Outdoor barbecue is like a universal language with a multitude of accents. It is an integral part of almost every culinary culture, yet people from various parts of the world have their own take on the fare, with their own preferences on the ingredients, the way of cooking and the time of having the barbecue.
Hong Kong style barbecue has ten major features that are hardly spotted anywhere else. Talk to a local about any of these, and some heads would nod coupled with sentiments of yearning for the next smoky outing.
In most countries, outdoor barbecue means grilling meat, seafood and other ingredients on a large grill. The backdrop of the feast can be held in either a backyard or somewhere in the wild. There would always be someone managing the grill, whether the group takes turns to do this or not. In comparison, Hong Kong style barbecue could be an odd sight to untrained eyes. Given the small size of the city, few residents own a grill, let alone a backyard. Therefore, stone grills are built all over public country parks and beaches. Surrounding them, everyone tends to their own food with individual barbecue forks.
2) Charcoal Grilled Meat
Charcoal is a common fuel for barbecues in Hong Kong, with the exception of some private housing estates which have electricity or gas-powered grills. When the barbecue season arrives, you’ll see thousands of bags of charcoal stacked at general stores and supermarkets.
3) The Technique of Starting A Fire
It might sound easy enough to stack the charcoal pieces on the grill and burn them to get the fire going. But how to do it could be a contentious topic, especially when the process takes longer than anticipated, and people’s hunger and impatience get in the way. Starting a fire outdoors is influenced by weather, charcoal quality and grill design. But with new burning aids and better charcoal introduced to the market, barbecue enthusiasts can expect to get into action in no time.
4) Variety of Food
Theoretically, any food can put grilled. And in Hong Kong, there’s no end to the variety of food items for barbecues. In addition to the most popular meat and seafood, vegetables, fruits, bread and marshmallow are some mainstream choices. That said, to know what’s suitable for barbecue requires some experimentation. For instance, our barbecued minced fish siu mai was not a successful attempt.
5) Food Preparation
As pervasive as barbecue is to Hong Kong diners, not many people have the time to prep their food in advance. Thankfully, there are butcher shops and companies specialising in barbecue food. They sell all kinds of marinated meat, or even more conveniently, barbecue packs comprising different types of popular food items for grilling. Now it’s possible to head to the barbecue sites at the flick of a switch.
On the flip side, the seasoning and the freshness of the ingredients from these options are a different matter. As far as the marinade goes, prepping it at home one day in advance would surely yield better results.
6) Getting the Food on the Fork
Tip for becoming the Mr. or Ms. Popular among your group of friends: have good food-skewering skills. Hong Kong style barbecue forks are U-shaped. And considering all the turning needed to cook the food at all sides, it’s not the best design to keep the food from falling. Sizeable pork chops, bony chicken wings, or roe-bearing small fishes, prawns and mini octopus are all established “traps”.
7) Weather Issues
We’re all at the mercy of the weather. The glaring sun you see upon departure could turn into pouring rain before you arrive. Most barbecue lovers have several people hold a beach umbrella to protect the fire. Memorable? Probably. Enjoyable? Not so much. Nighttime barbecue makes for another strange scenario. Your site could be just lit by warning lights of your car, and you’d have no idea about what you’re eating. At least, you earn a new funny story to tell at other social events.
8) Is It Cooked?
This is as hard as any existential question in the world. Other than taking the piece of food out from the fork and put it in the mouth, there’s no other way to tell whether it’s cooked. And the difficulty multiplies for outings after dark. The solution might be in yourself: slightly lower your standard on what is okay to eat.
After spending a long time in front of a flaming grill, anyone could use some chilled drinks. Portable fridge is your best bet in the alfresco setting to carry your favourite the beer and soft drinks.
10) Keep the Music Going
Back in the days, a barbecue would always be accompanied by a cassette player. The group agreed on the playlist (sometimes dictated by the cassette player owner), and picked songs by the likes of Alan Tam, Leslie Cheung, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Akina Nakamori and Masahiko Kondo. If there was more than one group on the same site, a battle ensued with both parties turning up the volume, which made up a part of the joy of the occasion. Although it’s becoming more convenient to play music on the mobile devices, this custom seems to have sadly fallen out of favour.
