How to Grill

Smoke is magical and is best honed by cooking over an open hardwood or charcoal fire. A brush of oil and a hit of salt is often all you need to create dishes that sing with smoky essence. Another form of high-heat cooking, grilling also makes quick work of most ingredients, yielding results so delicious you want to eat them when they’re still hot enough to burn your tongue. You’ll find grilled dishes in other chapters, such as CHamoru Barbecue Chicken or Pork Ribs, and marinating is often the first step in preparing ingredients for the grill. Play and experiment with the flavors and techniques in this chapter, perhaps replacing beef for chicken in sate or shrimp for pork in Filipino Barbecue. And as is the custom across islands, prepare these dishes when you want to bring people together.