Oakridge Saigon 21 Rub First Impressions

Great reviews thanks

Got my rub today. Thanks for the sample Mike. I just had bone in pork chops thawed out, so that's what I cooked up. I oiled and seasoned into the fridge for about 3 hours. Seared in CI pan and finished by tossing CI into the Breville (snowing and windy at the moment). Overall I enjoyed the flavor, however after a couple bites I did add a pinch of finishing salt to the chop. Admittedly I like a lot of salt. After a few more bites I hit it with a light glaze of Buffalo Wild Wings Asian Zing.

I really look forward to making some smoke fried Asian wings with this rub. And some sort of beef stir fry. View attachment 192290

Can't get the finish pic to load for some reason...


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You might apply a little heavier dose of the seasoning next time and you probably won’t find yourself adding a finishing salt. My .02 at least :thumb:

Awright! My sample showed up in today's mail. The smell is great. After the wet finger test I got a mild anise flavor (and broke out a jar to refresh my taste buds), and both of us could pick out coriander, the tartness of the lime, and a back heat from the jalapeno. All very balanced. I'm guessing the porcini mushrooms are there for the umami (?) and if I'm right it's a nice touch. I'm making tuna salad pita's tonight, with a lot of pickled vegetables on the side.... so that will be the first taste test beyond the calibrated wet finger. :laugh:

Now that I've had a taste, the first thing that screams out to me is .... 'sausage!' and potsticker filling (which essentially is a sausage filling). So in the next day or two I'll make some beef and chicken meatballs to skewer to serve in lettuce wraps and some potstickers as a sidecar.

Ooooh I like that sausage idea

Received my sample yesterday and decided to do some chicken breasts and shrimp. Followed Mike's included directions for the chicken: rubbed them down with EVOO and then applied a liberal coating of Saigon 21.

Let them set up in the fridge for about 30 mins. I ended up cutting the breasts into chunks for skewers on the grill. After 30 mins, I cut them into pieces and applied a bit more rub to insure they were well coated.

I wasn't sure if the rub would overpower the shrimp(FYI, in hindsight it won't), so I mixed 1/4 cup of EVOO with 2 tsp's of Saigon 21 for a marinade. Into a plastic bag in the fridge with the shrimp for 30 mins.

Very impressed with both meats. The chicken came out perfect. Nicely crusted/brown, excellent deep flavor profile, while not too strong. It's a very well blended flavor.

The shrimp was good, but again, in hindsight, I would have just brushed them with EVOO and applied the rub directly to the shrimp--ya know, like Mike recommends. :doh:
They would have had more "pop" if I used the recommended method.

I'm planning on doing some wings later this week/weekend with it as well.

Here's a pic if interested, I'm not the best photographer.

FYI-Vegetables and asparagus were coated with Oakridge SPOGOS and Santa Maria---Fantastic!!

Mine came yesterday, sorry no pics. I get happy just smelling it! I used it on grilled salmon served on top of Saigon 21 infused rice (added some to the rice cooker). Beyond delicious! Pho coming up next.

The players:


The result:




I have never had pho before so this was MSU at its finest. It was good but not really my thing. My wife thought it was really good and she has pho all the time. All that being said I really enjoyed the flavor on the chicken and beef. In fact I grilled some chicken that was rubbed with the Saigon 21 and ate it in a tortilla. It was really good! I’m going to experiment some more. Thanks again Mike!


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Tried this out tonight on pork chops. Apparently we threw away the writeup when we were cleaning this weekend ) = From reading this thread it was apparent that I needed to add a binding fat, and then let it rest in the fridge a bit, so I went with Duck Fat and wrapped the chops and into the fridge for 4 hours before grilling.

I also went with the sauce recipe that Mike posted in here, luckily I had everything for it on hand already.

Before she even sat down at the table, she commented on how great everything smelled. The pork tasted great, but the flavors were super subtle. I thought I had 'applied liberally', but I was suddenly second guessing that. Even without really being able to pick out the seasoning-we both thought it was the best pork chops I've ever grilled.

The sauce recipe, is fantastic. We actually thought it overpowered the pork (but again, I way under seasoned) and she was already talking about the sauce being used as a glaze on wings, or with a stir fry.

Tomorrow I'm going to try the Pho Ga recipe that Mike shared with us.

I grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs on the gasser. Very simple. I added oil, the Saigon 21 and put it in the fridge for a few hours before going on the grill. My wife is my biggest critic and she loved it. We wouldn't change a thing with the rub. What's most interesting is the only thing she'd change was for me to add more rub because the flavor was so good. I added about my normal amount of rub. Salt or sometimes heat is the breaking point with rub. If I add too much, it is too salty, and she's sensitive to salt. This wasn't at all an issue. I like salt and like heat, but it's good to have a product that can stand on its own without being heavy in salt, heat or even sugar. I think it has broad potential beyond traditional BBQ. I'll read through posts here and think about it some more for inspiration on different dishes for the future. Thank you, Mike!

I snapped a pic of the included info sheet when I opened the package in case anyone needs it

I did some vortex chicken wings for my first try of the Saigon 21. Rubbed with olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of 21. Turned out great. Flavor was awesome. I will try the pho recipe this week. Definitely will order in the future. Thanks Mike.

I did grilled shrimp with it last night. Good stuff and I will be placing an order once it is available.

I was on vacation when Mike offered the chance to try the new Saigon 21 rub. So I volunteered for a sample and it arrived while I was gone. Got home late last night and this morning find the cubbard to be pretty bare. However, I spy a bowl of Tapatio Ramen Noodle Soup, chicken flavor. So based on the recipe suggestion sheet that Mike included in the sample and in 16 Adams MSU vein, I decided to add 1 scant teaspoon to the soup.



I have to say the end result was a very pleasant surprise. Even with my untrained (or unrefined) palate. To my recollection, I have never eaten Vietnamese food. But I really liked the flavor that Saigon 21 brought to the soup mix. I would definitely do it again.



My initial plan is either wings or pork steak or both for the test run. Now that I've had a taste I'm really looking forward to that. I would also like to get some pork belly to try after seeing Andy's post.



I wouldn't know what to add to or take away from the seasoning. I think Mike has a real winner here. I think this spice will make great gifts to friends and family.



Thank you for the sample.


Robert

Tonight we did the Pho Ga recipe that was included. She isn't normally a fan of soup (will I at least get a sandwich with this?!) but then when she saw the noodles go into the bowl, she was instantly interested.

Followed right along with the recipe, and definitely could taste the spices tonight! She is NOT into heat, and she commented on the tingle it had on the tongue, how it wasn't over powering, and just made you want to go back for more. I did add a few scallions for color, and it had enough flavor to support if you wanted to add a bit more heat. The serving size was hearty. I did a double batch, and we probably ate 3/4 of it, and were stuffed.

I realize Southeast Asia has several countries, but this is a flavor palate I'm quite unfamiliar with, and we have really enjoyed the changeup. I've sent a few of the food pictures to my friends, and several of them are ready to buy it when it's released-just based on the label description and the brand history. I know I'll buy more to keep around. Personally, I could take a bit more salt in this, but I'm from the type of family where my dad keeps a salt shaker in his truck. Also, I say that from an "I love salt" perspective and not a "this is lacking salt" perspective. The two nights we've had it so far, are the first two nights in a while that I haven't reached for the salt grinder.

Congratulations Mike. You convinced me to buy chicken breasts (something I haven't done in several years) and also made it enjoyable (I'll never admit that in public!)

Finally got to try this rub last night. A big THANK YOU to Mike for this opportunity. I have actually learned from this. Prior to this rub I knew nothing about what Pho is much less Pho Ga. I rubbed a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs with EVOO and then seasoned well with the Saigon rub and grilled on the gasser. Wife and I really liked the taste of this. Served with stir fry rice and broccoli. Mixed some Hoisin, soy, and siracha together for a little finishing/dipping sauce. Everything was tasty! We will be trying this rub on other meats in the near future. Sorry, no pics of last night. It was a quick work night meal.

Thank you Mike for the generous sample size. I did EVOO and 21 on skinless bone-in chicken thighs. Based on the feedback here, I put a med-heavy coat of 21 on each side then in the fridge covered in plastic wrap for 6 hours. Grilled on the gasser with a surface temp of 450ish on grill grates.

Both my wife and I loved it. We eat sushi and Asian Fusion at our favorite restaurant a couplie times a week, and I would be very happy with this flavor profile in any dish they serve. I will definitely order if it becomes available. From a volume standpoint though, this would most likely be something I use occasionally as a nice change rather than something I order in high volume.

From my post earlier this week:

Awright! My sample showed up in today's mail. The smell is great. After the wet finger test I got a mild anise flavor (and broke out a jar to refresh my taste buds), and both of us could pick out coriander, the tartness of the lime, and a back heat from the jalapeno. All very balanced. I'm guessing the porcini mushrooms are there for the umami (?) and if I'm right it's a nice touch. I'm making tuna salad pita's tonight, with a lot of pickled vegetables on the side.... so that will be the first taste test beyond the calibrated wet finger.

Now that I've had a taste, the first thing that screams out to me is .... 'sausage!' and potsticker filling (which essentially is a sausage filling). So in the next day or two I'll make some beef and chicken meatballs to skewer to serve in lettuce wraps and some potstickers as a sidecar.

The Saigon 21 was wonderful in the tuna salad, and I would expect the same results in chicken salad. I finally got the ingredients together for the full test run I mentioned, and yesterday made chicken balls, beef balls, pork filling for potstickers, and seasoned rice. Everything except the dipping sauces had Saigon 21 Rub and we sampled with and without sauce. I will post a full cooks thread in Q-Talk but here is the long and short of it.....



The 1/2 pound of chicken balls had shallots, garlic and 8 grams of Saigon 21 Rub. The 1/2 pound of beef balls had green onion, garlic, red bell pepper and 8 grams of Saigon 21 Rub. The 1/4 cup of rice had 4 grams of Saigon 21 Rub. Overall impression is that we really like the new rub, but I think it also doubles as a seasoning since it was IN everything I've done so far, not ON it like a traditional rub (but using it as a rub is yet to come). Even with the number of ingredients, the flavor is balanced, and it works very well with these meats. It is definitely unique. Very satisfied overall. :thumb: I'm certain the rub can be used as a sausage seasoning, but after testing with meatballs that might be better than links of sausage because they could be grilled and used in an Oriental soup or about any noodle dish or skewered on the side.

Thank you Mike for the generous sample size. I put olive oil then a med/heavy coat of 21 on bone-in skinless chicken thighs. Sat in the fridge 6hrs wrapped in plastic wrap. Onto the gasser with grill grates at around 400 degrees.

Turned out great. My wife and I both loved it. I thought the salt was about right based on the heavyish application I used. Can't think of anything that would improve it. Was even better the second day when we shredded the leftovers and made tacos!

I did wings last night with the Saigon rub and they were great. Very different taste profile but my wife and I both enjoyed them These were some of the worst wings I have ever used, very small with not a lot of meat on them, I will never get that brand again but they were still good.
Thanks Mike for your generous free gesture, I will continue to be a loyal customer. Here is a shot of them just before I took them off my Traeger.