Fired Up Again

“I’m back . . . I’m back . . . I’m back. . . .”

That’s the opening of a famous James Brown theme song, but it’s also appropriate for Fred Burrell, O.C.’s king of barbecue. At one time, this outgoing native of Hickory, N.C., had three restaurants in the county, now all gone, but Burrell is back stoking the pits at his original Santa Ana location on Hesperian Street, a red stucco shack no bigger than your basic garage. He’s doing all the cooking himself these days, and his dishes taste better than ever.

The restaurant, called Burrell’s, is just a counter, three stools and a wood-fired barbecue pit, but the wall is decorated with autographed head shots from Burrell’s famously loyal clientele, including Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and James Brown himself. The food comes in overflowing plastic trays and cups. If you aren’t planning to take it all home, head for the fenced yard at the side of the building, where there are three red picnic tables.

Burrell’s cooking is true to the traditions of the Middle South. He smokes his meats with a combination of hickory and red oak, and smothers them in a rich red sauce redolent of vinegar, pepper and other spices. We’re talking pure comfort food, and it’s probably just as well that his cramped little restaurant is not particularly set up for indoor dining. This stuff is seriously messy to eat.

The undisputed star here is Burrell’s homemade hot links, some of the best in the Southland. The casing is charred crisp and the stuffing is lean, finely minced pork butt hand-mixed with a terrific snootful of chile, garlic, nutmeg and ginger. These links are great drowned in the chef’s piquant red sauce, but they can also stand alone. What’s more, Burrell makes them without any detectable salt.

Perhaps the most typical North Carolina dish here is the barbecued pork shoulder sandwich, which is not on the menu--you have to ask for it. Picture a French roll crammed to bursting with chopped, shredded meat, barbecue sauce and creamy coleslaw. The meat is fall-apart tender, at once flaky, crisp and chewy. That’s because the sandwich is assembled from meat from several shoulders, cooked to varying degrees of doneness.

I also recommend the brisket--soft, lean, tender and smoky, striated with enough fat to make a single mouthful indulgent. It makes a terrific sandwich. You can almost pick it up, something you wouldn’t even attempt with the barbecued pork sandwich.

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Rib fanciers have plenty to chew on. The massive beef ribs are deep brown, slightly blackened around the edges, surprisingly tender and definitely not lean. The spare ribs are about as tender as any I’ve ever tasted. “Pork tips n’ ends” is a pile of little barbecued bones, with deliciously charred meat clinging to them.

Ham hocks also get the royal treatment. They’re smoked slowly in the barbecue pit (these are about the smokiest hocks I’ve tasted), then stewed with collard greens and black-eyed peas until fork-tender.

The liquid from this stewing process is something ambrosial. It’s called pot likker, and people have been known to drink it straight out of the pot. Here, it’s put to an even better use: Burrell uses the pot likker and some bits of meat to make his famous dirty rice, one of a dozen terrific side dishes he keeps around to accompany the meats.

I’ve had just about every side dish here, and any of them would do a Southern grandmother proud. The collard greens are intense and delicious, with a complex, almost medicinal finish. The baked macaroni and cheese is rich without being cloying. There is a smooth, creamy potato salad that cuts the smokiness of the meats almost perfectly. Candied yams (made from scratch) are good, too, made with lots of nutmeg.

“Fred’s baked beans” are pinto beans flavored with molasses, spices and a fair shot of liquid smoke. I find them a bit sweet, but a lot of people love them, and Burrell is about to put them on the market. Soon they will be available at supermarkets, recognizable by a label showing Fred Burrell’s smiling face on every can.

You can try practically everything on the menu by ordering the potluck, a mountainous combination of six meats, seven side dishes, two squares of corn bread and a slice of pie. In addition to the shoulder, brisket and hot links, you get chicken, pork and beef ribs. It’s not the most appealing presentation (all the meats are piled together in a box, like leftovers at a Chinese restaurant), but it is extremely efficient. It’s an exemplary Southern feast.

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Did I mention the fish? Burrell makes very good catfish, breaded in cornmeal and deep-fried. He also serves red snapper prepared the same way, but that fish is not really assertive enough to stand up to cornmeal batter.

Desserts are the sort you’d find at what they call barbecue buffet restaurants, all-you-can eat affairs that dot the mid-Atlantic states. The terrific banana pudding is a creamy vanilla pudding loaded with sliced bananas. Sweet potato pie is a bright orange pie with a heavy, sweet filling that will bring out the kid in you.

As mentioned, if you order the potluck, you’ll get a piece of warm, flaky apple pie, a nice, homey version. The only dessert I don’t care for is the starchy peach cobbler, but that alone doesn’t stop me from shouting the news.

He’s back.

Burrell’s is inexpensive. Side dishes are $1.50 to $3.95. Sandwiches are $3.95 to $4.25. Dinners are $6.50 to $10.95. The potluck is $22.95.

BE THERE

* Burrell’s, 305 N. Hesperian St., Santa Ana. (714) 835-9936. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Cash only.