But less well-known Vietnamese grilled dishes are also poised for popularity.
Nem nuong, grilled patties of ground pork, fish sauce and sugar, are not only delicious but also fun to eat—diners “roll their own” with herbs and peanuts in rice paper wrappers, then dunk into fish sauce.
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines all have a version of satay, slices of meat, often marinated in turmeric, threaded onto bamboo skewers and grilled. In Thailand, peanut sauce, redolent with spices and fresh herbs, adds layers of flavor to satay. Satay Padang skips the peanut sauce in favor of a spicy, creamy coconut milk sauce. In Indonesia, a spicy chile mixture, sambal oelek—mainly crushed chiles—adds kick to satay.
China. The Chinese adapted and refined the techniques of the Mongol herdsmen and developed a sophisticated repertoire of flavoring and cooking techniques. But there’s still a place for grilling in open-air markets and street carts, where meat, flatbreads, vegetables and fruit are cooked over an open flame.
You’ll also find restaurants that specialize in meat grilled tableside in a similar fashion to the Korean bulgogi. Diners grill thin slices of beef or lamb on a charcoal brazier set into the table, then dip the meat into spicy sauces before folding it into flatbreads or buns. As a variation, after grilling, the meat can be simmered in a casserole with noodles, vegetables and rice wine.
India. Don’t overlook India when discussing Asian grilling—you’ll find unique and delicious variations, like the super-hot clay ovens called tandoor, in which flatbreads and skewered chicken, lamb and beef are cooked. Before cooking, meats are first marinated in lemon juice to tenderize, then seasoned with a tandoori paste or rub that might consist of ginger, garlic, spices, yogurt and red coloring from ground annatto seed (or, more frequently these days, red food coloring). The tandoor cooking process makes meat especially juicy and tender, with a unique, earthy aroma.
Asian-American barbecue
Major American cities with large immigrant populations have benefited from the entrepreneurial spirit behind the opening of authentic Asian eateries and grills. Korean, Mongolian and Thai barbecues, Japanese robata bars (named after the robatayaki, or robata, grill used to cook the food), and Vietnamese sandwich cafés are already standard options for adventurous eaters. The mom-and-pop restaurants are now being joined by mainstream, pan-Asian concept restaurants that are executing Asian grilling and reinventing traditional Asian dishes and flavor palettes to make them more accessible to westerners. L.A.’s Zen Grill, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Tom Tom Asian Grill in Dallas and O Asian Grill in Miami Beach all incorporate Asian flavors into grilled dishes that are all-American when it comes to protein ratio and portion size.
Bringing Asia home
After sampling the wide array of Asian foods and flavors in restaurants, as well as on their travels, consumers are increasingly eager to take these flavors home with them. Open-air grilling is not always an option for retail food products, but building flavor profiles for marinades, rubs and sauces with spices, chile oils, powders and vegetable purées can reproduce the taste of Asian barbecue in a manufacturing setting. Soft-frozen vegetable purées and seasoning blends can be the base for dips and sauces. Partnering with an ingredient company that specializes in formulating and processing protein products and creating customized savory flavors for marinades, rubs, injects, tumbles and topical seasoning blends can streamline the process. With customized flavors, it’s even possible to incorporate the flavor of distinctive cooking techniques, like grilling and smoking, into products that never go near an open flame.