What It Was Like To Host My First BBQ Pop-ups
As readers of The Smoke Sheet are likely aware, I love nothing more than traveling across the nation and visiting barbecue restaurants wherever I go. Even more than simply dining on great food, I enjoy meeting people from the barbecue community, especially pitmasters, competition cooks, and staff at restaurants. However, starting with my cancer diagnosis last year and continuing with the COVID pandemic this year, I have been largely unable to travel. While I have been able to regularly explore the dining scene in my city in recent months, I also cook barbecue and grill meals at home more than ever.
I have enjoyed cooking and entertaining, particularly in the backyard, for most of my adult life. I love learning new recipes, cooking for family and friends, and posting pictures of my creations on social media. However, I have never had any ambitions to cook professionally or open my own restaurant. Beyond writing about barbecue, my only experience in the culinary world includes a short stint as a dishwasher at a gourmet pie shop in college. Imagine my surprise when Block 16, the much-beloved darling of the Omaha culinary scene serving farm-to-table street food reached out to me about collaborating on a sandwich special using my pork belly burnt ends as a major ingredient.
I smoked pork belly burnt ends for a Bánh Mì sandwich collaboration with Block 16 in Omaha. (Photo by Wai Chan)
My friends at Helping U Barbeque wanted to help make the collaboration a success and offered to help me out with the cook by giving me access to their kitchen and a smoker. So I woke up at 2:00 am in the middle of the first snowstorm of the season and smoked the pork bellies, delivering the burnt ends to the restaurant in time for lunch service. They used the pork belly burnt ends to create a Bánh Mì sandwich on a sesame hoagie with pickled veggies, fresh veggies, sriracha honey mustard, and char-grilled shishitos, which was served with loaded fries topped with pepperjack curds, smoked guajillo mayo, poblano mayo, and fried onion. The doors opened at 11:00 and by 11:20, the pork belly burnt ends Bánh Mì sandwich special was sold out.
I figured my foray into the culinary world was over before it had even begun. Only moments after the sellout at Block 16, I had a message on my phone from Kristina Lee, acclaimed chef and owner of Nice Rollz, a Korean fusion pop-up operating out of Archetype Coffee in the historic area of town known as Little Bohemia. She congratulated me and wanted to talk about how we might collaborate on a pop-up event. Kristina wanted to take advantage of what might be last weekend of warm weather for the year and hoped to fuse American barbecue and Korean flavors by “combining flavors and introducing each profile of food in a way people may not think to try.”
I recently met Kristina Lee, the chef and owner of Nice Rollz, a Korean pop-up restaurant operating out of Archetype Coffee in Omaha. (Photo by Wai Chan)
When I met with Kristina, she was incredibly warm and welcoming. She talked about her experience in the Omaha food scene, where her passion for food was reignited. Several years ago she helped to start Dandelion Pop-up, a spot where the city’s most celebrated and innovative chefs serve special dishes each week during warmer months. Since then, she has branched out on her own, serving her own unique spin on Korean food to her many devoted fans.
There are several noteworthy spots across the country that combine Asian flavors with American Barbecue, including Blood Bros BBQ in Houston, Heirloom Market in Atlanta, and Kimchi Smoke outside of New York City. However, this would be a unique opportunity to introduce this combination to the Omaha market. Kristina wanted our collaboration to “look like something comfortable and familiar to everyone, but for each item to have Korean influences.”
One of the plates we served for our collaboration included kimchi topped pulled pork sandwiches, Korean sweet bread, cheese corn, and potato salad. (Photo by Wai Chan)
We developed a menu for the pop-up that would consist of spicy gochujang spareribs, pulled pork sandwiches topped with kimchi, sweet Korean bread with gochujang honey drizzle, Korean cheese corn, Korean potato salad made with cucumbers, apples, potatoes, onions, eggs, and corn. I again partnered with Helping U Barbeque and we cooked such a large quantity of ribs and pork, we were forced to accomplish the cook in two different shifts. The pork was cooked overnight and held the next day, while the ribs were cooked fresh on the day of the pop-up.
We sliced and served 25 racks of smoked gochujang pork spareribs during the pop-up. (Photo by Wai Chan)
The cook went extremely smoothly and we were able to deliver the meat to Archetype Coffee in advance of the event. From there, it was all hands on deck and thankfully, Kristina’s experienced crew helped to guide me through the preparation for dinner service. I was responsible for freshly slicing and serving ribs while my wife Lisa handled making the pulled pork sandwiches. The rest of the staff dished the sides as Kristina’s trusted manager relayed each of the orders to the kitchen staff and while Kristina took orders upfront.
Customers lined up down the block to try the food from the BBQ Tourist/Nice Rollz collaboration. (Photo by Wai Chan)
Customers began lining up for the pop-up 45 minutes before service started. Once the floodgates were opened, we had a steady stream of patrons waiting to be served their food. The first five minutes were nerve-wracking and fast-paced, but we soon got into a routine. At all times we had at least three sets of eyes on each plate to make sure everything that left the kitchen looked just right. Perhaps most surprising to me, everyone seemed to want to try the spicy gochujang pork spareribs.
By the end of the night, I was exhausted. We served meals to a lot of happy customers and received a ton of positive feedback. I had a lot of fun collaborating with Kristina and her staff and getting to know more about what it is like to cook for a large crowd. Already, we are talking about when we might do it again. Most importantly, I learned a lot in my recent experiences collaborating with Block 16 and Nice Rollz and gained even more respect for pitmasters, chefs, and anyone in the food service industry. Now more than ever, it is important that we show our support for the amazing people who are always ready to cook and serve us amazing food.
Ryan Cooper (BBQ Tourist)
Co-Founder, The Smoke Sheet
—People waited all night this past weekend so they could be first in line at Snow’s BBQ’s reopening. (Photo by Mark Champion)—
HOT OFF THE PRESS
After being closed to the public since March, Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, Texas reopened this past Saturday morning. The famous joint, which was rated the No. 1 BBQ joint in Texas by Texas Monthly and featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table this year, attracted enormous lines and attention. Some people even waited all night in order to be at the front of the line at 8 a.m. when it opened, including BBQ enthusiast Mark Champion, who was first in line. “Someone asked if I’d do it again...stand in line for eleven hours for Texas BBQ,” Champion wrote on Instagram. “My answer: every day of the week & twice on Sundays if it’s Snow’s BBQ.” READ HERE
This past weekend, the Kansas City Barbeque Society hosted the Second Annual KCBS World Invitational in Mayetta, Kansas. The socially distanced competition event featured about 100 top teams from around the country competing in all major KCBS categories including chicken, pork ribs, pork butt, and brisket. The team Smoking Butt Heads won the Grand Champion prize, while Iowa’s Smokey D’s BBQ won Reserve Champion honors. READ HERE
Thanksgiving is coming up quickly and if you’re thinking about smoking a turkey this year, you better get ready now. Houstonia Magazine rounded up advice from pitmasters including Brett Jackson of Brett’s BBQ Shop in Katy and Patrick Feges of Feges BBQ in Houston on what you should do to properly smoke a turkey at home this year. “I always tell anybody, if they want to try it and do it, absolutely,” Jackson said. “You’re only gonna get better at smoking any type of meat with practice.” READ HERE
Making the jump from a backyard griller to a backyard smoker is a significant commitment for any true Texas barbecue fan. But when it comes to making real-deal Texas barbecue, the only piece of equipment that matters is an offset barrel smoker, writes J.C. Reid in the Houston Chronicle. Reid dives into detail on how to buy your very own backyard smoker. READ HERE
ADDITIONAL READS
All-Outdoor Texas Barbecue Joint Opens at Join Thorn Brewing in San Diego
How Some of Dallas’s Best BBQ Joints Are Adding Tacos to Their Menus
Thorndale Meat Market’s Dry-Aged Steak Is an Experiment in Funk
Brisket and Bourbon Take Center Stage at Huge New Jack’s BBQ in Seattle
New Brothers BBQ in Orwigsburg, PA Takes Slow Road to Success
BBQ Restaurant Pig Candy to Open This Winter in Greater Cincinnati
Black-Owned Vegan BBQ Joint Opens in Atlanta Next Month
Texas BBQ Stories: Naaman's Championship BBQ
Restaurant Hospitality Names Cali BBQ’s ‘The Tiger King’ as Best Cocktail of 2020
How to Make Smoked Pork Spare Ribs at Home
It’s All in the Family at Hancock’s, an Alabama BBQ Gem
—Matt from It’s a Southern Thing tries several store-bought BBQ sauces and ranks them as well.—
WATCH
Which Store-Bought BBQ Sauce is the Best? — Bless Your Rank
Matt from It’s a Southern Thing tastes and ranks store-bought barbecue sauce so you don't have to buy seven entire bottles. Matt tries out sauces from KC Masterpiece, Sticky Fingers, Kraft Original, Sweet Baby Rays, Bull’s-Eye, and more. Find out which one you should dip your next meal into. WATCH HERE
LISTEN
Robert F. Moss — Kevin’s BBQ Joints
In this podcast episode, host Kevin Kelly chats with Robert F. Moss, contributing barbecue editor for Southern Living Magazine about his new book, The Revised and Expanded Second Edition of Barbecue: The History of An American Institution. They start off talking about how Moss has been holding up these days and then get into some detailed burger talk. They discuss how the barbecue world has changed since the original publication of his book in 2009. They talk about his first chopped pork sandwich and a bit about his history. Primarily the podcast episode focuses on the new edition of Moss’ book as well as his newsletter The 'Cue Sheet, another good barbecue newsletter that is emailed each week. LISTEN HERE
READ
Keto BBQ Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades: 101 Low-Carb, Flavor-Packed Recipes for Next-Level Grilling and Smoking — Aileen Ablog
Spice up your next backyard barbecue with this ultimate book of keto-friendly and sugar-free BBQ sauces, relishes, aiolis, dressings, and other tasty condiments. The key to the best barbecue is in the sauce — the delicious, sweet, smoky flavor that gets basted in and charred. But most store-bought sauces are packed full of sugar and preservatives, which is sure to knock your body out of ketosis. Keto BBQ Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades will show you how to have it both ways—delicious keto-friendly barbecue with all the flavor and none of the sugar. No matter what you want to grill, smoke, griddle, or roast, this book has the recipe you need to make your meat juicy, flavorful, and, of course, keto-friendly. From mayos and aiolis to ketchup, mustards, and marinades, these easy recipes will add the perfect touch to your meal. BUY IT HERE
—Malcom Reed shows you how to make a classic Thanksgiving Turkey in this video recipe.—
Classic Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey
By How to BBQ Right
For this week’s Recipe of the Week, we chose this classic Thanksgiving turkey video recipe from Malcom Reed of How to BBQ Right. He starts with a 48-hour brine on the turkey to get moisture and flavor deep down into the meat. Next, he stuffs the turkey with celery, onion, garlic, and fresh herbs and ties the legs with butcher twine. Then he bastes the skin with oil to help the seasonings stick and to help create a brown, crispy skin. He seasons the turkey and smokes with apple wood until the turkey reaches a minimum of 165°F in the thickest part of the breast and 175°F in the thickest part of the thigh. The recipe results in a juicy, perfectly cooked bird that is ready to be served at your Thanksgiving gathering.
—Many of the largest barbecue events of 2020 have been canceled or postponed.—
In light of the constantly changing coronavirus crisis, we are leaving our events section blank for some time. Many events in 2020 have been canceled or postponed thus far. We’ll be updating our events section on our website with the most up-to-date information as we have it.
Thanks for reading our newsletter!
Want to be featured in or sponsor The Smoke Sheet?
Email us here!