Oakridge Saigon 21 Rub First Impressions

[lowcountrygamecock]

Hate that I missed that post. I love oak ridge rubs. Would have been cool to try out a prototype.

[ShadowDriver]

No photos, sorry.

Added to some boneless/skinless chicken thighs that I turned into chicken tenders for cooking in the air fryer. Hit 'em heavy with the Saigon 21, then dredged them in potato starch.

Family raved about the flavor and the "warm hug" from the spices. The anise (black licorice) really recedes during cooking, and the notes of lime leaves and basil jump to the surface.

I really get the feeling that meat (at least chicken) with this rub will make a killer supporting player in a dish, but it's not BIG and BOLD so that it grabs your attention as the main attraction.

First glance/try makes me look forward to coming back for more, Mike. Top notch, as all Oakridge products are...

[SmokinAussie]

No failures here by the looks of it!

[PullinPork]

Looks like chicken is the go to protein for Saigon 21. I went there as well, with skinless chicken thighs. Did a 2 hour brine in Game Changer to start - turned out to be a little bit salty in the end, but my bad, and very juicy.
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Gave the thighs a nice coat of rub, then back in to chill for a while.
Grilled, seared and plated with rice and marinated cucumber salad on the side.
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As soon as the plate was on the table, my wife said she loved the aroma.
I was concerned that it might be too spicy (I’m a wuss), but the heat was very mild.
We both thought the rub was well balanced, and definitely reminded us of good Vietnamese cuisine. I don’t think I would change anything.

Another great Oakridge rub, and thanks to Mike for giving us a chance to try it out!

[kcmike]

Originally Posted by sudsandswine

Impression: very good flavor, I like the Asian kick on the wings. I don’t really have any ready to go mixed Asian style seasonings so it definitely fills a void in the rub collection. While there’s plenty of flavor without it, I think some kind of sauce that compliments it might be fun. I’m definitely going to try using it in the included pho recipe, as well as on some other types of meat...a fatty piece of pork like belly would probably be great. If you like Vietnamese food I think you’ll definitely enjoy this seasoning. I don’t think it really needs any adjustment, it’s not too much or lacking in any area.

Here you go Suds... I pulled this out of the Oakridge BBQ recipe archives and substituted the Secret Weapon in the original recipe for the new Saigon 21 prototype. You might also go 50/50 on SW and Saigon. I think that would be very good too...



Original Recipe Link:
https://www.oakridgebbq.com/asian-wi...-spring-rolls/

Oakridge BBQ Asian Glaze

• 1 cup Sweet chili sauce
• 1 heaping TBSP Hoisin sauce
• 1 TBSP black soy sauce (you can substitute 1 TBSP reg. soy sauce plus 1 TBSP brown sugar)
• 1 TBSP Oakridge BBQ Saigon 21 rub (or 1½ tsp Secret Weapon and 1½ tsp Saigon 21)
• 1½ tsp fish sauce
• 1 TBSP peeled, microplaned fresh ginger
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and microplaned
• juice of one medium lime

Thanks!

[Shiz-Nit]

Great reviews thanks

[Whisky]

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. Attachment 192290

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


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[sudsandswine]

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

[thirdeye]

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.

[sudsandswine]

Ooooh I like that sausage idea

[bgross88]

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.
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!!

[jazzer]

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.

[Clay-b-que]

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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[TravelingJ]

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.

[bob3]

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!