The ultimate guide to hosting a Chinese grilling and BBQ party in your backyard, with an introduction to a Chinese grill, tools, menu suggestions, workflow, and everything else!

The Chinese grill
The structure of a Chinese grill is very similar to the grill that cooks Japanese yakitori, Southeast Asian satay, and Middle Eastern shashlik. It is a 30-inch by 8-inch rectangular box made of thin sheet metal to hold the charcoal, and legs to hold the grill. The grill is just narrow enough to hold the metal skewers with the meat fully exposed to the charcoal. It comes with a removable grate too, so you can grill steak and vegetables as well. The grill doesn’t have a lid, because you won’t need one. Chinese grilling usually deals with smaller and thinner cuts of meat, and the cooking is mostly done with direct fire in a short period of time.

The grill itself is so simple, and yet it will change your summer drastically. Because it’s so small and shallow, it heats up in lightning speed and with a roaring flame. The assemble, cleanup, transfer, and storage involves minimal fuss. It is lightweight and the shape fits right into your car, and is as portable as a Weber tailgate special. You could easily haul it to your backyard or a park for a picnic or party!

The only limitation is the narrow surface without a lid. But since the grill is so efficient, you can cut cooking time to almost a third for burgers, steak, chops, and vegetables. Plus, the shape is designed for skewers, so you can cook more skewers at the same time and they’ll done with a few flips.

We got our Chinese barbecue tools from https://www.vdbbq.com/.

The grill will work with any charcoal and briquettes. We especially love to use DARKELVES professional bamboo charcoal . It only takes 15 minutes to get a full chimney of coals heated up and they generate a blazing hot fire – up to 1382 F (750 C). They stay hot just like the original briquettes, so it’s perfect for cooking food for a large crowd too.

We highly recommend using a chimney starter here. Because (1) you can start the fire effortlessly with a few pieces of old newspaper and a lighter, and (2) you’d want to get another half chimney’s coal ready halfway through the cooking, to keep the grill nice and hot.

Barbecuing tools you may need

(1) Skewers

I always choose metal skewers over bamboo skewers. No matter whether you’re using the Chinese grill or a normal size Weber grill, the bamboo skewers will burn to ashes in a few seconds (even if you pre-soak them in the water for hours). Plus, metal skewers have a few more advantages because:

They make it easier to thread the meat;
They are long enough so you won’t burn yourself when flipping them during cooking, and
The overall cost is lower considering you’ll use them repeatedly.
I’ve tried a few metal skewers and my favorite is the stainless steel skewers for kebab. The flat surface keeps the meat in place without rotating during cooking. The build is solid and cleanup is easy too.

(2) Grill tongs

You do want two pairs of long tongs for grilling. You will need one pair to move raw meat and move the coals, and the other one for serving the cooked food. If you’re using the Chinese grill, you’ll find the air around the grill is very hot and it’s difficult to pick up the food with your normal kitchen tongs.

(3) Heat resistant Gloves
You’ll need these to pour charcoals in at the beginning and to clean up the grill at the end. We love these Grill Heat Aid gloves because they resist 932 F extreme heat.

(4) Grill brush

You should always clean the grill grate after heating up the grill up, and right before cooking. The small grates that come with the Chinese grill are easy to wash. But they do rust if you don’t dry them well. So save yourself some trouble and clean the grate with a grill brush. Plus, you can use the brush to clean up the bottom of the grill after cooking too.

The above products can be purchased at https://www.vdbbq.com/

How to cook with a Chinese grill
Build a modified two-zone fire with some space without coals

You should have three zones on your grill. A third of the grill should be covered with plenty of coal, to sear the meat. You should also have a large area with a single layer of coals for slower cooking. Leave a small space without any coal, on which to place the finished skewers and keep them warm.

Do not pile more than three layers of briquettes on the hot zone. You want to sear the meat, not to burn it!

Sear meat on direct high heat first, and then move to a low heat

Many Chinese grilling recipes call for smaller cuts of meat. You should always use a high heat to create a crispy crust, then move meat to the cooler fire to cook through.

Cuts like party wings take longer to cook and may require you to move the wings back and forth between the hot and low heat zones.

Flip frequently

The little grill is so powerful that sometimes it only takes a few seconds to sear the meat. Always stay close to the grill and flip the food frequently. Unlike searing steak, we do not have the flip-per-minute rule here. If you’re cooking the lamb skewers properly (which means you also use lamb fat), the dripping fat will catch fire immediately. It will sear the whole skewers in two seconds and they’ll be ready for the indirect cooking.

Add more seasoning after grilling

The food will taste different when you add salt and spices during the cooking. Spices such as cumin and chili pepper will lose their pungent fragrance once heated too much. Especially for lamb skewers or vegetables that do not require marinating, always add more spices at the end of cooking so they will be flavorful enough.

How to clean up

The fastest way to clean up is to move the burning coal into a heatproof container and place it in a safe place until the coals burn out. The grill box itself is separated from the supporting rack, so you can easily lift it and dump the ashes (don’t forget to put on your heat resistant gloves first!). We always dump the remaining coals onto a public grill , close the lid and shut the vent. Then you can clean up the dripping juice with your grill brush while the grill is still hot.