WKC Asians

[pbe gummi bear]

Who else here is Asian, married to an Asian, or just simply appreciates Asian cuisine? How does your experience shape your view of BBQ? I'm Filipino and we eat a lot of meat, family style. In fact, my grandparents used to raise pigs so we'd regularly have a few lechons (spit roasted whole pigs) for special occasions.

Filipino dish flavors are bold with a lot of salty/sweet/tangy. We eat a lot of pork and use a lot of vinegar as well. My wife is Chinese and although we have similar tastes in food overall, there are simply some staple Chinese flavors that I don't like as much. For example, I don't really like ginger and I get a lot of flack for that from other Asians.

Here's a good recipe for filipino pork bbq: http://panlasangpinoy.com/2017/06/18/filipino-style-pork-bbq/ The key here is to use the right kind of soy sauce. You can't use the ubiquitous Japanese/Kikkoman style soy sauce because it will come out too bitter and salty. Filipino soy sauce, such as Silver Swan or Datu Puti brand is much sweeter and less bitter.

[jcnaz]

That recipe sounds fantastic!
Can you tell me more about the spicy vinegar for dipping?

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[Jules V.]

Filipino here also. Lots of meats and rice in my household. Crispy pork belly is one of my favorite to cook on the kettle.


JV

[pbe gummi bear]

That recipe sounds fantastic!
Can you tell me more about the spicy vinegar for dipping?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

The vinegar is usually white cane vinegar. Again, sweeter than normal white vinegar you find in American stores. You then put chillies (usually the small Thai or birdseye peppers), pepper, and garlic in it. You can use it similarly to malt vinegar for fried stuff.

I can ship you guys condiments if you don't have any asian stores by you.

[Mr.CPHo]

I was born in Singapore which has a pretty diehard food culture.  The cuisine has Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, and Indonesian influences.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singaporean_cuisine#/search

My wife is from India which has its own regional variances.  I like Mughlai cuisine from northern India because it's meat-heavy.  Think biryanis, kebabs, tandoori chicken. I fell in love with my wife while eating a tandoori chicken, but that's another story.


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[pbe gummi bear]

I️ was born in Singapore which has a pretty diehard food culture.  The cuisine has Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, and Indonesian influences.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singaporean_cuisine#/search

My wife is from India which has its own regional variances.  I️ like Mughlai cuisine from northern India because it's meat-heavy.  Think biryanis, kebabs, tandoori chicken. I️ fell in love with my wife while eating a tandoori chicken, but that's another story.

I always imagined you as vietnamese because of "Pho" in your user name. I also like meaty Indian food. mmmmm

[pbe gummi bear]

Filipino here also. Lots of meats and rice in my household. Crispy pork belly is one of my favorite to cook on the kettle.


JV

Yay for another Filipino. Lots more on here too. 

[HoosierKettle]

I'm not Asian but love a lot of the food. At least what is available to me that I've tried.  I'm not a huge fan of ginger either. A friend of mine's mother in law makes incredible Chinese spicy pickles. 


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[LiquidOcelot]

I love food , but only as long as there is no bones I have to pick though any what ever I'm eating isn't staring back at me....just freaks me out lol. My ex girlfriend was Indian, Chinese and Portuguese, she turned me onto curry and Indian foods. My current wife is also half Indian but her dad died when she was 16( he was the Indian half) and he didn't cook. But I love all curry so far. And so far I'm boring when it comes to "real" Asian food. I think if I were to travel that if fare far better in Japan then other Asian areas.

[pbe gummi bear]

I love food , but only as long as there is no bones I have to pick though any what ever I'm eating isn't staring back at me....just freaks me out lol. My ex girlfriend was Indian, Chinese and Portuguese, she turned me onto curry and Indian foods. My current wife is also half Indian but her dad died when she was 16( he was the Indian half) and he didn't cook. But I love all curry so far. And so far I'm boring when it comes to "real" Asian food. I think if I were to travel that if fare far better in Japan then other Asian areas.

I hear ya man. Different cultures have different philosophies on food prep and sometimes that can affect the overall food experience. For example, it's more common for the Chinese to gnaw on and pick through bones with their hands and teeth, whereas Japanese and Koreans will prepare their food so that this really isn't necessary.

I recently read this Quora post about these differences: https://www.quora.com/In-what-ways-do-Chinese-Japanese-and-Korean-culture-differ-from-each-other/answer/Nell-Zhang?share=d3f1fd84&srid=ulw9 . This summarizes it best:

When we chitchat about the different food cultures, my Japanese coworker told me that "Putting some food into your mouth then spitting out part of it" is usually avoided in Japan, because it's considered not a good table manner.

I guess that's why comparing to Chinese food, Japanese food tend to be prepared boneless, and cut into "hitokuchi saizu" (mouthful size) that "tabeyasui" (easy to eat). And if you still feel it not easy enough, use your sharp chopstick tips as knives or forks.


At home we'll do a mashup with the original flavors but prepare it in a way that suits how we like to eat. On that note, Filipinos traditionally eat with a fork and spoon as our cuisine always has rice and the main dish is frequently in sauce so the spoon helps with that. I rarely eat with a fork and knife unless I'm at a restaurant or eating a big chunk of meat. I've also learned to chopstick with my left hand so I can spoon/fork/knife/chopstick with my dominant hand. A non-Chinese person chopsticking with both hands simultaneously makes for a good party trick!

[#ChrisO]

Im dutch and have a Chinese girlfriend. Her region is of the mellow flavors while I love the heavy flavors (Mexican/Thai/Indonesian/etc.) It gives interesting discussions on what we are going to eat. On the plus side, it's always meat/fish heavy


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[Troy]

I️ was born in Singapore which has a pretty diehard food culture.  The cuisine has Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, and Indonesian influences.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singaporean_cuisine#/search

My wife is from India which has its own regional variances.  I️ like Mughlai cuisine from northern India because it's meat-heavy.  Think biryanis, kebabs, tandoori chicken. I️ fell in love with my wife while eating a tandoori chicken, but that's another story.

I always imagined you as vietnamese because of "Pho" in your user name. I also like meaty Indian food. mmmmm

That's funny, I was thinking the same thing regarding "Pho" in the username.

I'd love to hear the tandoori fall in love story sometime!




As for me, I'm married to a filipino. I eat a lot of filipino and other asian dishes.

Our bbq is definitely asian flared, way beyond the 'inspired' level. My wife doesn't like traditional bbq sauce - so any Q I make needs to have a WOW factor without the sauce, or it needs to work well with teriyaki, vinegar, or Mang Thomas.

I've actually been meaning to attempt filipino adobo style pork ribs on the smoker to see how it would turn out.

[mick]

I'm not a fan of ginger either, or sesame seed oil, or teriyaki. If I like a recipe with any of those in there its always a hint of them, nothing too strong. I do like chili sauces though.

[Bubblehead]

Not Asian but lived in Hawaii for 24 years and traveled to Asian countries extensively over those years.  Philippines, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Saipan, Guam.  A few others as well like Australia, Seychelles, etc...

That being said, we eat Asian dishes for about 50% of our meals.  Rice is a staple.  I don't really even care for potatoes that much anymore

[addicted-to-smoke]

The different cultures reminds me of a time I went to lunch with a Chinese coworker, many years ago. He introduced me to dim sum that day. At one point I apologized for slurping, as we would regarding American soup if making noise in public.

He explained (I may be misremembering) that slurping is a compliment to the chef that you like it, that it tastes good. In my cynical, sarcastic way I said, "Isn't that a convenient excuse? And what if you hate it, you'll still wind up slurping!"

There was no culturally acceptable response. Apparently, if you don't like it you figure out a way not to slurp or just pass.