Jul 09,2020
One outdoor activity popular throughout the year is barbecue. There’s nothing like a barbecue with family and friends in the great outdoors! And the fact it’s so simple is part of its allure. All you do is grill the ingredients.
But a lot of barbecuers doubtless have their gripes. Tough, overdone meat and burnt vegetables don’t exactly taste great. And the flavor is the same every time. While a barbecue is fun for the vibes alone, it would be even better if you could enjoy a truly delicious no-fuss meal as well.
In this article, therefore, we zero in on the secret to a great barbecue. To tell us what it is, we turn to A-suke, the proprietor of Base Camp, an outdoor-themed café in the Suidobashi district of Tokyo. He’s a professional in the art of having fun where good food meets the great outdoors. The key to getting out the same old routine, as it turns out, lies in fermentation.
At the typical barbecue in Japan, you grill a batch of meat and vegetables, eat them with sauce bought at the store, and finish up with fried noodles. When it’s the same food every time, though, your culinary expectations may be dampened before you even leave the house.
When it comes to the barbecue ingredients, moreover, quantity takes priority, and quality often falls by the wayside. Maybe that’s why you feel full afterwards yet don’t quite feel satisfied.
“When stocking up, people are often more concerned about quantity than quality, because they don’t want to run out of food and alcohol at the barbecue site,” A-suke says. “But grilling meat of so-so quality until it’s well done (kind of burnt) and eating it with the same old sauce may be okay at first, but in the end, it’s not going to be a great taste experience, naturally.
“Of course, it’s important to have enough food on hand to fill everyone up. To avoid getting into the same old rut, though, you can add an extra twist by using some slightly better-quality ingredients. Make the occasion special by slipping a premium cut of beef between rounds of your usual meat, for example. Simply doing that will ultimately result in a different level of satisfaction.”
A-suke continues. “Fermentation is one of the biggest keys to a great barbecue. Instead of dipping grilled meat in sauce, I’d suggest grilling meat that’s been soaked in a marinade made with a fermented seasoning.” Using a fermented seasoning for the marinade makes even your regular meat taste markedly better.
A-suke, proprietor of Base Camp, a café in Suidobashi, Tokyo
“Marinating meat in a fermented seasoning like miso, salt koji (rice malt), or soy sauce koji tenderizes it and increases its umami due to the action of the proteolytic enzymes in the seasoning. It’s particularly effective in summer, when food spoilage is a concern, because it keeps the meat from going bad as quickly. When barbequing pork, slice a slab of pork butt to a thickness of five millimeters to a centimeter, then marinate.”
You don’t have to stick to fermented seasonings either. Have ready a selection of meats marinated in a variety of other marinades as well, such as pineapple or mango fruit juice, dressings, or what have you. That way your barbeque will be enjoyable to the end, without leaving you bored.
When stocking up on supplies, it might be fun to start by buying something special and deciding what marinades to use with it.
Want to enjoy something different from the same old barbeque? Here A-suke shares his no-fuss recipe for the fermented BBQ treat marinated tandoori chicken.
“The chicken burns easily, so keep an eye on it as you barbecue it. Tandoori chicken is usually thought of as being made with breast meat, but I always make it with chicken thigh, which is nice and juicy. Marinating the chicken in a fermented food like yogurt makes it more tender and moist. Putting it in a sealable bag makes it easy to take with you on the road. It also minimizes the amount of garbage when you head home.”
Vegetables, which play the starring role alongside meat, typically end up getting burned on the barbecue, half ruining the flavor.
“To overgeneralize somewhat, I think hardly any vegetables taste good when you just cook them and eat them. Vegetables cooked without due care lose their moisture and immediately burn. The trick is to choose a cooking technique that will keep them moist and juicy.”
A-suke shares three ideas for ensuring vegetables turn out moist and juicy at your barbecue.
＜Delicious ways to barbecue vegetables＞
・Baste them in olive oil.
・Wrap them in aluminum foil.
・Steam them in a Dutch oven.
To ensure your barbecue is satisfying overall, it’s imperative that the vegetables served between each round of meat taste good. All it takes is a bit of ingenuity to prevent vegetables from becoming dried out or burned to a crisp. They’ll look better for it too.
“While steamed vegetables taste delicious as they are, you can jazz things up by preparing a creamy sauce or dip to serve with them. It will make them downright mouthwatering. You should definitely give it a try.”
Next, here’s the recipe for another fermented BBQ treat recommended by A-suke: bagna cauda-style vegetable dip.
“Bagna cauda is seen as a bother to make, but all you have to do is use mayonnaise instead of whipping cream. The umami of the fermented anchovies results in a satisfying rich, flavorful dip.
“Steaming food outdoors can sound like a daunting prospect, but in fact it’s surprisingly simple. If you don’t have the right equipment — a steamer or steaming basket — there’s an easy workaround. Just fill a pan or frying pan with water, arrange the vegetables on a tall-footed plate or colander, position it on the pan, and cover with a lid.”
Finally, A-suke describes what makes the great outdoors so wonderful.
“Outdoor activities come in many different forms. There’s camping, of course. There’s fly fishing. There’s hunting. And the great thing is, everyone respects each other even if what they’re good at or specialize in is different. A lot of outdoor enthusiasts visit our café, and it always delights me to be present at the very moment when completely different interests meet and new friendships are formed.”
A-suke’s place, Base Camp, is an outdoor-themed café. A man of many interests, he opened it with the idea of creating a forum where people could connect with others who have similar likes. Many expert outdoorsmen and women drop by to talk about the great outdoors.
Next to Boot Camp’s entrance, there’s a display of camping equipment intended to make camping more fun, including gear designed by A-suke himself. Intrigued? Drop by and check the place out! And if you want to give a different twist to your barbecue this summer, why not have a go at making fermented BBQ treats like those featured here?
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