When it comes to barbecue feasts, the best thing to ensure it’s successful is that you have delicious food prepared. However, not just any meat, vegetables, and salad will work if you want it to be as memorable as it can be. Making sure that you have different styles of barbecue presented for your friends and family will elevate the experience.
Considering there are numerous ways to prepare barbecue around the world, you have more options to show off your cooking skills. So polish up your best knives now to prepare for the delicious barbecue dishes around the world that you can serve. To make it easier, Australian kitchen knife company Big Red Knives has curated the top 10 barbecue styles so read about them below.
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Japanese yakitori
While Japan contains multitudes of delicious food, yakitori (焼き鳥) tops it all when it comes to barbecue styled meat. It’s chicken, red meat and sweet meats cut in small pieces, placed on a skewer, then cooked on a charcoal grill. To make sure you have the perfect bite-sized pieces, you can use Big Red Knives’ the Wombat knife. It’s the perfect chopping knife considering its blade length is only 310 mm since it’s easy to use.
Generally, the meat is marinated with a savoury mix of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sake, brown sugar, and the Japanese rice cooking wine mirin. Once you’ve marinated, just put it in a skewer and grill it! For expert results, invest in a Konro Grill (also called a Hibachi) and Binchotan charcoal, a carbonised hardwood with great heat control and flavourful smoke.
Popular accompaniments are Bulldog Sauce, Kewpie Mayonnaise, or Soy Sauce with egg yolk.
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Korean barbecue
Among the food trends that took the world by storm in recent years, Korean barbecue retains its popularity due to how delicious it is. Different kinds of meat like beef, chicken, pork belly and more can be used here and cooked on a grill. To cut the meat properly, one of the best knives to use is Big Red Knives’ Tasmanian Devil so you get to cook thin slices of meat without bones and the like.
Make sure to have the gochujang, ssamjang, or doenjang ready to pair your meat with for that perfect Korean barbecue!
Korean Barbecue is epitomised by the cooking style - cooking thin strips of meat on a gas grill - but most importantly, the accompaniments. Fermented ingredients like kimchi, flavourful dipping sauces with sesame oil, chilli and fermented bean pastes, plus fresh vegetables and rice. Like a barbecue 'build-your-own-adventure'.
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South African Braai
One of the best styles you can include in your next barbecue is the South African Braai where you go the traditional way to cook your meat using wood and charcoal. Smoking the meat while cooking allows you to get the best flavour, a delicacy that’s often paired with beer or wine. The meat used here can be anywhere from chicken, boerewors sausages, lamb, up to cured meats! Braai is a distinct open fire cooking technique, so there is less emphasis on particular recipes, rather the style of cooking applied. This is food at its most elemental; cooked on open fire, with large gatherings and plenty of beer (sign me up).
If you want to prepare the perfect bite-sized meat for your skewers or to simply help you cut up the sausages, then it’s best to use the Dingo knife which is an all-purpose knife for all your barbecuing needs.
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Argentine asado
Grilling meat has never been more straightforward than Argentine Asado. While it is their version of a barbecue, it can’t be compared to other styles since the asado way to cook the meat simply means you light the fire and cook the meat on a grill. You don’t marinate the meat or anything since the only seasoning you can add here is BBQ salt. Again the emphasis here is on technique, rather than specific recipes. Asado can be enjoyed in tacos, alongside stews and salads, or even in a shish-kebab (one of the imported delicacies of Lebanese cuisine to South America).
However, there are numerous types of meat you can cook the Argentine asado style—anything from pork, beef, skirt steak, to all types of sausages! Just make sure to use the Brolga carver knife from Big Red Knives so you can properly cut the meat you want.
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Chilean asado
Change up your feasts by cooking your food in the Chilean Asado style where lamb takes centre stage! Considering that lamb is a big part of their culture, no true Chilean asado is complete without lamb skewered over open fire on a parrillero or grill. You can also expect sausages, steaks and chicken in a Chilean asado and it’s usually paired with wine and local beer. Make sure to use Big Red Knives’ Tasmanian Devil to get as close to the bone of a meat as possible!
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Brazilian churrasco
Take your feasts to the next level when you cook your meat using the Brazilian churrasco-style where the flavour of the meat is emphasised. When this style was first created, only beef was used but now other high-quality red meat are salted and then placed in a skewer and grilled. Served alongside you will find Chimmichurri sauce (a herbaceous sauce of fresh herbs, chilli, olive oil, vinegar and dried oregano), malagueta pepper hot sauce, and grains like polenta, maize and farofa.
For it to be a Brazilian churrasco, once the meat has been cooked, the meat is directly cut off from the large skewers and served in heaps on plates. That’s why the Big Red Knife is the perfect tool to use here since it’s durable and you can easily cut through the meat in one go.
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German barbecue
Featuring different types of sausages more than other types of meat, German barbecue is one that remains ever so popular between friends and family to spend time with each other. Besides sausages, pork chops and coleslaw are presented here, all paired up with beer and the like! And since you need to handle the sausages when grilling them, it’s best you use a small paring knife like the Kookaburra knife for all your cutting needs.
German barbecue is less about the type of cooking, but more so about what you grill. Think Kransky's, Knackwurst, Currywurst, pork knuckle... basically anything pig-related and mostly served as sausages. Popular side dishes include Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), Spaetzle (a type of rough pasta), Choucroute (sauerkraut braised with beer and different meats).
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Fiji’s Lovo
When you want to highlight Fiji culture and experience a different kind of barbecue, then Fiji’s Lovo is one of the best ways to cook your meat. Generally, this style uses banana leaves and the meat is cooked in a Lovo oven, which is an open pit in the ground where you can bake, smoke, and even steam the food!
This is similar to other pacific islander cooking techniques like Hangi from the indigenous people of New Zealand. Burying meats in fire-pits allow you to use less cooking fuel (like woods and charcoals), and maintain a constant low heat that tenderises the meat. It is common for root vegetables and tubers to be buried alongside to be dug up and served with the tender meat. This style of cooking is all about large gatherings and communal eating.
While chicken, pork, corned beef, and more are cooked here, parrotfish wrapped in banana leaves is also popular in coastal areas. Moreover, considering that you need precision when it comes to cutting up the meat and fish, make sure to use a handy petty knife like the Joey knife to make cooking easier.
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Australian barbecue
Summer or not, barbecues are one of the best ways to spend time with friends and family in Australia. It’s commonly known as barbie and numerous types of meat are served here, anywhere from chicken up to prawns (shrimp to most of the world)! One of the things that sets Australian barbecue apart is that they also serve kangaroo meat in barbies and pair their food with drinks like champagne, beer, and more. Being a coastal nation, seafood plays an important role in barbies, but it is just as common to find lamb, sausages and steak too. Often served with coleslaw, potato salad, BBQ potato scallops, and most importantly; white sliced bread and tomato sauce.
Considering that rock lobsters and shrimps are served here other than the usual meat, it’s best that you use the Koala knife so you can make precise cuts!
