The popular Zibo small pancake with meat is just a small part of the Shandong barbecue universe!

If you want the best barbecue skills, go to Zibo, Shandong, China.

Zibo, Shandong, is the hottest food city in 2023, no doubt about it.

While other places were still eating spring bamboo shoots and digging wild vegetables, college students from all over Shandong had already boarded the high-speed rail and traveled in groups to Zibo to eat barbecue. The streets and alleys were bustling with people at any barbecue restaurant. Some restaurants were fully occupied within 5 minutes of opening, and some barbecue restaurants claimed to sell 10,000 skewers of barbecue a day. The scene was shocking.

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But the popularity of Shandong barbecue is not a coincidence, but a long-planned one.

Shandong has always been an overlooked province for barbecue. The semi-self-service small stove barbecue in Zibo, where a pancake is folded, rolled and rolled, has attracted college students from all over Shandong. In Jinan, the unique skewers culture is unique. In each iron basin, meat is the only theme, and the only vegetable is garlic. Needless to say, the delicious seafood of the Jiaodong Peninsula is also delicious. Here, you can enjoy the freedom of grilling scallops, whether it is grilling the whole scallop with garlic or just grilling the scallop pillars. The Shandong people will tell you what real fresh scallops are.

Shandong is located on both the mountains and the sea, and has rich resources, including goats, seafood, as well as steamed buns, cakes, onions, garlic and other strong and unique Shandong elements, which together constitute the unique Shandong barbecue universe.

01

Zibo is where all Shandong college students go.

What is the origin of this?

Zibo barbecue is the most popular barbecue in Shandong and even in the whole country. But what is the charm of Zibo barbecue, and how did it break out of Shandong and even surpass Northeast China and Xinjiang?

Zibo itself is a Shandong food destination, so the barbecue is naturally delicious.

Zibo is an important birthplace of Shandong cuisine. Boshan cuisine has the salty, fresh, crispy and tender characteristics of Shandong cuisine. Influenced by the food culture, Zibo barbecue is also very particular, mainly salty and fresh, with rich varieties such as roasted pork belly, garlic meat, roasted olives, green peppers and pork intestines.

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The inspiration for grilled meat with garlic cloves may come from roasted garlic. In the old days, if a child had an upset stomach, the adults would throw a few cloves of garlic into the stove. The roasted garlic has a soft and glutinous texture; after being heated, the spicy taste decomposes and emits a slightly burnt fragrance. This kind of garlic can not only heal the young stomach, but also quietly plant the unique memory of roasted garlic in the young heart.

The garlic meat in the barbecue restaurant has a slightly spicy taste. When combined with the meat, it relieves greasiness and adds flavor. When you take a bite of roasted garlic, the connection of memory is inadvertently activated, making you sigh that it is the taste of childhood!

The stove is divided into two layers, the bottom layer is heated, and the upper layer is kept warm. Source: B station "A String of Life"

It may also be the lively and bold sense of participation of Shandong people.

There is a special charcoal grill on the barbecue table in Zibo. The grill is divided into two layers, the bottom layer is heated and the upper layer is kept warm. The boss grills the meat skewers until they are 60% to 70% cooked before serving them on the table. The guests can adjust the temperature and grill them again. This immersive experience of doing it yourself greatly stimulates the diners' sense of participation and accomplishment, but the sense of participation does not end there. The biggest feature of Zibo barbecue is another very important Shandong element: pancakes.

The palm-sized pancake is baked until bubbles appear, folded in half twice, dipped in garlic sauce, dry ingredients and chili peppers respectively, then stuffed with green onions and meat skewers, folded, rolled and rolled up to capture the essence of food from heaven and earth.

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When you take a bite, the charred aroma of the pork belly, the garlic aroma of the hot sauce, the nutty aroma of the peanuts, and the flavors of cumin, pepper and salt, with the help of spring onions, rush directly to your taste buds, with distinct layers and a perfect blend of various flavors. The biscuits not only neutralize the salty and fresh taste of the meat and seasonings, but the carbohydrates also bring a sense of satisfaction beyond eating meat.

The small meat-wrapped pancakes from Zibo fully demonstrate the Shandong pancake culture. If roasted olives are added, the combination of meat and vegetables will be even more delicious if you savor it carefully.

Barbecue is so popular in Zibo nowadays that the government not only held a press conference for barbecue, but also customized a special barbecue bus line, hoping to secure the top spot in Shandong barbecue.

But is Zibo barbecue really the best in Shandong? Jinan next door is the first to disagree.

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02

Jinan, the big brother of Shandong barbecue industry

Unshakable status

The prosperity of barbecue in Jinan began in the Muslim community "Yijiu" (Jingyiweijiu Road) at the end of the last century. At first, most of the barbecues were open-air.

Shandong barbecue stalls are all about eating in a carefree atmosphere. When the mood gets intense, Shandong men take off their shirts and bare their chests.

A large beer, a small skewer, and a stool gathered around the square table. A few good friends gathered together, toasting and eating skewers, showing the boldness and ruggedness of Shandong people.

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The characteristic of traditional Jinan barbecue is the small skewers, which are grilled from the outside with charcoal fire and heated from the inside out. The internal and external heat circulation makes the meat evenly heated, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The small skewers are held and rolled in the hands of the barbecue chef, and the aroma is overflowing, and the fireworks fill the night life of this city.

Jinan barbecue is mainly based on beef and mutton, as well as seafood and vegetables. It is not limited to any ingredients. In addition to the common barbecue skewers, there are also various heart tubes, tendons, bone marrow, meat tendons, kidneys, lamb livers, ox tongues... All the odds and ends you can't think of, sea, land, air, animals and plants cannot escape this barbecue stove.

Taste is the soul of grilled skewers. Shandong people are daring and innovative, so they are naturally very clear about grilled skewers.

Each barbecue restaurant has its own secret seasoning to create its own taste QR code. The diners are open to all tastes, so every flavor has its own place, with garlic, honey, cumin, spicy, pepper and salt and many other flavors, sweet and spicy.

The lamb should be killed and skewered immediately, with fresh and tender shoulder and hind leg meat cut into pieces, three pieces of lean meat and one piece of fat, commonly known as three parts fat and seven parts lean. Only the simplest pepper and salt are used for seasoning, sprinkled lightly, the freshness of the lean meat blends with the salt, and the original fragrance of the meat is magnified and extended.

Put the skewer horizontally into your mouth and chew the fat and lean meat together. First, the pepper and salt on the surface create the base flavor, and then the rich fat of the fat fills your mouth with a rich taste. This is probably the essence of barbecue.

The main dish is lamb, which is slaughtered and skewered on the spot. Image source: B station "The Best Shandong"

Barbecue restaurants across the country serve whatever you like, but Jinan barbecue restaurants are unique. They put all kinds of grilled skewers in a big bowl, and waiters carry the bowl around the place. They deliver it to customers table by table. Customers can take a few skewers of what they like, and wait for the next batch if they don’t like it. Therefore, foodies here don’t need to order or wait, which is convenient and comfortable, forming a unique skewers culture.

The customers eat whatever the boss grills, which is a boon for those with indecisiveness.

Of course, there are other barbecue schools in Jinan: one is roasting in an earthen kiln, where whole chickens, ducks, fish and large pieces of meat are roasted directly in the kiln, which is very satisfying. The most famous of these is the Huangjia barbecue in Zhangqiu, where a 200-jin fat pig is roasted whole, and it is cooked in an earthen kiln for five or six hours at a time. It is fresh and fragrant, with crispy skin and tender meat, and is fat but not greasy.

03

Shandong barbecue universe,

How many surprises are there that I don’t know about?

In addition to Zibo and Jinan, the rest of Shandong barbecue has its own unique style in Jiaodong Peninsula and western Shandong.

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1. Chuozi meat, wild wonton, how many wonderful ideas are there in Qingdao’s barbecue stalls?

In Qingdao, there is a kind of barbecue called Chuozi meat.

Chuozi is actually a square iron pot. It is named Chuozi meat because of its shape like a Chuozi. It is a combination of deep-frying and teppanyaki. The authentic Qingdao Chuozi meat is made by customers buying the ingredients themselves and processing them in the store. The store will cook whatever the customers buy. There is nothing that cannot be cooked.

The fried pork belly is enhanced by garlic, and the pork belly is crispy and fragrant, with a bit more fried aroma than the garlic pork in Zibo.

Clams, conchs, and razor clams all burst in the skewers, revealing their delicious juicy meat. Add a portion of French fries and vegetables, and after deep frying, the ingredients are roasted in the skewers until they are charred. You can experience the satisfaction of frying and grilling at the same time.

Hand the ingredients to the boss and wait for a while, the prepared dishes will be served together with the skewers. Take a bite of meat and a bite of vegetables, paired with Qingdao's fresh draft beer and unique white snake grass water, and enjoy life to the fullest.

There is a culture in Qingdao called wild wonton. Wild wonton was originally a street side wonton stall that was only open at night. Later, it gradually evolved into a "food stall" that also sold draft beer, stir-fried dishes, and barbecue.

Now it has gradually become a model of beer and barbecue, supplemented by wontons. Choosing wild wontons means choosing to let go of yourself and no longer pay attention to table rules and traditional etiquette. The brothers sit around the table, eat and drink to their heart's content, and before they know it, daybreak has arrived in the fresh aroma of grilled eel scales and grilled oysters.

2. Yantai and Weihai, the best places in China for grilled seafood

Also in the Jiaodong Peninsula, Yantai and Weihai focus on freshness.

Yantai grilled seafood is fresh and varied, with grilled knife fish, grilled red snapper, grilled conch, abalone, and octopus legs all grilled directly after shelling, and the mouth is full of fresh juice. There is also the luxurious grilled sea intestine, which is grilled whole and has a crispy, sweet, tender and juicy taste.

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Grilled fresh scallops are the biggest advantage here.

The scallops must be alive, and the tightly closed shells slowly open during baking, revealing the tender and juicy scallop meat. Some people also remove the skirts of the scallop meat and skewer them to only bake the white scallops. Simply sprinkle some salt and chili powder on them to bring out the original flavor.

3. Luxi goat is the foundation of Shandong barbecue

Few people know that Shandong is a hidden sheep-eating province in China. Its mutton production ranks third in the country, second only to Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.

Most of the sheep in Shandong are goats. Although they are goats, they have low mutton smell, less fat, more lean meat, and more tender meat. They are usually used to make mutton soup. For example, Danxian Mutton Soup, Linqu Mutton Soup, and Zaozhuang Mutton Soup are all very famous.

It is also a must-try when it comes to barbecue. For example, the Luxi kid goats that are unique to Liaocheng and Heze are freshly cut into nearly half-meter-long skewers. They are grilled directly in the oven without any marinating, and you can eat meat and drink wine with great enthusiasm.

The barbecue in western Shandong still has some legacy of the Liangshan heroes, including roasted bone marrow, roasted chicken feet, roasted silkworm pupae, roasted pigeons, and roasted pig's trotters, which are golden and greasy, rough and unrestrained.

Whether it's the Jinan and Zibo barbecue in central Shandong, the various grilled seafood on the Jiaodong Peninsula, or the Jianghu skewers in western Shandong, wrapped in small pancakes, they always reveal the foodie wisdom of Shandong people, and are drawn into a geographical atlas of Shandong barbecue amid the sizzling fireworks.

When you come to Shandong, no matter where you are from or where you eat, Shandong people will always give you their uncompromising hospitality.

Source: Authentic Scenery

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