Combining BBQ with sushi is not an original idea.  I’ve eaten sushi rolls, here in Sacramento, that contained BBQ items, but they really were more BBQ than sushi.  But I wanted to go a different direction. I wanted the finished product to have a true fusion between Asian and American flavor profiles.

To start with I wanted to take the actual sushi rice a different direction.  Normally, sushi rice is seasoned with rice vinegar and sugar. My idea was to use a North Carolina vinegar based BBQ sauce instead.  I picked George’s Original Barbecue Sauce because it has a strong vinegar base but is sweetened with ketchup, sugar and apples.  I thought this would be a great match up with the other ingredients we would find in the sushi restaurant.

In addition to the BBQ sauce I took along some freshly smoked pulled pork and pastrami.  I thought these two meats would give us flavors that were quite different.

With the help of Executive Sushi Chef Ranee Delacruz (pronounced Ronnie) was great to work with.  Even though he had a sushi bar to take care of he was patient and friendly as I tried to convey my thoughts on what was to come.  His knowledge of flavors helped us to come up with great sushi rolls.  The don’t have names yet, but here they are.

This roll had sauted Shiitake mushrooms, garlic, onions and pastrami.  Rolled with a soy wrapper and topped with some avocado.  This roll rocked!  No question this one has a lot of potential.

With this roll we attempted to mimic some of the flavors and textures of a pulled pork sandwich.  I like cole slaw with my pulled pork so this roll included tsunemono.  Tsunemono is a pickled cucumber and worked awesome with the pulled pork.  This gave the roll a little crunch and added a little tartness to the bite.  It was topped with fried shoestring potatoes.

Pastrami, wasabi, grilled asparagus and cream cheese!  Wow what a combination.  We tried all the rolls just as you see them and tried them with some of Chef Ranee’s signature Miso Garlic sauce mixed with a little BBQ Sauce.  It was so good.

I can’t even begin to express how happy I was with the results.  There’s still some additional tweaking to be done and I hope to get the chance to continue working on this project.  Thanks to Jeff, Al and Ranee for a great evening.

Lot’s of places have Bacon Maple Bars but Twisters has a true “breaktfast” donut. 

Toss in some ham and cheese and you’ve got yourself an amazing meal.  Not sure just how great it is to start the day with this work of pastry art.

Later in the afternoon we took a nice stroll around the Capitol and found ourselves outside of Meconi’s Sub Shop.  So I figured a pastrami sub would be a great way to hold me over for dinner.

Even the kids enjoyed thier sandwich…

Favorite sandwich: Pastrami with jalapeno pepper jack cheese.

Favorite bbq appetizer: ABTs (Atomic Buffalo Turds)

I was sitting around last week trying to come up with a new appetizer for a church dinner next weekend when I had the thought of combining a pastrami and pepper jack cheese sammie with an ABT. This is what I came up with!

Started with some fresh jalapenos that I halfed, cored and removed membranes and seeds. I soaked the peppers in Sprite over night. I had heard that soaking them in Sprite would remove some of the heat and leave the flavor.

(The Sprite soak worked just as advertised. And the by product is a super spicy hot Sprite that can be used as a spritz on something else. Probably Super Bowl ribs)

Each half of pepper received a hunk of plain pepper jack cheese. I then took a partially froze, raw corned beef brisket flat and sliced it thin. Like bacon! The pastrami slices got a good hour long soak in cold water to remove excess salt. Each pepper and cheese combo was wrapped in a pastrami slice or two and sprinkled with a pepper blend.

They got a two hour smoke at 250 degrees with hickory wood. They came out amazing! It’s a winner for sure. I’ll be making these for all my bbq parties from now on.

One change for the future. Next time I’ll pre-smoke or roast the peppers a little. Because the pastrami is so lean it won’t take cooking long enough to get the peppers all the way done. If I’d cooked them until the peppers were soft the pastrami would have been jerky.

I’m not sure if my new PBTs helps me find that bbq grail but it sure makes the journey more enjoyable!

I cranked up the new UDS and had lots of problems getting the temperature regulated. Not really sure if I got it under control, but I have a good basis for the next time it’s used. Plan to try again this coming weekend.

The MOFO Brisket Chili came out fantastic.

I’ve been trying to find a recipe for cornbread that was close to Bandera restaurant and I think I may have come pretty close.

And the pastrami came out pretty darn good also.

All and all a great day.

Happy New Year Everyone!