Confessions of the Barbecue King

iPod morning commute music: The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 (1978)

I don't know why I don't give this band more respect. I like funk, and your don't get much funkier than this. I suspect it has to do with my general dislike of disco, though what I hated in the '70s I can tolerate today. Regardless, this album is pretty cool, but it only covers their early stuff, which may be good for me in a way. I probably should cough up the bucks and get a newer, more inclusive compilation such as 1998's Greatest Hits. Very good music to commute with.

This weekend centered around the barbecue. My local store stopped stocking American charcoal this (for years they had Kingsford Matchlight, which was great since you can't buy starter fuel in Japan), so a couple of weeks ago I broke down and bought some cheap stuff manufactured in Malaysia from the same shop. Awful stuff, just clumps of blackened wood, irregular sizes ranging from little chips to chunks of logs, impossible to create an even bed of coals. So on Saturday I headed over to Costco, where they had (note the use of the past tense) 2 large sacks of regular Kingsford charcoal bundled together. But not now. So I spent $200 on things other than what I wanted, and drove home, stopping at three more stores before finding something that looked vaguely like the charcoal Americans all know. They were cylinders, hollow in the middle, about 2-3" long.

Then on Sunday I became the Barbecue King. This is my major contribution towards dinners; I barbecue enough for four or five meals at a shot. First, I prepared two pork tenderloins, one seasoned with garlic and pepper, the other slathered with Dijon mustard, then marinated them separately in white wine, lemon juice, and olive oil. Next, I cut up 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) of boned chicken breasts and marinated them in tandoori sauce (Sharwood out of England makes a great tandoori base, 3 tbs. of which mixed with 3 tbs. of plain yogurt creates the marinade). I then made 4 hamburgers (450 g. [1 lb] of lean ground beef, 1 egg, some chopped onion, a quarter cup of dry bread crumbs, some Worcester sauce, salt and pepper). I then prepared 3 large top round steaks (Australian beef, American beef still banned)with salt and pepper.

I piled up the strange charcoal in the chimney starter, lit it, and then the problems began. The bottom charcoal burned up before the top charcoal caught, and they just were too big, meaning too few, to make an even bed of coals. It just wasn't hot enough. Tatsu ended up helping me break up the Malaysian charcoal into chunks, which we then put on top of the new charcoal. Finally I had enough coals to cook with. In the end, everything got done. It only took twice as long as it should have.