Alex Skaria - The Asian Barbecue Book: From Teriyaki to Tandoori

To my mother, Anita, my father, Arankathu, and my brother Andreas

Acknowledgments

It has taken quite a few years to write this book and I wish to thank all those who helped and inspired me throughout this period. This book would not have been possible without my good friend Alberto Cassio who did the food photography for the book. The photographs were made during an intensive three-week session. I owe a word of thanks to our kitchen assistant Nasima, who helped us prepare the food, and to the food stylist Khun Pat Chulaka, who was of great assistance and helped to give the photographs their subtle appearance.

I also wish to thank my publisher Eric Oey and his wife Christina who gave numerous very inspiring ideas and input. Special thanks go to my editor Holly Jennings who patiently reviewed the text, asked often very critical questions, clarified various inconsistencies, and helped to make the text lean and easily legible. Furthermore, I wish to express my thanks to my sister-in-law Mouna who gave me a lot of insight into the secrets of Lebanese cuisine. I also wish to thank the staff and friends of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club who helped me to organize numerous BBQ parties, which were the original source of inspiration of this book. Finally to my wife Yanping and daughter Surya who supported me throughout this period with calm advice and many suggestions.

Sauces, Dips, Sambals, Butters and Chutneys

In Asia diners use condiments such as dipping sauces and chutneys to spice up food to their liking. Some like it spicy and tangy, others prefer it mild and sweet. If you prefer to grill meat thats only been lightly seasoned (without marinades, rubs and so on) you can use the condiments in this chapter to add texture and color and balance the richness of the grilled meat. But even if the food has been infused with flavors with marinades or rubs the right combination of condiments can provide a complementary seasoning.

In India, where strongly flavored marinades are typically used, diners are offered a combination of mint chutney, yogurt-based chutneys, mango chutney and some spicy pickles.

How they choose to combine the chutneys and pickles is left to their personal preference. In Thailand, when being served seafood, you will get two or three dips, one very spicy and others sweeter. Except for curries, cooked seafood is usually not spiced. You add the seasoning and flavor by dipping the food, as per your liking.

In Japan and China sauces and dips are often soy and vinegar based and served with grilled, boiled and steamed dishes as well as for raw vegetables.

Mayonnaise-based sauces and flavored butters have become universal favorites and can be found nowadays throughout Asia from Korea to Turkey.

Guidelines for Condiments

Grilled food that has no marinade or very little marinated flavoring is like a white sheet of paper hence it can be combined with almost any sauce or chutney in this chapter. I often serve a plain grilled porterhouse steak or large T-bone steak with three or four different sauces. A typical combination would be curry herb butter, sesame chili sauce, garlic sauce and a tartare sauce with wasabi.

I change the combination of sauces every now and again. Indian and Middle Easterntype dishes go well with sauces like garlic sauce, pomegranate sauce, mango and tomato and lemon chutneys, yogurt-based chutneys and most tomato sauces. Grilled dishes from East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) can be paired with all soy-based sauces such as soybean paste or sesame miso sauce or sesame soy vinaigrette. The soy-based sauces may also be used for Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

On the other hand sauces from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, such as sesame chili sauce, satay sauce and sambal oelek can be used for these cuisines but may not be suitable for the subtle flavors of Chinese and Japanese grilled dishes. Mayonnaise sauces and flavored butters should only be combined with mildly flavored dishes like grilled meat and seafood that has marinated with subtle flavors or not marinated at all. These butters and mayonnaise sauces are very complementary for grilled food like steaks because they harmonize both the flavor and mouthfeel.

This mild aromatic sauce greatly enhances the flavor of grilled lamb. It is one of the suggested sauces for Lamb Steaks with Three Asian Sauces (page 130).

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
MAKES: 1/3 cup (80 ml)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

5 teaspoons Chinese light soy sauce

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Chinese Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and rice wine. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the dark sesame oil and garlic and mix well.

Miso has a mild flavor that enhances the flavor of any dish. This easy-to prepare sauce is excellent drizzled over a simple grilled steak, such as Korean-Style Barbecued Sirloin Steaks (page 62), fish or vegetables.

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
MAKES cup (185 ml)

cup (65 ml) rice vinegar

2 tablespoons chicken stock or a pinch of dashi stock powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon white miso paste

1 tablespoon dark sesame paste

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

3 tablespoons finely chopped green onion (scallion)

In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients until combined.

This recipe uses several very aromatic spices that are typical in north Indian cuisine. The spices are blended with dried orange peel and ginger to make a wonderful harmonic combination of aromas. It will give you great satisfaction to have your very own barbecue sauce. It can be used as a basting sauce while grilling, or served with meat at the table for a one-of-a-kind condiment. I like to serve this sauce with Beef Short Ribs with Teriyaki Glazing Sauce (page 67).

PREPARATION TIME: 35 minutes
MAKES 2 cups (500 ml)

Heaping teaspoon grains of paradise seeds (from 1 pod), toasted

3 cloves, toasted

3 allspice berries, toasted

One -in (1.25-cm) piece cinnamon, toasted

piece mace, toasted

3 cloves garlic, crushed to paste

1 tablespoon peeled and chopped fresh ginger, ground to paste

5 black peppercorns, toasted

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 lb (500 g) canned tomatoes, drained, deseeded and finely chopped

of the juice from the canned tomatoes

1 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

4 tablespoons mild vinegar, such as white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

3 to 4 tablespoons brown sugar

tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon dried orange zest, finely chopped

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

cup water added little by little to avoid sticking