Sherman's Food Adventures: Porkapalooza @ The Hog Shack Cook House

Porkapalooza @ The Hog Shack Cook House

Making my way to Steveston can be quite the trek, especially in rush hour traffic.  However, when I was invited to Porkapalooza at The Hog Shack, I put aside my reservations. Furthermore, we would be served Samuel Adams to help wash down the delicious pork. I was able to enlist the help of Snake, who loves his meat.  Besides, I get all self-conscious when I'm alone and taking pictures of pork butt...  Heck, I shouldn't be complaining - it's beer and BBQ!

Arriving early, I was able to get a sneak peek at the star of the show - a whole Smoked Hog.  This was a big sucker that barely fit into the smoker at first (before it shrunk).  The slow-cooking ensured that it would baste in its own fat and juices.  Although the outside was a beautiful golden brown, it was not crispy since it wasn't roasted.  The meat itself was melt-in-my mouth soft and moist.  It had a mild smoky flavour which allowed the natural flavour of the pork to shine.  I would've liked it to be seasoned more aggressively though, but then again, that is what the sauces are for.

Of course we were here for another purpose, which would be the Samuel Adams beer.  I had a pint of their Boston Lager  which was refreshing and crisp going down easy and was the right compliment to the ample amount of meat.  And about that Meat, we helped ourselves to brisket, back ribs, chicken, burnt ends, fries, corn bread, coleslaw and the aforementioned smoked whole hog.  My favourite was the ribs as they were moist and tender with a defined bark.  The chicken was almost juicy with nicely rendered skin while the brisket was fatty and succulent (but could've been slightly more melt-in-my-mouth tender).  The burnt ends were just like I remembered - meaty, sweet, smoky and impactful.  At the end, I was in a meat coma - full of pork and Sam Adams beer!

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1 comments:

Steve said...

Congratulations to Hog Shack's pitmaster John Lim Hing for taking 4th place overall at last Sunday's BBQ competition at the Cloverdale Rodeo.

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