Grilled Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Boneless Pork Ribs (燒烤檸檬葉迷迭香蒜去骨的豬排骨, Siu1 Haau1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Mai4 Dit6 Hoeng1 Syun3 Heoi3 Gwat1 Dik1 Zyu1 Paai4 Gwat1)

The spice mixture used in the Grilled Apple-Oak Smoked Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Turkey recipe was the basis for making a spice paste for boneless pork ribs. Like the Grilled Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Lamb Rib Chops (燒烤檸檬葉迷迭香蒜羊扒, Siu¹ Haau¹ Ning⁴ Mung⁴ Jip⁶ Mai⁴ Dit⁶ Hoeng¹ Syun³ Joeng⁴ Paa⁴) recipe, the spice mixture – lemongrass, rosemary, and garlic - has dried red chilies added to give the pork an added spicy kick to the taste. Pork rib chops are easily overcooked, so the pork grilling and smoking time needs to be based upon the heat of your grill and previous experience.

Enjoy!

Grilled Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Lamb Rib Chops (燒烤檸檬葉迷迭香蒜羊扒, Siu1 Haau1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Mai4 Dit6 Hoeng1 Syun3 Joeng4 Paa4)

The spice mixture used in the Grilled Apple-Oak Smoked Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Turkey recipe was the basis for making a spice paste for lamb rib chops. The spice mixture – lemongrass, rosemary, and garlic - has dried red chilies added to give the lamb an added spicy kick to the taste. Lamb rib chops are easily overcooked, so the lamb grilling and smoking time needs to be based upon the heat of your grill and previous experience.

Enjoy!

Grilled Beijing-Style Lamb Ribs (北京燒烤羊扒, Bak1 Ging1 Siu1 Haau1 Joeng4 Paa4)

This recipe uses the chili garlic sauce spice paste developed for the Beijing-Style Chicken Wings (北京鷄翼, Bak¹ Ging¹ Gai¹ Jik⁶) recipe. The spice paste also goes well with lamb rib chops and provides the spiciness present in the original recipe. The same strategy is used to cook the lamb ribs – quickly charring over hot coals piled high into one-half of the grill. The spicing of this recipe is similar to that used in the Grilled Xinjiang-Style Chicken Wing (新疆燒烤鷄翼, San¹ Goeng¹ Siu¹ Haau¹ Gai¹ Jik⁶) recipe. However, unlike the chicken wing recipe, lamb rib chops can be easily overcooked, so the fire must be very hot and the charring time as quick as possible.

 

Enjoy!

Grilled Xinjiang-Style Chicken Wing (新疆燒烤鷄翼, San1 Goeng1 Siu1 Haau1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was adapted from that published in Saveur Magazine, June/July 2013 issue in the article, “Fire in the Belly”. The original recipe was for lamb skewers and the Grilled Xinjiang-Style Lamb Rib Chops (新疆燒烤羊扒, San¹ Goeng¹ Siu¹ Haau¹ Joeng⁴ Paa⁴) recipe was the first adaptation. The spice paste, consisting of red chili flakes, cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, and oyster sauce would go well with any meat. I left out the skewers and the lamb, and substituted chicken wings for this recipe variation. The article makes the point that a very hot fire is used for cooking, so I piled the charcoal into one-half of the grill to place the coals as close to the grill surface as possible. You may have to increase or decrease the cooking time depending upon the heat of your grill.

Enjoy!

Grilled Miso Garlic Chicken (燒烤蒜蓉味噌雞, Siu1 Haau1 Syun3 Jung4 Mei6 Cang1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 12 Aug 2015. The Chinese name was changed to use the correct characters for “miso” rather than “miso paste”.

This recipe is a variation of the Grilled Miso Garlic T-Bone Steak dish. While the marinade for the beef was more of a paste, the chicken is marinated in a miso-garlic soy sauce solution. Unlike chicken breasts, thighs need to be cleaned first to remove the excess fat. Of course, chicken breasts may be used in place of thighs. The thighs are first smoked (pecan wood is a good choice) skin side up on the side of the grill without the coals and then moved skin side down over the coals to produce grill marks.

Enjoy!

Grilled Sambal Oelek Turkey Thighs (燒烤素辣椒火雞髀, Siu1 Haau1 Sou3 Laat6 Ziu1 Fo2 Gai1 Bei2)

This recipe was updated on 21 Oct 2015. Some instructions were changed and the Cantonese name for the recipe was added.

Here’s another grilled turkey thigh recipe, similar to the Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Turkey Thighs recipe. The main seasoning in marinade is Sambal Oelek, which is ground fresh chili paste. Turkey thighs are my choice when I want to grill a small batch of turkey. I eat some of the turkey and then use the leftovers for sandwiches. My local supermarket now sells two fresh turkey thighs in a vacuum sealed package, so it’s very convenient to just grill the two thighs rather than having to thaw a whole turkey.

Enjoy!

Grilled Garlic Chili Oil Turkey and Turkey Bacon Fried Rice

This recipe uses leftover Grilled Garlic Chili Oil Turkey Thighs. I used to use regular (pork) bacon when I made fried rice. Bacon adds a nice smoky flavor to any dish, but now that I more conscience about adding saturated fat to dishes, I use turkey bacon in its place. The taste is not quite the same as the pork bacon, but turkey bacon is healthier for you while providing similar flavor (I just use more). If you’ve looked at any of my other fried rice recipes, you’ll find a common theme– they are recipes to use leftovers. So when I go out to eat at restaurants, I rarely order fried rice!

Enjoy!

Grilled Hickory Smoked Rib Eye Pork Chops

This is probably the most basic method to wood smoke (hickory, in this case) pork rib eye chops on a grill. There’s no marinating involved – just take the pork rib eye chops out of the refrigerator one hour before grilling, coat with oil, salt or Lawry’s seasoned salt, and pepper, and then grill. The flavor is also at its most basic – just pork and wood smoke (in this case hickory).

Enjoy!

Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Turkey Thighs

Turkey thighs are my choice when I want to grill a small batch of turkey. I eat some of the turkey and then use the leftovers for sandwiches. My local supermarket now sells two fresh turkey thighs in a vacuum sealed package, so it’s very convenient to just grill the two thighs rather than having to thaw a whole turkey. For this batch, I used ground chili garlic oil (which is more of a loose paste) as the principal flavor ingredient in the marinade. The ground chili garlic oil is made in Thailand and, from the picture on the label, is intended for noodle dishes.

Enjoy!

Grilled Apple-Oak Smoked Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Turkey

This will probably be the last post for 2014. So with the last recipe of 2014, I wish you and your family a Happy New Year for 2015, and will see you next year with more recipes.

So the final 2014 recipe is for grill smoking a whole turkey with apple and oak wood that I made for my family’s Christmas dinner. You were probably expecting a photo of the whole cooked turkey in this post (it was impressive looking!), but since I was pressed for time cooking Christmas dinner, I wasn’t able to take any photos and the photo above is for the leftovers.

The turkey is made with a spice paste that is placed in the space between the skin and meat of the breast, thigh, drumstick, and back. The space is created by separating the skin from the meat using your hand or the end of a long cooking spoon. Even though the skin is separated from the turkey meat, it is still attached to the turkey, forming pockets for a spice paste. If using your hand to create the pockets, you have to be prepared to place your hand (and part of your arm) into the turkey. I use this method because I’m able to feel the interface between the skin and meat, and use my fingers to separate the skin from the meat without breaking the skin.

When I first thought about making the paste using a food processor, I wanted to use a fresh rosemary, garlic, kosher salt, and olive oil mixture. It’s a classic combination and I happen to have rosemary growing in my backyard. Lemons and lemon juice are typical additions, but I decided to give the paste an Asian twist by using lemongrass. Only the white portions of the lemongrass are used in the paste, and the inedible green portions, together with the rosemary stalks, are stuffed into the turkey cavity.

Inevitably, some of the spice paste gets on the outer skin when you’re putting the paste into the turkey. Don’t worry, since this adds to the flavor of the skin. The turkey skin is coated with a mixture of kosher salt, pepper, and baking soda. The idea and use of baking soda came from America’s Test Kitchen. The baking soda not only helps with browning, but also with crisping the skin. I used double the amount of ingredients called for in the America’s Test Kitchen recipe, keeping the 1:1:1 ratio of kosher salt, pepper, and baking soda.

Root vegetables can be cut up, coated with olive oil, and placed in the bottom of the roasting pan if desired. Pan roasted vegetables is a nice addition to the meal and doesn’t really add to the cooking time. The pan roasted vegetables also add some flavor to any gravy that is made from the drippings. I also put the turkey neck and organs on top of the vegetables in the pan to be cooked, but you can also omit these items and use them for stock or directly in the gravy.

A gas grill with a thermometer is necessary for grill smoking a whole turkey. Maintaining a constant temperature of 350⁰F (175⁰C) and previous experience with your gas grill will determine the total cooking time for the turkey. I have found that 12 minutes per pound (450 g.) produces the right results (again, previous experience determines total cooking time). So for a 14 lb. (6.4 kg.) turkey, a total of 3 hours is needed to cook the turkey.

The size of your gas grill also matters since that will determine how many burners can be kept on for indirect cooking, which influences the ability to maintain a constant temperature. My gas grill is large enough to keep both end burners on during cooking, so I’m able to center the roasting pan with the turkey between two lit burners. For smaller gas grills, only one end can usually be kept lit for indirect cooking once the roasting pan with the turkey is placed on the grate, which might necessitate an increased cooking time. Regardless, the roasting pan should be rotated 180⁰ half way through the cooking time to even out any hot spots in your gas grill.

The turkey should rest for 30 minutes or more before carving, so don’t carve the turkey immediately after coming out of the grill since all the juices will not remain in the turkey meat and will just drain onto the cutting board. I consider a turkey just a large chicken, so you can follow the instructions for cutting a chicken in the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe to carve the turkey. Unlike the chicken, where all the meat will fit onto one plate, separate the turkey dark meat from the white and use two plates. In the end, the turkey was very tasty and my family was duly impressed with the flavor.

Enjoy!

Grilled Cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn Lamb Leg Steaks (燒烤孜然花椒羊肉, Siu1 Haau1 Zi1 Jin4 Faa1 Ziu1 Joeng4 Juk6)

Lamb leg steaks are sometimes available at my local market. I can always find either bone-in and boneless whole lamb legs, but unless I want to grill a whole leg (recipes: Grilled Butterflied Lamb Leg and Grilled Mesquite-Smoked Garlic Rosemary Lamb), lamb leg steaks can be more convenient to cook. The spice paste used to season the lamb is not hot, but spicy and flavorful. You can apply the spice paste one hour before grilling, but the lamb will taste better if left to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. If you want more heat, just add and grind dried red chili peppers to the mixture.

Enjoy!

Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Pork Rib Eye Chops

Indirect heat from a charcoal grill is used to roast these spicy pork chops. The pork chops should be cut at least 1-inch (2.5 cm.) thick so that they will stand on their own on the grill grate without the need of a rack to support them. The pork chops are placed on the cool side of the grill (the side opposite the lighted charcoal) with the pork chop’s flat bone on the grill grate, rib bone facing the heat, and fat cap facing up. A rack to support the pork chops will be required if the pork chops are too thin or if the pork chops are cut at an odd angle (so the pork chops will lean to one side or the other, and subsequently fall over during cooking).

Enjoy!

Grilled Dry Rub Pork Baby Back Rib Fried Rice (燒烤排骨炒飯, Siu1 Haau1 Paai4 Gwat1 Caau2 Faan6)

So if you have leftovers from the Grilled Dry Rub Pork Baby Back Ribs recipe and cooked rice, you can remove the meat from the ribs and make fried rice. I added red serrano chili peppers to the dish to spice it up even more, but that can be omitted depending upon your preference for spicy food.

Enjoy!

Grilled Dry Rub Pork Baby Back Ribs

So I was looking for a method to keep the temperature under 300⁰ (150⁰C) in a barbeque kettle grill for a long period of time (4-6 hours) and not have to constantly refill kettle with charcoal. You can of course use a gas grill, where it is easier to control temperature, but I wanted to use a kettle grill using charcoal to cook the ribs. I saw a TV episode from America’s Test Kitchen making Smoked Chicken in which they used one-third lighted- to two-thirds unlit charcoal with a pan of water under the chicken with a relatively shorter cooking time. The pan of water helps supply humidity and helps to stabilize the temperature.

So this got me thinking on how to extend the cooking time to 4-6 hours and to adapt their method for pork baby back ribs. So I realized that a smaller number of lit coals could control the temperature of the grill and keep the temperature in my desired range of 250⁰F (120⁰C) to 300⁰F (150⁰C). Also using mostly unlit charcoal, which would slowly light over the extended cooking time, makes it possible to not have to constantly reload the charcoal during cooking. It took me two tries, but I found that for my grill, 8-12 lit coals placed into a crater in a semi-circular wall consisting of one charcoal chimney’s worth of unlit charcoal provides the temperature control and cooking time duration that I wanted. I also used two pans of water to help control the temperature; one pan opposite the unlit charcoal wall, and one pan over the lit coals on the grill grate opposite the pork baby back ribs. One chunk of smoking wood was placed in the crater over the lit coals and given the limited oxygen due to the dampers being mostly closed, the chunk lasts about 2 hours. When a new wood chunk needs to be placed over the lit charcoal, the water pan on the grill grate should also be refilled. The water pan opposite the charcoal will likely never need to be refilled.

A barbeque thermometer is a necessary tool to control the temperature of the barbeque kettle. I put the thermometer into the mostly closed upper damper on the lid. The bottom damper is used to control the temperature and may have to be closed completely after some of the coals in the charcoal wall become lit. If this happens, there should be enough oxygen coming in from where the lid meets the kettle, and the upper damper to keep the charcoal lit. If there are too many lit coals, the temperature can increase beyond the desired range, so it is important to control the temperature with the lower damper. You will have to experiment with your grill to maintain a stable and desired temperature.

So after a mostly technical explanation of the cooking method, how did the pork baby back ribs turn out after 4 hours of cooking? Well, I was very pleased with the results. The ribs had a nice smoky bark on the outside and the ribs themselves were slightly chewy, which is the way I like my ribs. After cutting the rack into individual ribs, I ate the ribs with a tangy sauce.

Enjoy!

Grilled Chili Garlic Chicken Wings (燒烤蒜蓉辣椒鷄翼, Siu1 Haau1 Syun3 Jung4 Laat6 Ziu1 Gai1 Jik6)

Grilled chicken wings are always a treat to eat for me and they don’t take very long to cook using indirect heat on the grill. Grill marks can be added at the end of cooking using direct heat. If you start by grilling the chicken using direct heat (i.e. over the coals), you’ll probably burn the chicken before it’s cooked. So using indirect heat first to cook the chicken and then direct heat to produce the grill marks, allows the charcoal to come to a lower temperature while still producing the marks. Of course, adding grill marks is optional and you can just serve the chicken after indirect cooking.

The wing tips can be removed before cooking, but I also like to eat them, so I don’t cut them off before cooking. The marinade uses chili garlic sauce. Huy Fong Foods brand Chili Garlic Sauce is available in the USA and is made in southern California. They also manufacture their famous Sriracha sauce in the same factory. As usual, you can add more chili garlic sauce if you like your food spicier or substitute Sriracha sauce.

Enjoy!

Chinese Barbeque Chicken Salad (手絲燒烤鷄沙律, Sau2 Si1 Siu1 Haau1 Gai1 Saa1 Leot6)

This recipe was updated on 15 Aug 2015. Some equipment was added and hyperlinks fixed.

If this recipe looks familiar, it is, since it’s a variation of the original Mom’s Chinese Chicken Salad (手絲鷄沙律, Sau² Si¹ Gai¹ Saa¹ Leot⁶) recipe. My Mom liked this version of the salad more than the original. This time when I made the salad, I decided to barbeque the chicken using the Mom’s Grilled Soy Sauce Chicken (燒烤豉油雞, Siu¹ Haau¹ Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹) recipe. I marinated the chicken for a week, which is much longer than called for in the grilled chicken recipe, but other than that, making the Chinese chicken salad was the same. The recipe still makes enough salad to feed an army of relatives, so try making this the next time you have a family gathering.

Enjoy!

Grilled Plum Sauce Pork Ribeye Steaks (燒烤酸梅豬排, Siu1 Haau1 Syun1 Mui4 Zyu1 Paai4)

Plum sauce can be purchased at your local Asian supermarket and usually is an accompaniment to roast duck. Koon Chun Sauce Factory makes the plum sauce and it’s the brand I grew up with (but you can use any brand available). The sauce is a sweet and slightly sour, and has a mild spice kick to it. For this recipe, I used plum sauce and, to emphasize the plum flavor, plum wine to marinate pork chops before grilling.

Enjoy!

Mom’s Grilled Soy Sauce Chicken (燒烤豉油雞, Siu1 Haau1 Si6 Jau4 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 16 Aug 2015. Some hyperlinks were fixed.

The Lunar New Year is fast approaching and one of the traditional dishes to have is a whole chicken. Now when I say whole, I mean with the head and feet attached – otherwise it’s not a whole chicken! Now I didn’t use a whole chicken as it was just defined, but the results are just as tasty. This is based on my Mom’s favorite recipe for Chicken Stuffed with Sticky Rice (糯米鷄, No⁶ Mai⁵ Gai¹). She would roast her chicken in the oven stuffed with Chinese Sticky Rice (糯米飯, No⁶ Mai⁵ Faan⁶), but I chose to use my grill to cook the chicken. I used a chicken stand to cook the chicken in the grill. The stand is also known as a “beer can” chicken stand (although no can was used to cook the chicken) since a beer can fits perfectly into the cavity and supports the chicken upright. The stand I use also has a base that catches the juices, so a gravy can be made.

I made a few other modifications to the chicken marinade, but retained the most important ingredient that made my Mom’s roast chicken flavorful and that ingredient is gin. The only reason I purchase gin is to make this chicken, otherwise the bottle just sits in my cabinet waiting for the next chicken to marinade. If you don’t have gin, you can always substitute Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, but it won’t taste the same.

Enjoy!

Asian-Style Carnitas

This Asian spiced inspired slow cooker recipe has its origins from the Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas) recipe, which was adapted from the Mexican Pulled Pork recipe at America’s Test Kitchen. Their original premise was to develop a recipe that did involve lard or deep frying to produce the carnitas’ crispy outside. Their solution, after oven-braising the pork in a Dutch oven (this recipe uses the slow cooker instead), was to use the broiler after coating the pork with a reduction of the remaining liquid and fat. The method works great and I’ve modified their technique to use the barbeque grill instead of the broiler to get a smokier flavor incorporated into the pork. The resulting carnitas are soft on the inside and a crispy brown on the outside, with that distinctive smoked flavor from the grill. The condiments are also Asian inspired with spicy Sriracha sauce adding a distinctive spicy hot kick to the dish.

Enjoy!

Grilled Teriyaki Ribeye Pork Chops

No longer are pork chops just called pork chops. Pork chops are now being sold as ribeye or porterhouse pork chops. While the pork chops are the same, the marketing has changed, which is clever given the cost of beef nowadays. No matter, the pork still taste the same no matter what they’re called. I’m able to purchase thick pork chops - thick meaning larger than 1-inch (2.5 cm) - which lends itself to cooking the pork chops like beef steaks. This version uses a teriyaki and sake marinade before being grilled. You can just as easily use thinner pork chops to make this dish, but you’ll need to reduce the grill times.

Enjoy!