Hawaiian Chicken and Ribs


 
T

Tim O

TVWBB Fan
My wife and I visited the islands of Hawaii recently and loved the food we had there. So I decided to replicate those flavors at home using the WSM. So I decided to make a rack of ribs and a whole chicken.

Preparation:
For the ribs, I removed the membrane & then hit them pretty heavy with a layer of a traditional rub used by Hawaiian BBQ gurus. The only twist was that I used honey instead of mustard to keep the rub in place. I also made a pineapple BBQ sauce for dipping on the side.

As for the chicken, I found a couple of recipes online for “Huli-Huli” chicken. It’s sold all over Hawaii at road side chicken stands and tastes great. I marinated the whole chicken in the Huli-Huli recipe for 24 hours and did not apply a rub afterwards. I let it come to room temperature and threw it on the smoker after the ribs had been on for three or so hours.

I used three chunks of applewood and one chunk of hickory. Hot water used in the pan.

The Results:
The chicken and ribs came out tender and moist. While the marinade on the chicken was a bit weak, it was tasty. The ribs were FOTB (fall off the bone) but I think I hit them too hard with the rub. It formed a bark that was a bit too thick, probably because of the brown sugar and honey carmelizing. Overall a bit too sweet for me but can be tweaked. I think this recipe would be supreme with guava wood and a pork butt…maybe next time!

The Recipes:

“Huli-Huli” Chicken Marinade:

1/2 cup soy or shoyu sauce
1/2 cup pureed pineapple chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/8 cup rice vinegar
1 finger of ginger root, finely grated (I used ginger powder)
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire

Hawaiian Rub:

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Pineapple BBQ Sauce:

2 cups pineapple juice
1 to 2 jalapeno chilies, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

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Thanks for the post, Tim, and your pulled chicken looks really nice and moist.

From here your bark looks a little dark, but not too tough or thick. It's about what you like, though, and you might be a big fan of foiled ribs....but have you tried just sprinkling the rub directly on the ribs? I find that by the time I've got my ribs skinned and trimmed, they've lost enough chill that the rub will stick pretty good. Then I put back in the fridge long enough before smoking so that they'll "sweat", per Harry Soo's recommendation. I prefer to foil back ribs during the cook, dry pan, but usually go with water and no foil with St. Louey's. Again, thanks for the cook post. I know nothing of Hawaiian grub really, but my favorite back rib recipe is Chris Lilly's Pineapple sweet ribs. I don't know what it's supposed to taste like, but I need to try a Huli Huli chicken recipe one of these days.

Regards,
Dave
 
looks good from here ! might wanna look at other recipes. most times sugar and pineapple are not used. nothing wrong with pineapple if you like it but it doesn't make things hawaiian.
 
Yea, I figured the ingredients weren't very authentic but its what I found online. You're right, the rub was way too sugary for me (and tough). Maybe next time...
 
well , it all looked delicious.i want to try that rub....might tweak it a little. thanks for sharing.
 
Humm..... I'd eat all of that...looks real tasty to me!! I saved these recipes for later us. Might try some beef short ribs with that rub...

Thanks for sharing Tim!
 
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