Grilling Eggplant- Guam Style

We love to BBQ our veggies on Guam. As a matter of fact we love to BBQ just about anything. But one of our favorites dishes is BBQ'd eggplant soaked in coconut milk mixed with lemon finadene'. Talk about something that makes your taste buds explode!! You just have to try it out for yourself.

But there is an art to BBQing the eggplant. You don't just build a fire and slap any old eggplant on the grill. There are a few important things to remember. So here are a few tips....

First you need to pick the right type of eggplant to BBQ/grill. Pick eggplants that are about 6-8 inches long and are nice and plump. They will need a strong stem on them also. You don't want to use the long, slender type of eggplant. The reason why is that you want a lot of "meat" and that is what a plump eggplant provides. The long, slender eggplants just don't have enough meat on them for a good bite. But if that is all that is available, then by all means use what you got. 

You want a young eggplant. The skin should be very shiny. The younger ones just taste better as in most things.

These eggplants are just about right. I would have liked them slightly younger, but they still had a sheen to them.

The strong stem is what you are going to use to turn the eggplant from side to side when you are BBQing them. The stem will also act as the "handle" for you to use when removing it from the finished dish and onto your plate. So when cooking the eggplant you definitely try to protect the stem from burning up.

Make sure that you puncture your eggplants. This allows for heat to penetrate quickly and steam to escape. It just provides for a more efficient grill.

I use a small knife but many use a fork to puncture the eggplants.

Now your fire is another item of concern. Regardless of the type of pit, protect the stems from the direct flames. So with a kettle grill, just build yourself a 2-zone fire, hot and cold. This way the eggplants will be grilled in the hot zones with the stems over the cold zone and the edge of the kettle if necessary.

And build your fire hot. This will cook the eggplants faster.

Here is a picture of the fire in a kettle grill...

2-zone fire.

Placement of eggplants on the grill with the stems protected from the direct flames.

Do not use a fork or tongs if you can. Using any typical BBQ instruments to turn the eggplants can result in the eggplant being damaged and the skin and meat being torn. You want the eggplant intact as much as possible so turn them using the stem. Of course this means that you will need to be wearing gloves to protect your hands from the heat, but that is the price you pay for having a nice looking eggplant.

You can also grill the eggplant directly on the coals with the stems off of the coals protected.

Here are a couple of eggplants being grilled directly on the coals. This is my preferred method as, in my opinion, the grilling is more complete and a whole lot faster.

When you are done grilling/BBQing your eggplants, they should look somewhat like these...

Finished eggplants with the skin blackened and the stems pretty much intact.

Of course the rest of the prep for the finished dish can be viewed here.

Here is a picture of the completed dish...

BBQ'd eggplant in coconut milk and lemon finadene'.

Of course there are many different recipes and ways to make this dish. As in anything, everyone has "their own way". But I brought out some tips just to help out.

Hope you enjoy making one of Guam's wonderful dishes.

Until next time....

Beef Shish Kebab

I had this 3 inch Rib Eye steak that had been staring at me for a couple of weeks now. I had already BBQ'd it's twin along with my wife Lupe's T-Bone steak a few weeks before. So it was only right that I allow this piece of meat to join the party!!! What to do.......slice it up and grill it shish kebab style.

Now some of you are probably asking why am I going to ruin a 3 inch thick Ribeye Steak by slicing it up for shish kebab? Well I just wanted to grill something I haven't eaten in a while and why not a super delicious and tender cut like a Ribeye? After all, it was going to be eaten one way or another so when it comes right down to it, what's the difference? Well that was my reasoning and I'm sticking to it!!! 

So here is what I did:

First of all I trimmed the fat off of the Rib Eye.

Then I cut 1/4 inch by about 3 inch pieces slicing across the grain to aid the tenderness of the meat.

Next step was to prepare the marinade.

1 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

A 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced.

I combined these ingredients into a saucepan and brought them all to a boil. This not only blends all the flavors but dissolves the sugar a lot easier.

I then added the beef cuts to this mixture and allowed this to marinade in the refer about 6 hours.

I skewer the meat just prior to putting them on the grill. 

All skewered and resting in the leftover marinade until the fire is just right.

You want a hot fire for kebab grilling so that all the juices are locked in by searing.

Kebabs getting their grill on!!!

Beef Shish Kebabs ready for the table...

The grilling took maybe about 4-5 minutes per side. They were juicy and very tender. They were served with white rice, buttered spinach and one of my favs, cream corn. Though the spinach and cream corn are not traditional sides dishes they all went well together for us. Again, something different.

Lupe and I had a great dinner on this beautiful Sunday evening on Guam.

Next up.....Pork Kebabs!!

Until next time....

Guam Grouper BBQ

Living on a tropical island you just have to love seafood. One of my favorites is Grouper. Here is some information about groupers so you know what I am talking about: Grouper Info.

As some of you may already know, I love to fish. On a recent bottom fishing trip we caught some poundage and I just had to BBQ one of my favorites....the Red Grouper pictured above. Other names for this particular grouper is Gadao, Lapulapu, Lyretail Grouper, just to name a few. But one thing is for certain, they are delicious BBQ'd.

The prep is fairly basic. Here is what I do:

I scaled and gutted the fish and cleaned the body cavity out real good with a strong water nozzle. Does the trick everytime.

Then I made 3 diagonal slices on each side of the body to allow for the seasoning to penetrate better.

I oiled the fish down with olive oil so it doesn't stick on the grill. The oil also gives the fish a little extra crispiness once it is BBQ'd.

Then I season the fish inside and out with sea salt, rubbing the salt into the flesh.

And the next step is to grill, or as we say on Guam, BBQ the fish.

It takes maybe about 10 minutes per side over my wood flame fire. I have my grill up about 1 foot over the coals. 

After having BBQ'd both sides, I sit him up and Que the inside just a bit. I don't want to dry the flesh out.

The "cheek" muscle is the tastiest part of this fish. We call it the filet mignon of the fish.

Here is the business end of the grouper. Don't put your hand in there. It may tickle just a little..

So no more than 30 minutes later, it's chow time!!!!

What I did not mention was that this was a special request by my wife, Lupe. I included some pics of her at the dinner table.

Lupe wasted no time with her feast. By the time I got settled down with my camera, she had finished almost half of the fish.

Lupe's meal would not be complete without her finadenne' (Guam hot sauce).

This is where Lupe "totches" or dips her every morsel in for some extra "pika" before it goes "down the hatch"!!!

Now doesn't Lupe look like a happy camper?? She is concentrating so hard she doesn't even know I'm there or so it seems. And she knows that whole fish is hers. Even has her little basket of fresh calamansi lemon right in front of her for that extra tang. Lupe knows how to eat her fish.

Well, folks...that is how it's done here. And this is happening all over the island everyday. It's like we can BBQ everyday, but we get serious on the weekends here on Guam.


So if you like to BBQ or eat out and have a great food fest and maybe even enjoy a few "cocktails", Guam is the place. You will never forget a trip to Guam. I guarantee it!!!

Until next time....

Grilling Babyback Ribs on Guam Video

I thought I would try my hand at making a video. Of course it would have to be one about BBQing or Grilling. This one includes me grilling some babybacks for dinner.

This is my first time out of the chute so please have patience with me. I'm no pro but it is entertaining. I would appreciate any constructive suggestion on how I can make my videos better using Windows Movie Maker (I'm a newbie!!).

You can view this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BELP9-gWvq4

Just click away on the link and roll the film....

I hope you enjoy the video. I am looking forward to a more technically improved video the next time around. Only time will tell.

Until next time....

Master Griller in Training

Everyone knows that Guam is one BBQing crazy place. Everyone BBQs and grills here. Here is a picture of my youngest Grandson, Kaleb, applying his own techniques on the grill. 

Master Griller in Training

Yup, if they can hold a tong, you've got to put them on the grill.

You go BoBoy!!!

BTW, working on my San Jose Family BBQ post. Should be up within the next couple of days.

Until next time....