BBQ Memoir and Marinades

Memorial Day means BBQ to a lot of people. I had attended a BBQ a couple of times, but I had manned the grill once. About two years ago, a group of friends assembled a large BBQ at a park. Some uninvited guests also came, but at least the people I knew outnumbered them. I was assigned chicken wings and my mother helped marinate them. They were marinated with a Korean barbeque sauce which was not salty enough so we added some soy sauce into the marinade. We had some people bring hamburgers, hot dogs, kebabs, and chicken drum sticks. We also had people bring in a fruit platter, different drinks, a variety of cupcakes, and deviled eggs that I never got to eat because they ended up covered in dirt.

I was planning to just sit back and played games, but I couldn't after discovering blood in my meat. I came to eat some good roasted meat, not bloody steaks. Leave the blood for the vampires. The grill had a really good fire going actually. The problem was nobody covered the meat while it cooked. It took me a while to know how to be grill master. I had to evade lots of smoke and earned myself a nice sunburn. After taking some breaks, I drank a lot of liquids and sweated the entire day. The sun was very hot that day and every other family had already occupied the shady spots. I kept grilling meats until my tearing eyes couldn't take the smoke any longer.

The key to having a nicely grilled kebab or piece of meat is patience. You have to turn the pieces to make sure they get the same amount of fire. You have to seal the juices inside or you run the risk of drying it all out. Everyone hates dry stringy meat. You also don't want burnt meat. I'm not here to eat charcoal. I alternate between covering the grill and letting it cook under the sun. Cover the grill too long and there's too much smoke. I learned that the hard way. Otherwise, grill master is a fun role to play. By the late afternoon the meats were defrosting and had to be cooked and someone brought in a pack of sausages. My friend had all the charcoal ready and I was just there grilling those sausages. I nearly burned myself while poking holes because the hot fat spurted onto my arm.

I have made Chinese styled sausages with my parents and it was hard work. We didn't have a machine to make sausages and everything was stuffed into the skins by hand. The end result wasn't that great either. It tasted pretty weird. That rose wine was probably pretty funky tasting. We are not going to make any more sausages in the future, but sausage meat is an exception. Italian styled sausages are great for grilling at BBQ parties. You can make your own BBQ marinades at home rather than buying the ones chock full of preservatives. I didn't specify numerical amounts for ingredients because it really depends on how much meat you have.

Simple Sausage Meat

• 1.5 lbs ground pork with fat
• 1 whole fennel bulb
• black pepper
• sea salt
• cooking wine
• extra fat or cut up mozzarella (optional)

Ginger Soy Sauce Marinade

• ginger
• chopped scallions
• soy sauce
• hoisin sauce
• sugar
• rice wine
• vegetable oil

Five Spice Marinade

• five spice powder
• ginger
• hoisin sauce
• rice wine
• sugar
• vegetable oil

Korean Styled BBQ Marinade

• chopped whole onion
• garlic
• soy sauce 
• cooking wine
• soy sauce
• Asian pear or pineapple
• black pepper
• sesame oil