing to chew. The onion pieces should be chopped too. Make sure that no onion pieces are recognizable. Return the chopped meat to the pot and continue to simmer until the meat and onions reach a thick consistency with little broth. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Add butter and stir until melted. Serve hot by itself or over rice or grits or bread. It can also be served on BBQ sandwiches.

juslearning said:

Pat, do ya'll use mustard sauce in yours down there?

I love a good hash, but more people than not mess it up. The most typical mistake is they try to cook it in aluminum or stainless steel and almost always scorch it.

I don't like Maurice's, but there is a pretty good BBQ joint in Batesburg-Leesville called Shealy's that used to make a really good mustard hash. They are almost too commercial with it now.

We only use old cast iron pots to cook ours. I have never used a meat grinder to grind up the meat. We always pull the meat, maybe a little chop. Stirring the pot breaks up the meat even more, but you have to stay with it.

Bo, that looks good. Never had it over grits, though, always rice or bread. May try the grits, as I love good grits.

Click to expand...

Thanks, bro!

The type of hash that doesn't call for grinding the meat is called string hash. The hash is cooked so long that the individual fibers of the meat separate and look like strings in the pot. I haven't ever had that type before but it sounds good.

Check out the latest issue of Smoke Signals Magazine for some history of South Carolina BBQ Hash. Here is "the rest of the story."

http://issue17.smokesignalsmagazine.com/