by Betsy Young

Created on: March 19, 2008   Last Updated: March 20, 2008

Cooking outside with a group of friends and family is one of the things I love to do the most. Asian fusion gives us a chance to try new combos on the grill. Here a few of the creative Asian recipes that we've developed with a little trial and a lot of error over the years. Hope you enjoy them.

Abura-Age is a thin sheet of fried tofu. It is standard in Asian markets with a good Japanese section. Take the sheets and rinse in hot water. If you pry or cut open from the end a pocket will appear. This pocket can be stuffed with just about anything you can imagine. Here is our favorite.

4 sheets of Abura-Age
1/2 pound of cream cheese
1/2 pound of lump crab meat (OK you can use the fake stuff if you are really frugal)
2 tablespoons of minced onion
2 Thai peppers minced (leave the seeds in if you like to play with fire)

Mix the peppers, cream cheese, minced onion and crab together and spread inside the pocket. Leave a little room near the opening to toothpick it closed. Grill over medium fire until the outside is crispy and the inside is melty. Don't walk away it only takes a couple of minutes on each side. Leave out the peppers if they scare you.

Ribs never fail to please the crowds around our grill. We like to rub the meat down and wrap it up for at least one night. Then we baste with the sauce for the last hour of cooking. I slow cook my ribs with low indirect heat for six to eight hours but this rub and sauce works well on the grill or in the oven. It is a sweet Asian BBQ sauce so don't cook too high or the burnt sugar factor could dampen your spirits.

Here's the rub

2 tablespoons of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of grated ginger
2 tablespoons of fresh cracked black pepper
Juice of one lime (Kaffir if you can get it)
2 tablespoons of sesame oil

Mix thoroughly and then rub vigorously all over them ribs. Wrap the ribs up tight and put in the bottom of the fridge.

Here's the sauce

1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 cup of red wine
1/4 cup of date palm sugar (OK you can substitute brown sugar if you must)

Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about twenty minutes. Baste and turn the ribs for the last hour of cooking. Use any extra sauce to pour over ribs at the end.

Take a few ears of corn and soak in water for one hour. Peel back the shucks and remove the silk. Brush with oyster sauce and pull the shucks back up. Roast with indirect heat for 30 to 45 minutes. Turn them every ten minutes or so. Serve with some good Vietnamese baguettes slathered in garlic paste. Mix up a big ole bucket of mango iced tea, bring on the Ching Tao beer and a little Sake for the night cap. You've got an Asian Fusion BBQ. I can almost hear Don Ho in the background.

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