Ribtoberfest blessed McAlester with perfect weather, good music, and that unmistakable festival smell of smoke, spice, and folks trying their absolute best not to drool on their neighbor. This was our first year competing, and y’all… Hungry Lotus showed up ready to run. By sunset, we walked away with Second Place in the Best Bite category, a whole lot of new friends, and the kind of tired legs that feel like victory.

The star of the show was our Broken Rice Plate, and Tam treated that pork loin like she was filming Iron Chef: Pittsburg County Edition. She used that bone-in pork from snout to tail end, squeezing every ounce of flavor from it like she was trying to settle a debt.

It started when the loin was deboned. Now, most folks would toss that bone in the trash. Not Tam. She turned it into a rich, savory broth that became the base of a soup so good it could’ve run for office. The loin itself went into a marinade that smelled like the kind of backyard cookout your grandparents talk about for decades. Then she grilled it until the edges caramelized and the inside stayed tender enough to make a grown man emotional.

The fat got rendered down into a bright green onion oil that tasted like sunshine in a skillet. She sliced thin strips of pork and tossed them in toasted rice powder with crispy pork skin for texture. Then came the ground pork loin that went into our Vietnamese meat loaf mixture. Every part of that animal had a job, and none of them called in sick.

We built the plate with broken Jasmine rice, pickled veggies for acidity, a fresh salad for brightness, and a splash of fish sauce that tied everything together like a family reunion hug. One of the organizers told us we had the nicest presentation of the entire competition. Considering how much talent was under those tents, that compliment felt like getting crowned prom king and queen at the same time.

For the People’s Choice category, we brought out the snacks. We handed out Korean-marinated smoked deviled eggs and blueberry rangoon, and let me tell you, watching folks try them for the first time was worth the price of admission. Some took a bite and froze like their brain needed a moment to process happiness. Others nodded slow, like they wanted to pretend they knew this flavor combination already, but the truth was written all over their face. Those little bites turned strangers into regulars real fast.

And the best part? We didn’t have to move an inch for the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival, because the magic all happened in the same place at the same time. Music, food, community, and sunshine blended into one big all-day celebration. One moment we were waiting on judges, the next we were handing out plates to folks chasing the big-stage energy drifting down Choctaw. It was seamless, it was busy, and it was beautiful.

Ribtoberfest reminded us of everything we love about this town. Folks show up. They cheer each other on. They brag about their neighbors. And they let a little food truck like ours take something as humble as a pork loin and turn it into a story worth telling.

We’re grateful. We’re tired. And we’re already thinking about what we’re bringing next year.