Oakridge Saigon 21 Rub First Impressions

I'm glad those wings tasted good, Earl.

Sure looks like you ate quail wings... :roll:

Got my pack in the other day with my order of usual bandits. Upon opening and taking the obligatory sniff, I was worried. The anise was quite strong, so I proceeded with the wet finger taste test. Was surprised it wasn’t salt forward and the anise wasn’t as strong as it smelled. I coated some wings and threw them on a cooling rack in the fridge for a rest. Pulled them out 7 hours later, dredged them in some flour and baking powder. I added a teaspoon or so of additional Saigon. Brought the Yoder up to 400 and cooked. After 20 minutes, sprayed with duck fat and flipped. Another 15 minutes, sprayed again and flipped. Final 15 minutes, flipped no spray. The wings were amazing. The anise is forward, but not overpowering. If I’m being completely honest, I think I could have used a smidge more salt. The amount of rub was perfect. Any more, than I think the anise would overpower everything. I think my next venture is going to be a chicken breast with a nice Asian glaze. My wife loved the wings. She said it was the best I made, but agree it needs a tad more salt for our tastebuds.

Copied from my Weekend Thread...

Mike... KCMike... this is ridiculous.

I'll be honest that I made a couple of tweaks, so bear with me.

The broth went in the pot and I added in some shaved onion that had been soaked in water for 30 minutes (IAW another recipe). I added in the Saigon 21, pretty much to your directions.



As I had broth instead of stock, I added in a couple of iced tea spoons worth of bacon grease from our jar for richness. I brought it all to a boil while I started on the noodles.



Tasted the soup and it wasn't "chicken-y" enough... so I added in 2 x iced tea spoons (yes, the same one from the bacon grease) of Chicken Better Than, Better Than Boullion to the pot. Slow boiled for about another 10 minutes. Yahtzee!

Built my daughter's bowl.
- Rice noodles
- Shredded Saigon 21 Chicken
- Chiffonaded Basil and Cilantro
- Ladled in soup to cover.




My turn.

Same as above, but with the Saigon 21 + HDD chicken with 6 slices of jalapeño.





Whole family has been crushing their bowls, and I devoured everything down to just the jalapeños in mine.

I would put this Pho up against most any in the city... and that's saying something as there are hundreds of Pho Shops in ABQ!

Killer, Mike! Thank you so much!

Both cooks look awesome! I would agree with Jeffry that it needs more salt but my wife disagreed. Do with it what you think Mike!

Received my sample (and my first ever bag of Carne Crosta!) on Monday, and FINALLY was able to fire up the Weber tonight.

Did boneless skinless thighs, cut into about thirds. I did about a medium coating and let them rest about 30 minutes in the fridge.

They got the last bit of B&B lump mesquite I had and some Kingsford Pro blue bag to fill in a little more. Ran VERY hot.

We had a very simple meal of just the chicken and some par boiled rice. Didn’t realize until after I was cooking we didn’t have an veggies to throw on. I also made a honey soy glaze to drizzle lightly over it as we ate.

Impressions and thoughts: It smells INCREDIBLE. The flavors are very aromatic instead of mouth oriented, which with the new unfamiliar flavors is almost jarring. But it’s SO GOOD. Myself, my wife, my 6 yr old son and my 78 year old grandmother all think it’s fantastic.
The honey soy glaze wasn’t needed, but a tiny amount of it made everything pop in a good way.

Things I would do differently: more rub, and let it sit longer in the fridge before cooking. Maybe overnight.

Wife wants me to do shrimp next cook with it. I think she’s right, though pork belly is a close second.

Check this link for a pic.

Very thankful to be able to try this out.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN070FpBE8J/?igshid=arpayn2cqha6

Good Stuff

I took a family pack of thighs and dusted them up good with Saigon 21 and refrigerated for a few hours. The rub has a wonderful aroma. Cooked them with nothing else for 45 minutes on the Weber kettle with Kingsford blue. Served them sprinkled with cilantro, green onion, and toasted sesame seeds. Dipping sauce was a mix of Hoisin, Vietnamese fish sauce, black vinegar, a diced Thai chili and a crushed clove of garlic. On the side we had quinoa salad. They came out really good. My wife, teenage daughter, and myself finished them off in one sitting. Good stuff...

Thank you for the sample. Next, I think I will try it on some pork satay sticks...

I will add mine here also.

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=291195.

There was something I did not care for before cooked but the grill brought out a great flavor. I am going to have to try Pho with the next cook.

I have had a few minor health things come up. The wife made the Pho recipe that came with Saigon 21. Good flavor and hit the spot when we tried it. She then decided to try and make a more traditional beef Pho with it. When the nurse aide came into the house that day he made a point to say how good the house smelled. So wife gave him a bowl as well and he absolutely loved the flavors. We enjoyed the beef Pho as well but already knew we liked the flavors.

If all goes as expected I am hoping to fire up the grill in next week or so and I am wanting to grill up some shrimp with the Saigon 21, but can say for sure that this is another one I would order from Oakridge BBQ without a doubt.

Went freezer diving and came up with a couple orange roughy filets. Seasoned with Saigon 21 then pan seared in some butter. I really like the flavors of the seasoning on white fish.

Yesterday I used an old recipe for Five-Spice Ribs, but I substituted Saigon 21 so the ingredients for the marinate were salt, pepper, sugar, soy sauce, wine, garlic, chili powder and 2 teaspoons of Saigon 21 Rub (which was the amount of five-spice that was called for). After the marinade time, I blotted it off the surface, and added a sprinkle of Saigon 21 on the meat side only. This marinade has a lot going on flavor wise but the Saigon 21 fit right in. Going forward these ribs will be now be known as Saigon 21 Ribs. :thumb:

Over the weekend I picked up some jumbo gulf shrimp and made skewers today. I did two with Saigon 21 and two with BPS Garlic Jalapeno. I went with a lighter coating of Saigon 21 than I’d used on my previous cooks with it so as to not overpower the shrimp’s natural flavor, which is easy to do with any seasoning IMO.

I thought shrimp brought out the sweeter notes in Saigon 21, I really liked it and my wife did too. The two are a good pair and I’d use it again in this application :thumb:



Saigon 21 is the two skewers in the background in this pic

Lots of great reviews and uses for Saigon 21. My wife wanted boneless/skinless chicken breast for dinner, so since I was firing up the grill, I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out my sample of Mike's new rub, so I bought some thighs for that purpose.
I coated the thighs and let them sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, then put them on the grill.
When they were done, I added sweet chili sauce to one to compare, and the sauced one was my favorite. I can't wait to try some of the other ideas presented here.
Thanks again Mike for the chance to try something new.

For my first test I thawed out a nice thick slice of pork loin. Coated with EVOO and put a nice layer of Saigon 21 on it and then into the refrigerator for about 45 minutes. I loved the aroma when I opened the bag. Looking at the list of ingredients made me wonder how it the heck does Mike do this, let alone how much of each to get the ratios just right. Onto the the MAK at 275 and pulled it at 145 IT. My palate is certainly not sophisticated enough to offer up any changes. However I know I'll be ordering some as soon as it's released. What a great flavor. Next up is chicken thighs. Thanks for the sample Mike.

This chicken looks amazing Thanks for the review

To start thanks mike for the rub! I used it on grilled pork steaks and made a batch of pancit! I added some to the braising liquid for the thighs and used the broth to rehydrate my noodles! The flavor out of the bag was a bit strong in some flavors but boy did it mellow out nicely in the cooking process! Was very tasty can’t wait to try on ribs and wings! Again thx! Cheers!

So when will the rub be available? Looks awesome.

lowcountrygamecock said:

So when will the rub be available? Looks awesome.

Click to expand...

Very soon. We're working on the final product artwork now.

:thumb: :thumb:

Thanks!

I tried it on a couple of salmon fillets last night. Tasty stuff! Still plan to try it on some pork when I can.

Awesome

Mike,
Tried today on some wings and they turned out awesome. I was unsure based on the initial smell tests of how they would end up. But we loved them! Reminded me of what I’ve tasted in Vietnam and South Korea. I wish I got pictures but so occupied today during multiple kids baseball and softball games. Thank you and can’t wait to try in some pho this week.
McG

New artwork was just approved and will be sent to the printers Monday...