Chinese Style Barbecue

There are many types of barbecues from around the world. I have been lucky enough to sample many of them. As a meat and seafood lover, barbecues never disappoint. There are plenty of tasty vegetarian options also when doing a barbecue, it’s an occasion for all to gather and enjoy. In a Chinese household, a Barbecue isn’t all about grilling meats on a charcoal grill. In fact, it might be seen that the actual grilling is only part of the social gathering. We love to mix it up with some warm and cold dishes to accompany our meats.

Greens, greens and even more vegetables! I absolutely love having cold Chinese dishes with the barbecued meats. It gives a selection of flavours to indulge in so as to not feel too heavy. In my opinion, a balanced diet is necessary no matter the occasion and meal type. No reason to have a heavily meat dominated meal at a barbecue and so we prepared numerous cold dishes to share with the flame grilled servings. Beans and smacked cucumber are probably a couple of my favourite dishes. They are very light and the tangy kick that they provide really keeps flavours fresh, almost like chomping on pickled ginger in a sushi meal. A little spicy doesn’t hurt either, chopped chilli’s and cauliflower is an awesome combination and gives a bit of fire that one might be looking for outside of the charcoal flames.

There isn’t any reason to stick to cold and vegetarian dishes as accompaniment either. A helping of sticky meats, preserved eggs and shredded potatoes really blend well. One might imagine that this is the Chinese version of ‘finger food’. These are definitely dishes to share as with most meals but also have some unique flavours. I sometimes feel barbecues can be a little bland and there might be some emphasis mostly on getting burgers and drinks out. Nothing wrong this but sometimes it’s nice to approach the conventional barbecue with a few twists and this is something I might encourage all to try.

Presentation doesn’t have to fall short here either. When having many guests over it can be hard to manage and disposable plates and cups are the go to cutlery for the evening. With a smaller guest list, it’s a great idea to serve up meals in a thoughtful and colourful manner.