Taiwanese & Grilling [General]

2009 May 2
Parents in law are visiting from Taiwan. My wife prepared me about how picky they are with their food and how we have to visit the asian grocers regularly since they won't eat my white boy food.

ALL LIES!

They want to grill in the backyard every day. "Uhh, Pe-tah, we b-b-q today?" Damn right we do!

Now... they have never used a gas grill (or any grill really), so I've been doing it all. So far so good (they loooove grilled chicken wings coated in Diana sauce), but we want to move on to more seafood. They really want grilled squid that they apparently eat back home from a restaurant that they like so much.

I could use some tips, since they're expecting me to do it. I've never grilled squid either. I'm thinking a fresh squid/greens like dish such as this one: www.foodtv.ca

They are very low sodium/spicey heat type folks but I think that one looks nice. I'll probably skip dijon and add s&p to individual dishes to taste, and use cilantro instead of parsley.

I also need more ideas for "light" asian/seafood/grilling fusion dishes, since they are here for a few weeks :-)

Watcha got?


2009 May 2
you called?
lol
this is right up my alley
basically with most chinese (taiwanese included) we love a balanced palate
so salty, sweet, sour, and even a bit spicy and/or bitter
inclusion of fruit is highly appreciated

if you are going to slice the squid, I suggest a grill basket
try Italian dressing or teriyaki as a marinade, yea add some cilantro and green onions

you could leave the tubes whole and stuff them but do so loosely
you could use strips of salmon wrapped in nori (a signature app for me!)
or some white fish mari'd in teriyaki
or chopped pork, waterchestnuts, ginger and green onions
or chinese greens such as gai lan
(with stuffed, you will want to grill slowly)
remember with squid: cook quickly (under two minutes) or long (15+)

you could grill salmon or get some cedar planks and cook on that
bbq/diane's/bbq + a fruit puree such as mango or pineapple works well

seafood kabobs with pineapple, peppers and red onions should also spark their interest

suggestion: lay out some different chunks of seafood (salmon, scallops, shrimp, etc)and some veggies (onions, peppers, blanched sweet potatoes, blanced chunks of corn on the cob) and some fruit (pineapple, oranges, apples) and skewers and let them make their own and you grill it for them (have hand sanitizer on hand for them)


2009 May 4
Great, thanks for the tips chef Obi. This is all stuff I'll probably do even when they're gone :-)

I really like the self made skewers idea, not sure why I didn't think of it, I guess I'm too used to cooking for two. It's sort of like Korean Barbecue style, I guess. I could make up some different sauces, etc. Do the same thing for salad.

Mom-in-law gave me some great Taiwanese cookbooks too, and has been giving me some lessons on her home style cooking.

2009 May 4
All the better if you can get fresh squid - I scored a bunch, free, from Whalesbone a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing stuff, but is probably a pain for most to prep & clean from scratch. Alternatively, you can buy flash frozen blocks of whole, cleaned, squid 'tubes' in 1lb, 5lb, etc. from places like Pelican.

If you take a squid, slice it almost all the way through down one side, marinate in a miso/mirin/ginger sauce & flash grill @ very high temp, you will get some awesome tasting squid!

Edit: Also got some black cod/sablefish from Whalesbone, would have been awesome if grilled/steamed with a black bean sauce. Amazing fish! So buttery!

2009 May 4
They picked up squid from the superstore for me. Pre-cleaned (a big suprise to my guests). I scored the skin and "flash grilled" them after marinating. Delicious.

I've been trying not to drive all over the city to pick things up, mostly staying in Orleans. I want to check out the LaPointes near the Sobey's soon to see if they have nice tuna steaks.


2009 May 4
Peter - Now this sounds like an exciting project... and just what you needed to expand your culinary skills on the BBQ. Amazing how sometimes what starts out as unexpected, can end up being so satisfying. I am sure this "visit" will radically change your views on grilling... I am guessing that in the future you'll be the "go to guy" here on OF for new ideas.

2009 May 4
F&T - It's really nice to have other eaters in the house who have requests and different tastes than my wife and I. I've always been one to try everything, all sorts of ethnic foods, etc. Having them here is inspiring and a kick in the pants to try new stuff on the grill.

I'm using this grill: www.canadiantire.ca (Centro 4800)

The natural gas hookup has been a blessing considering the amount of food we've done out there in the past 3-4 days. Even before they got here, I was out there 4 days a week if the weather is nice. A couple times a month in the winter.

2009 May 4
This is most informative. I love this thread. Every day I laugh out loud over this line:

"'Uhh, Pe-tah, we b-b-q today?' Damn right we do!"

There I go again.

2009 May 4
Momomoto - Like you, I got a smile when I first read it... but now that you`ve repeated it here... that "D@mn right we do!" part is twice as funny.

2009 May 4
They want to grill in the backyard every day. "Uhh, Pe-tah, we b-b-q today?" Damn right we do!

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

So bad, but I am dying of laughter over here! Well played Peter...er...Pe-tah

2009 May 4
hahah! I'm glad you guys enjoy my textized version of their English. I admire their ability to use it though, I can't speak any Taiwanese dialect or Mandarin that they and my wife speak so easily. They instructed me on how to say their version of "cheers!" today at the dinner table with some beers, but I've already forgotten. I will learn it again tomorrow at the table, and I hope it sticks. I'll keep on it until it sticks.

Cajun seasoned/marinated pork tenderloin kabobs with all sorts of choose your own grilled vegies today. Mom-in-law did a shrimp/sake/garlic dish in the frying pan.

I was going to throw a nasi goering dish with thin sliced grilled chicken breast & peanut sauce soon.

2009 May 4
Taiwanese like our other island brothers, Hawaiians and Jamaicans, love the simplicity of a quick grill
most of our other dishes take a long time to prepare

when I first read your thread, I had to chuckle, thinking of my downstairs neighbors back in Seattle
they were from Hawaii and we discussed different food styles frequently
my most fond memory of them is almost every evening around 5 o'clock is seeing a puff of grey smoke reaching for the sky, as Bra stoked up the Hibachi

I always asked why he did not have a full size grill
but seeing he basically used it grill his fish and/or chicken that was all thinly sliced, it made sense

grilling over live goals daily if not twice a day, you just want to have enough heat to get it done and over and not have it go for hours
never thought a little tiny thing like that could generate that much heat but it did
go figure

2009 May 5
chef Obi. I have a little hibachi, paid about $25 for it at Canadian Tire last year. About 2 feet squared surface. I had loaned it to a friend this spring until he purchased his own grill, just got it back today (my friend got a nice big Weber charcoal grill)- I'm eager to try indonesian chicken sate on it tonight. I'll have to go light on the sambal though :/