Yanbian Barbecue 延边烧烤

Yanbian Barbecue (延边烧烤) is the charcoal-grilled skewer and meat barbecue of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (延边朝鲜族自治州) in Jilin, where diners grill their own food at a stove on each table. Xinhua (新华网) quotes the saying "for Chinese barbecue look to the Northeast, for Northeastern barbecue look to Yanbian", and ties the style to local Korean (朝鲜族) customs, the way the meal is set up and fresh ingredients.

How it is made

A Yanbian report carried by China News Service (中新网) describes skewers marinated to local taste and grilled over charcoal, giving a smoky aroma, a crisp browned surface and juicy meat. The range runs from beef, lamb, pork, chicken and seafood to aubergine, garlic chives, garlic scapes and enoki mushrooms. Most of the beef is Yanbian yellow cattle (延边黄牛), one of China's five fine local cattle breeds, and yellow-cattle beef is the speciality China News Service names for Longjing (龙井); Xinhua reports that in barbecue restaurants this beef in the house marinade is ordered at nearly every table.

How it is eaten

Each table has its own stove and diners cook for themselves, and eat the meat with spicy pickled cabbage (辣白菜), perilla leaves, lettuce and sauces. The all-purpose dry dip is crushed toasted sesame with chilli powder, cumin and other spices, mixed extra-hot, mild or not hot, and Yanbian also has dips of its own based on beef-tendon sauce, sesame paste, soy sauce or egg. A Yanbian skewer meal ends with a noodle dish such as cold noodles; in Helong (和龙) it is a bowl of Toudao warm noodles (头道温面).

Where it comes from

Xinhua's survey gives each of Yanbian's eight counties and cities its own style. Hunchun (珲春), next to Russia, grills big Russian-style skewers of pork shoulder on steel spits, and in Tumen (图们) diners grill Alaska pollock (明太鱼) beside the Tumen River. Dunhua (敦化) favours mountain-lodge and camping barbecues, with iron plates heated over wood fires. At Erdaobaihe (二道白河), on the north side of Changbai Mountain (长白山), grill houses hang "Changbai Mountain barbecue" signs and favour wet sauces over dry spice mixes. The documentary "Life on a String" (人生一串) called Yanbian the king of Northeastern skewers and featured the barbecue of Liangshui (凉水镇) in Tumen.