Well, the good news is that LSU didn’t lose on Saturday. The bad news is they didn’t actually play because half of Florida’s team decided to catch Covid-19 right after head coach Dan Mullen encouraged fans to pack the stadium. Of course, Mullen also tested positive.
That game got rescheduled for later in the season, but this week, the Tigers face the South Carolina Gamecocks, who just upset 15th-ranked Auburn to pull to 2-2 on the season.
Trying to come up with a South Carolina based food presented a bit of a challenge. Most cuisines associated with the Palmetto State — shrimp and grits, Frogmore strew, fish stew, etc. — revolve around seafood, and for good reason, since the state has such a robust and popular shoreline. But the University of South Carolina sits in the middle of the state and I wanted something unique to that region.
I knew of the mustard-based barbecue sauce that is inherent to the region (it’s probably my favorite style of barbecue sauce!) so I wanted to find something that utilized that. Thankfully, I found just the thing!
I present: BBQ hash and rice. Admittedly, I didn’t know anything about it before my research, but it sounded simple enough and I had to give it a try. It’s not exactly a tailgate recipe, but more of a homegating recipe, which is perfect right now for those who want to watch the game from the comforts of home.
A Brief History
Like with other southern cuisines, Robert F Moss has a great historical look at hash and rice and that’s where I got a lot of my information. The whole thing is worth a read if you’ve never heard of hash and rice before, or if you decide to make this recipe.
Per Moss, hash and rice originated in the mid-1800s in the counties on either side of the Savannah River, spanning South Carolina and Georgia. Like other barbecue dishes and southern recipes, it seems to have originated by slaves.
Originally, hash was created as a way to use up the extra parts of the pig that didn’t make the cut in traditional barbecue dishes. The liver, the heart, the organs, and other bits that cooks couldn’t afford to simply discard. Those items would simmer in water in a large pot over fire for many hours, even days, until it resembled a thick gravy.
It’s similar to its cousin, Brunswick stew, but hash has no tomatoes or lima beans, though cooks have added in various ingredients beyond just meat and water — vegetables, sauces, spices, etc. — in the nearly two centuries since it was created.
Additionally, modern recipes have used pork shoulder instead of the head and organs, possibly to keep a traditional dish alive by making it more palatable to modern tastes.
According to the blog Destination BBQ, hash and rice can be found on the menu of over 50% of South Carolina’s barbecue joints to this day. They even have a great map that shows which places serve it, and one thing is apparent — it’s popular in and around the state’s capital, Columbia, home of the University of South Carolina.
In his book A History of South Carolina Barbecue (American Palate), Lake E High, founder of the South Carolina Barbecue Association, wrote about the dish, “Hash is misunderstood today by those people who have been unfortunate enough to have been brought up outside of the hash area, which is most of the country, including a large part of the South. Carolina hash, which is looked down upon by those who haven’t tasted it, is nothing more than liquid sausage… And if you like sausage (and who doesn’t?), then you should like hash.”
I love sausage, and I’m never one to judge a food before I try it, so giving it a try and putting my own spin on it was a no-brainer. I must say, if you can get over the texture and consistency of it, it’s pretty damn tasty.
The Recipe
Since this is my own take on the recipe, I didn’t go completely traditional. I tried to stay pretty true, but I used pulled pork instead of head and organs for simplicity (and so my family would eat it).
I’m not going to list out the full pulled pork recipe here, but you can get that via our The Perfect Swine Pulled Pork recipe. So head on over there and start with that, then come back here for the rest. Just make sure to leave yourself at least an hour after the pork is done to finish the recipe before you eat.
Once your pulled pork is done and resting, get the rest of your ingredients ready. Dice up a yellow onion and cube up a couple of baking potatoes. In a dutch oven, sauté your onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add 3-4 cloves of garlic and go for another minute.
Add your cubed potatoes and a stick of butter to the pot. Stir it all together and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Basically, you want to soften the potatoes a little bit and add some char to them while soaking up all of that butter. Make sure to give it a few sniffs because the smell is heavenly.
At this point, add in your shredded pulled pork along with a cup of chicken stock and a bottle of your favorite mustard-based barbecue sauce. For this one, I went with Veterans Q Gold sauce, which is local to me in the Chicago suburbs.
Stir it all up, cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer for an hour. You will want to give it a stir a few times during the cook.
With about 20-25 minutes remaining, cook your white rice according to the directions on the bag or box.
Once the pork mixture is nice and reduced, it’s ready. You may want to add a little more of your sauce if it’s too thick, but otherwise, use an immersion blender to blend it all up into something in between pulled pork and a gravy consistency.
Serve it over the rice and add some Kosher salt to taste. Wash down with some Buffalo Trace.
BBQ Hash & Rice
A South Carolina staple, hash and rice is typically a barbecue side but can also be eaten as a main course. Either way, it's comfort food at its finest.
- 1 Bone-In Pork Butt
- Yellow Mustard (for binder)
- Down With the Swine Rub
- 1 bottle Cheerwine
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 2 Potatoes
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 cup Chicken Stock
- 1 bottle Veterans Q Gold Sauce
- Kosher Salt (to taste)
The first thing you're going to need to do is smoke a pork butt. You can refer to our The Perfect Swine Pulled Pork recipe for that. However, unless you're cooking for a large crowd, you can use a smaller pork butt than you would normally use for pulled pork. I used one that was just over 5 pounds for this recipe.
In a cast iron pan over medium heat on the stove, sauté a diced yellow onion for about 5 minutes, then add 3 cloves of garlic.
Add 2 cubed potatoes and a stick of butter. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often until your potatoes start to soften, brown, and absorb the butter.
Add your shredded pulled pork, 1 cup of chicken stock, and a bottle of your favorite mustard-based barbecue sauce.
Stir well, cover, reduce to low, and let simmer for an hour, stirring a few times throughout.
With about 25 minutes remaining, cook your white rice according to the directions on the package.
After an hour, everything should be nice and cooked down. If it's too dry, add more mustard-based barbecue sauce.
Use an immersion blender to blend it all together.
Serve over rice.