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Cantonese BBQ Chicken

Cantonese BBQ Chicken

This is summer-BBQ adaptation of the lacquered red roast meats that hang in the windows of Cantonese siu mei shops. The marinade borrows from char siu (hoisin, soy, Shaoxing wine, five-spice, fermented bean curd, garlic, ginger) but pulls back on the sugar slightly because chicken does not need as much sweetness as pork shoulder. Bone-in skin-on thighs are the right cut: they stay juicy on the grill, the skin renders down and crisps, and the bones give the meat shape. A two-stage glaze does the rest. The thighs cook over indirect heat first to render the fat and set the meat, then move directly over the coals for the last few minutes while a honey-maltose mixture is brushed on repeatedly. Every brush of glaze caramelises, blackens slightly at the edges, then gets brushed again. The result is sticky-shiny with a smell that is half five-spice, half woodsmoke. Difficulty is low if you control your heat. A two-zone fire (one side coals piled high, the other side empty) is the only real requirement; on a gas grill, two burners on full and one off does the same job. Serve sliced over plain rice with sliced cucumber and a spoon of chilli oil, or stuffed into bao with hoisin and spring onion.

Chinese 4 hours 40 minutes Serves4
Chapli Kebab

Chapli Kebab

Chapli kebabs are the spiced beef patties sizzling on a wide flat tawa at any roadside grill from Peshawar to Kabul, big enough to wrap a hand around and seasoned with the unusual punch of dried pomegranate seeds and coriander. The mince mixes with grated onion, chopped fresh tomato, ginger, garlic, beaten egg and a little gram flour to bind, plus the signature Afghan spice blend (coriander seed, pomegranate seeds, chilli flakes, cumin and garam masala). A thirty-minute rest lets the gram flour absorb the moisture and the spices marry. Pat thin and wide (the word chapli means "flat" or "slipper-shaped"), then fry hard in oil three or four minutes a side until darkly crusted. Eat hot from the pan, wrapped in fresh naan with sliced raw onion and a green chutney.

Afghanistan 1 hour 10 minutes Serves4
Chicken Inasal

Chicken Inasal

Chicken inasal is the pride of Bacolod City on Negros Occidental, where streetside grill houses serve nothing else: trays of chicken parts skewered on bamboo, smoking over long coal pits, with the cook brushing on bright orange annatto oil every few turns. The marinade is what marks it as Filipino: calamansi (a small, sour citrus halfway between lime and tangerine), cane vinegar, ginger, lemongrass, garlic and a generous slug of black pepper. The annatto oil (atsuete) is just neutral oil warmed gently with annatto seeds until it stains a vivid orange-red; this is the dish's signature look and a mild peppery flavour. Basting starts halfway through cooking so the colour goes onto skin that's already partly cooked, and continues right up to the moment the chicken leaves the grill. Difficulty for a home cook is low; the only special ingredients are calamansi (lime juice plus a touch of orange juice substitutes well) and annatto seeds (sometimes sold as achiote, found in any Filipino or Latin American shop). The flavour profile is sharp, herbal, slightly smoky, with a peppery edge from black pepper rather than chilli, and ribbon-thin lemongrass perfume running through everything. Service is non-negotiable: a heap of garlic rice (sinangag), a saucer of toyomansi (soy-calamansi-vinegar dipping sauce with sliced chillies), and the cook's pot of warm annatto oil for the table.

Filipino 4 hours 50 minutes Serves4
Gai Yang

Gai Yang

Gai yang ("grilled chicken") is one of the cornerstones of Isaan cooking, the cuisine of north-eastern Thailand that has spread across the whole country and into Thai restaurants worldwide. The defining flavour is coriander root, an ingredient barely used in Western cooking but central to Thai marinades. Pounded in a granite mortar with garlic, white peppercorns and a pinch of salt, it forms an aromatic paste that's then mixed with fish sauce, oyster sauce and a touch of sugar. The chicken is butterflied (spatchcocked) so it lies flat on the grill, marinated for at least 4 hours, then cooked slowly over moderate charcoal. The proper Isaan technique is patient: 30 minutes or more, turning often, sometimes pressed flat between two bamboo splints, so the skin slowly crisps and the meat takes on smoke without burning. The flavour is savoury-funky from fish sauce, peppery-warm from white pepper, deeply garlic-and-herb from the paste, with no chilli in the marinade itself; heat comes from the dipping sauce. Difficulty is low for the home cook: a good mortar or a small food processor makes the paste in 2 minutes, butterflying a chicken is a single cut down the backbone, and any covered grill or kettle does the cooking. Eaten by hand with balls of sticky rice and dipped into nam jim jaew, the toasted-rice-and-tamarind dipping sauce.

Thai 5 hours Serves4
Jerk Chicken

Jerk Chicken

A wet jerk paste: scotch bonnet chillies, garlic, ginger, spring onions, thyme, allspice (whole or ground), brown sugar, soy sauce, lime, oil, salt and pepper, pureed in a blender. The chicken (bone-in skin-on thighs and drumsticks, or spatchcocked whole bird) marinates for 12 hours minimum. Slow-grilled over indirect heat with a pile of pimento wood chips or allspice berries on the coals for the signature smoke; alternatively, an oven-bake at 180°C with a final blast under the grill, supplemented with allspice in the marinade.

Jamaican 13 hours 5 minutes Serves4
Kofta Burger

Kofta Burger

Lebanese kofta, sometimes spelled kafta, is minced lamb (often with a little beef) seasoned with grated onion, parsley and the warm spice blend known variously as baharat, sabaa baharat or seven-spice: allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cumin and coriander. Traditionally it is moulded around flat metal skewers and grilled over charcoal at a mangal, where it sears fast and stays juicy. Shaping the same mince into a patty for a flatbread sandwich is a natural extension and one you will find in Beirut bakeries and Levantine takeaways from Sydney to Detroit. What makes this burger taste authentic and not just a "Middle-Eastern-spiced lamb burger" is the grated onion: pulled across a box grater so it dissolves into the mince and seasons every gram from the inside, releasing moisture as it cooks. Squeezing out the excess liquid first keeps the patty from falling apart. The sauce is a loosened tahini-yoghurt, tart with lemon and garlic, and the contrast comes from sumac-dusted onions whose sharp, almost berry-like sourness cuts through the lamb's richness. Wrap it in toasted khobz or a soft brioche, depending on the occasion. Difficulty is low. The only skill is restraint with the mince: knead just enough to bind, no more.

Lebanese 35 minutes Serves4
Lahori Beef Boti Kebab

Lahori Beef Boti Kebab

Beef tenderloin or fillet is cut into 3 cm cubes and marinated in two stages. A first short rub with raw papaya, ginger-garlic, salt and a splash of vinegar tenderises the meat (papaya enzymes break down the muscle fibre). After 30 minutes the second marinade goes in: yogurt, Kashmiri chilli, garam masala, kasuri methi, mustard oil and a touch of besan. The beef sits for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight. Threaded onto skewers and grilled hot until charred at the edges; the inside should stay pink and juicy.

Lahori 4 hours 32 minutes Serves4-6
Piri Piri Chicken

Piri Piri Chicken

Piri-piri chicken is the dish that travelled from Mozambique to Portugal to the high street, and the original is still the best: a whole chicken spatchcocked flat, marinated overnight in a vivid red paste of bird's-eye chillies, garlic, paprika, lemon and olive oil, then grilled hard over charcoal until the skin is darkly blistered and the meat just-cooked through. The marinade itself takes five minutes in a blender. The bird wants a minimum of four hours in it, ideally overnight. A home broiler on max works if you do not have a barbecue, but the smoke from the coals is half the dish. Serve with a second bowl of the same marinade as a sauce, a green salad, and chips.

Portuguese 5 hours Serves4
Pollo Asado

Pollo Asado

Pollo asado is the Mexican answer to grilled chicken, and the marinade is the entire point. Achiote paste (ground annatto seed with garlic, cumin, oregano and vinegar) provides both the dish's distinctive brick-orange colour and a subtle, almost peppery earthiness. Sour orange (naranja agria) is the traditional citrus, though a blend of orange and lime juice mimics it where bitter orange isn't available. The chicken is marinated for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, so the acid tenderises the meat and the achiote stains right through to the bone. On the grill, the marinade caramelises into a deeply coloured crust while the meat underneath stays juicy thanks to the bone-in cuts. Regional differences matter: Yucatán-style pollo asado leans heavily on achiote and sour orange, drawing from pibil traditions; northern Mexican versions add more cumin and chilli; the version popular in Los Angeles and Texas often gets a touch of tomato paste in the marinade for extra colour. Difficulty for home cooks is low: it's grilled chicken with a confident marinade. The main pitfall is high direct heat scorching the achiote-stained skin before the meat cooks through; a two-zone fire fixes that. Served with charred spring onions, warm corn tortillas, lime wedges, and salsa or guacamole.

Mexican 4 hours 50 minutes Serves4
Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is the slowest, simplest hero of American Southern barbecue. A whole bone-in pork shoulder, often called a Boston butt despite coming from the front of the pig, is rubbed with salt, sugar and spices and left to absorb seasoning overnight. The next morning it goes onto a smoker or a low oven and stays there for eight or nine hours until the collagen has fully broken down and a fork sinks in like wet sand. There are two great traditions: the eastern North Carolina style, where the whole hog is cooked and dressed with a thin cider vinegar and chilli flake sauce; and the Memphis or Kansas City style, where shoulder is the cut of choice and the sauce leans sweeter and tomato-based. The recipe here splits the difference: a Memphis-style sweet-and-savoury rub on the meat, then a sharp Carolina vinegar sauce to dress the pulled strands. The technique is forgiving. Internal temperature is the only thing that really matters, and you are looking for 95 degrees, well past the point where most cookbooks stop. That last twenty degrees is where the connective tissue finally surrenders. Wrap it in foil with a splash of cider when the bark sets, rest it long, and pull it warm. Pile onto a soft white bun with cold slaw, and you have the easiest crowd-feeder in the BBQ canon.

American 8 hours 20 minutes Serves8
Samgyeopsal

Samgyeopsal

Samgyeopsal, literally "three-layered flesh" after the visible stripes of meat and fat, is the most beloved grill-at-the-table meal in South Korea. It is not a marinade-heavy preparation: the entire point is the quality of the pork belly itself, sliced thick and grilled fresh over charcoal or a hot griddle while everyone sits around the table with side dishes, garlic, and a pile of lettuce leaves. The eating ritual is as important as the cooking. You take a leaf of lettuce or sesame perilla, lay on a piece of grilled belly fresh off the heat, add a smear of ssamjang (a thick, savoury paste of doenjang fermented soybean paste and gochujang chilli paste), a sliver of raw garlic grilled briefly in the pork fat, maybe a strand of spring onion salad, then wrap the whole thing tight, pop it into your mouth in one bite, and chase it with a shot of soju. Korean restaurants do not slice the belly for you at the table on purpose: the host or eldest cuts it with kitchen scissors as it cooks, in messy diagonals, which is part of the relaxed, social character of the meal. Difficulty is low; the cook is essentially supervision and a pair of tongs. The skill is in the side dishes (banchan) and the pacing. Sourcing matters: ask for skin-off pork belly cut between 1 ½ and 2 cm thick. Thin belly burns; thicker belly stays juicy.

Korean 35 minutes Serves4
Seekh Kebab Roll

Seekh Kebab Roll

Lamb mince (with enough fat for tenderness; 20%) combines with grated onion (squeezed dry), ginger, garlic, green chilli, fresh coriander, mint, garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt and a small spoon of besan (chickpea flour, helps the mince cling to the skewer). Mixed vigorously for 3 minutes to develop the proteins. Rested for 1 hour. Shaped into long sausages on metal skewers (or wooden skewers soaked for 30 min). Grilled hard over charcoal (or under a screaming-hot grill) 8-10 minutes turning often, until charred and just-cooked. Pulled off the skewers onto warm parathas; rolled with sliced onion, fresh coriander, mint chutney; eaten by hand.

Snacks 1 hour 48 minutes Serves4
Tandoori Chicken Tikka

Tandoori Chicken Tikka

Tandoori Chicken Tikka is restaurant-quality barbecue, sophisticated yet accessible. The chicken undergoes a two-stage marinade: first, a quick acid and spice bath to begin tenderizing; second, a rich yoghurt-based marinade infused with warming spices, fresh herbs, and umami-rich Parmesan. The extended marination (up to 48 hours) allows deep flavor penetration and tenderness. The result is succulent, fragrant, lightly charred chicken with a burnished exterior and a creamy, spiced crust. Serve with lemon and fresh coriander.

Sides 5 minutes Serves4
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