BBQ Spice Mixes! We’ve been wanting to do a Chinese BBQ 101 video for you guys for a while, but unfortunately our building management hasn’t been… cooperative lol. So we figured we could at the very least go over some spice mixes.
0:00 – BBQ culture in China
1:39 – Chili Powder Seasoning
3:10 – Chili Powder & Sand Ginger Seasoning
3:51 – Cumin & Sesame Seed Seasoning
5:16 – Other components of Chinese BBQ?
Note: Sometimes at BBQ joints they’ll separate the spice mix with a salt/MSG mix. We combined them because if you purchase a pre-made mix here at the store they’ll usually include the salt/MSG.
SPICE MIX #1: CHILI POWDER MIX
1 tbsp toasted chili powder (辣椒面, can sub for cayenne pepper)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp MSG (味精)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (孜然)
1/2 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉)
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder (花椒粉)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (姜粉)
1/4 tsp ginger powder (大蒜粉)
1/4 tsp star anise powder (八角粉) – you will likely need to grind your own
(Garlic and ginger powder are relatively rare in Chinese cuisine, but are used in some BBQ spice mixes – and we like it)
To prepare the Star Anise powder: Put ~1/3 of a Star Anise into a grinder and blitz. We just do a whole one and reserve the excess though.
To prepare the cumin: Put 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds into a spice grinder and blitz til fine.
To toast the chilis: Use ~15g of a red dried chili that’s medium heat (e.g. Arbol, Sichuan Erjingtiao, Japones, Guizhou Longhorn, Cayenne, etc etc) – this will likely make extra. Snip into ~1 inch sections. Toast over med-low for ~8 minutes, or until they’re ‘chestnut-colored’
You can swap the cumin seeds for ground cumin if you like. You can also alternatively use homemade toasted-then-ground Sichuan peppercorn powder, but if using homemade I’d swap down to 1/4 tsp.
SPICE MIX #2: CHILI POWDER AND SAND GINGER MIX
1 tsp toasted chili powder (辣椒面, can sub for cayenne pepper)
1 tsp sand ginger (沙姜), a.k.a. Shajiang, Kencur, Cutcherry powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp MSG (味精)
1/2 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉)
1/4 tsp five spice powder (五香粉)
SPICE MIX #3: CUMIN AND SESAME MIX
5 tsp cumin seeds (孜然)
2.5 tsp toasted sesame seeds (芝麻)
1 tsp fennel seed (小茴香)
1 tsp toasted chili powder (辣椒粉) -or- cayenne pepper is ok
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp MSG (味精)
To prepare the cumin: Put 5 tsp of cumin seeds into a spice grinder and blitz for ~10-20 seconds til “half ground”.
To prepare the sesame seeds: Toast some sesame seeds over medium flame for ~5 minutes until deepened in color and you can hear some light popping sounds. Give a very light pound in a mortar to just crack them open a touch.
To prepare the fennel seed: Put 1 tsp fennel seed into a spice grinder and blitz until fine.
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http://www.patreon.com/ChineseCookingDemystified
Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg
ABOUT US
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Learn how to cook real deal, authentic Chinese food! We post recipes every Friday (unless we happen to be travelling) 🙂
We’re Steph and Chris – a food-obsessed couple that lives in Shunde, China. Steph is from Guangzhou and loves cooking food from throughout China – you’ll usually be watching her behind the wok. Chris is a long-term expat from America that’s been living in China and loving it for the last eleven years – you’ll be listening to his explanations and recipe details, and doing some cooking at times as well.
This channel is all about learning how to cook the same taste that you’d get in China. Our goal for each video is to give you a recipe that would at least get you close to what’s made by some of our favorite restaurants here. Because of that, our recipes are no-holds-barred Chinese when it comes to style and ingredients – but feel free to ask for tips about adaptations and sourcing too!
47 Comments
Hey guys, a few notes:
1. Ok, so I wanted to have a brief aside on… “how to use this stuff”, but ultimately it would end up turning into a whole ‘how to make Chinese shaokao’ thing. The good shaokao joints are good for a reason – there’s actually a number of moving pieces. So below I’ll list out three things: (1) the marinade (2) the oil and (3) the sauce. Note that just like the spice mixes… there’s a ton of diversity here, too. It’s just to get started… so that if you just wanted to use the spice mixes in the Western style (given that we don’t have accompanying videos/tested recipes for the following), that would likely be delicious as well.
2. Marinade: For every 150g of meat… use 1/2 tbsp oil, ½ tbsp spice mix, ½ tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp sugar. Mix well, and sprinkle a bit of cornstarch (~1/4 tsp) if the marinade’s not sticking very well to the meat.
3. Oils: While I have seen some places brush on plain peanut oil, much better is to use garlic or scallion oil. Scallion oil would be a good choice, I think. To make it, use ~12 large scallion whites and a quarter of an onion (julienned) and cooked with peanut oil over medium heat for ~8 minutes. We have instructions on how to making it in our Char Siu Bao video here: https://youtu.be/lj5GJP_i55o?t=118
4. Seasoning sauce: Fry ~3 smashed garlic cloves, ~1 inch of smashed ginger, ~2 scallion whites, and ~1/6 of an onion (chunks) in ~2 tbsp or so of peanut oil. Once golden, add 4 tbsp water, 1 tbsp light soy, 1 tbsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing, an optional 1 tbsp sweet bean paste or Cantonese mianchi (or Japanese red miso), 1 tbsp sugar, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp MSG. Reduce by about one third. Strain and remove the aromatics.
5. To grill: marinate the meat – a half hour or so is fine. Skewer, toss on grill. Thoroughly brush both sides with the scallion oil. Whenever it looks a bit dry, brush on more oil. About halfway through cooking, brush on the sauce. Near the end of grilling, add the seasoning mixes.
Ok! So I’m sure there’s more stuff to get to, but I gotta run to a quick zoom call with the family 🙂
Do you guys know what kind of oil they use to coat the meat? I always see them using a red kind of oil and afterwors they sprinkle the spices
two years ago I was in Liaoning and I never had such amazing BBQs (we had a Welcome BBQ and a Good Bye BBQ). it was so good. I never thought that I would fall in love with chicken neck. but going to use those mixes next time I have a BBQ
All these YouTubers now doing the Binging with Babish hands lol, love the recipe kids but be original.
Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for this!! I lived in Changchun (NE China) for 4 years and have missed the BBQ ever since coming home … It made me sad to think that the foods I knew and loved so much in China would never grace my lips and tastebuds ever again, but now I can relive the many good times and 3am chuar sessions. Legend!!
There was a shaokao joint under my apartment in shanghai that was one of my favourite places in the city. They did an aubergine/eggplant thing that was so so good and I cannot find a recipe in English anywhere!
What's up with the Don King microphone she is holding? Nice video explaining how to make the spice mixtures. Thanks!
What's MSG??
i would love to see if you guys could make a video about guanxi cuisine!! my best friend is from nanning and i would love to cook for her sometime
Hi guys, I love your channel, makes me so homesick for the food back when I lived in Shanghai. I ate street bbq all the time, in particular I frequented the guys that came from Xinjiang because they had the best stuff in my opinion. One thing that I loved in particular that is still a mystery to me to this day is a delicious tofu on skewers that only the Xinjiang bbq guys had. My Mandarin was limited but even with the help of local friends I could never get an answer as to what it was exactly, the answer was always simply "xinjiang tofu." It was a thicker/denser than most tofu and was itself flavored in some way (I've tried it with and without the spice mix they sprinkle on top) and had some kind of seeds IN the tofu. I've tried tirelessly to find any mention of it online but always arrive at a dead end. Have you guys ever encountered anything like I'm describing? Could you potentially "demystify" this special tofu?
I love how MSG is making a comeback. Back in the 90's MSG was a taboo. Now its like fcuk it, as long as its good, toss it in…YOLO! I love it!!!
Do you toast the cumin (or any of the seeds) before grinding
I’m drooling & missing shao kao nights in Beijing! Thank you for sharing – def going to try!
OMG I love Steph’s Big White Rabbit Milk Candy (大白兔奶糖) shirt
I made some skewers tonight over charcoal after watching this, the cumin seasoning on lamb is hands down one of the best flavour combinations I have ever had. It was just absolutely f***ing sensational.
The 1st chilli one on chicken was good, super tasty, I'd love to be able to get the chillis you use, but had to settle for ground chilli powder I have on hand. But, the lamb was mucking refarkable.
This was the best food I ate in China.. I miss it soo much..
The taste of bbq in China is the best in the world.
Shao kao is culture not food
If you a fatty piece meat like lamb leg or brisket. You can render the fat and brush it or dip your skewer into it with the melted fat while or before grilling.
Where can i buy those here in Philippines please
Thank you I have been looking for this for agggggessss
molto buono😋…grazie per i consigli..bel canale, se ti va passa dal mio canale 🥰
What is MSG
I use to live in Beijing and use to eat these for dinner all the time. When we moved back to the United States I was so sad because all I could figure out was that it was cumin. It's such a blast to the past—your videos are amazing, keep up the good work!
Can you writing to me ok . Thanks
This is Uyghur cuisine😏
the best chinese cooking channel ever ….years later still loving it !!!
Highly beneficial to foreigners who are residents of china. Specifically the ones who are stuck abroad
Why is that nice lady talking into a tribble at the end of the video?
Awesome this looks easy! Hot summer nights at bbq joints in China 👌🙏. I would love a recipe video for kao yu aka Sichuan bbq fish aka Sichuan boiled fish aka mala boiled fish lol
what is MSG ?
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Hi 🙂 i used to work on a ship and we dock at shanghai, China. I used to eat everytime we dock at the shanghai port at a shao kao vendor who sells corn on a stick. I noticed he always put a powder before giving us the corn and I really love the taste. May i know what powder seasoning chinese put on there corn on a stick? Thanks so mcuh 🙂 really missed eatinf that corn on a stick 🙂
Nothing beats barbecue bats with a side of covid salad
I order shao kao almost everynight, and yes, they aren’t healthy.
please, no cayenne pepper. that's heresy. they don't even taste anything like chili
Hi Chinese Cooking Demystify team. Is there any link to purchase this readymade mix online.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,WELCOME MY DEAR FRIEND ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
i use soy sauce, but maggi soy really overpower other ingredients all d time
Ah btw the reason why many 烧烤摊 only open at night is because or else they would get a huge fine because of not paying taxes
But that also applies to many breakfast sellers
But now seriously, even the chengguans eat breakfast and also dinner at such places which they normally trash over work time
But why the need to use msg??
I thought that’s not good for anyone.
I'm still waiting for the Chinese barbecue 101 😭
No msg
I love north east yang rou chuang
Can you use it as dipping ?
You have to remember to put the battery in the starter button. It’s not thick steel but it’s ok for what I spent. Wanted a Weber but not willing to pay $1000 for it. Crazy. This works fine and is good enough, it’s not going to last forever but it’s fine for now.
as a Chinese southerner, I prefer the Guangdong variant of the spices. Also I can't stand cumin. Like totally no. So I never ate any Chinese BBQ from northern cities. Also they tend to be way more oily too.