China’s love affair with barbecued food has reached new levels of creativity.
In a culinary leap, the popular cuisine has extended beyond traditional meat skewers to include offbeat offerings such as watermelon, cacti, ice cubes and eggplants shaped like high-heeled shoes.
A recent video posted on Xiaohongshu by a food blogger called Jinkesi, which has had more than 18,000 likes, shows the quirky food being made in a restaurant in Chengdu, Sichuan province in southwestern China.
The video starts with cacti as big as shoe soles, which have had the sharp spines removed, being grilled as a sprinkling of chilli powder and cumin is added to soften them.
Another food not usually associated with barbecues that appears in the video is watermelon.
Long strips of the fruit on skewers are neatly placed on the grill. They quickly turn a deep red after being seasoned, and are then ready to serve.
The innovations are just the beginning of China’s quirky barbecue trend.
On Douyin, videos under the hashtag “everything can be grilled” have amassed nearly 3 billion views, with the most popular one featuring grilled ice pops that attracted 2 million likes.
In another video, the frozen desserts on sticks are unwrapped, placed on the grill and brushed with a spicy sauce, then dipped in black sesame seeds and hundreds and thousands of rainbow sprinkles.
Confused netizens wondered why the ice pops do not melt on the fire and are asking: “So should this dish be eaten hot or cold?”
The trend has also inspired numerous individuals to create their own unique barbecue dishes that resemble everyday objects such as boots, toys and even military weapons.
For instance, eggplants are carved into high heels, roasted sausages are made into Peppa Pig and green peppers are sculpted into grenade shapes.
People online have embraced the bonkers barbecues, with many describing them as mind-blowing.
“The world has finally become more bizarre than I imagined. When I lose my mind, I’ll try these foods too,” said one online observer.
Another person said: “The roasted cacti have plenty of water and are super delicious.”
“How about grilling a plane, a tank, or even a submarine? Can you grill a gas cylinder?” somebody playfully asked.
According to Hongcan, a data portal focusing on food and drinks, more than 330,000 barbecue restaurants are vying for customers across China.
There is an unrivalled passion for barbecue in China and the country even has a social trend devoted to it in Zibo, a city in the eastern province of Shandong, which has been dubbed “China’s new outdoor barbecue capital”.
Unlike the traditional northeastern barbecues or the latest quirky creations, barbecues in Zibo are distinctive for their unique serving style – grilled meat wrapped in local spring onions inside flatbread.
Bloomberg Businessweek reported that in March last year about 4.8 million tourists visited Zibo specifically for its barbecue food.
