Barbecue Squid and Chicken Tail Bone

Many times when we walk around Taipei street we smell this wonderful barbecue smell of squid or some other food. Let me ask you, how can you resist that kind of smell? I know I can't!

On the street there are many BBQ food seller. They usually either have a single table full with choices of ingredients or they use a modified pick up truck and carry the ingredients on the back of the truck .

These kind of seller usually offer so many varieties of food that you can choose. Then they will ask you if you like them to be deep-fried and then barbecued or just plain barbecue.

Since we can't enjoy these type of BBQ here in Indonesia, we have to cook them ourselves. So I start researching for them recipes of 2 of my favorite BBQ.

Barbecued Cuttlefish

Ingredients:

2 fresh big squid

Seasonings:

3 Tbs Chinese Barbecue Sauce ( sa cha jiang )
1 Tbs cooking wine
3 Tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp mirin

Methods:

1. Remove squid membranes, rinse, cut into long wide slices, arrange on rack, barbecue over medium heat.
2. Mix all seasonings well, brush on cuttlefish, turn squid constantly to brown evenly and let flavor be absorbed, wait until squid slices curl up, remove and serve.

Barbecued Chicken Tail

Ingredients:

2/3 lb chicken tail bone ends ( around 16 )
3 - 5 skewers

Seasonings:

(A) 2 scallions, 2 ginger slices, 1 Tbs cooking wine
(B) 1 Tbs cooking wine, 1/2 Tbs minced garlic, 2 Tbs BBQ soy sauce ( or just soy sauce ), 1/2 Tbs Lee Kum Kee honey BBQ sauce

Methods:

1. Rinse tail bone ends, blanch in boiling water with seasoning (A) added, remove and rinse under cold water, thread three to four tail bone ends on one skewer.
2. Mix (B) well, brush on tail bone ends, arrange tail bone ends on rack, barbecue over medium heat for 10 minutes.
3. Wait until tail bone ends brown and flavor is absorbed, remove and serve.

TIPS: Because the tail bone ends is so fatty, it must be blanched before barbecuing so the seasonings will stick. Do not blanch too long or it will already be cooked before barbecuing.
Barbecue on low and turn frequently to prevent it catching fire.

You can also use chicken skins with this BBQ recipe. Or some other meats or vegetables. Try to experiment with many different ingredients.

If you like hot like I do, you can sprinkle a mixture of 1 Tbs of roasted sesame seeds with 1 Tbs cayenne pepper powder on top your barbecue.