Grilled Recipes
205 recipes. Page 1 of 9
Grilling is central to Korean cuisine. From marinated bulgogi to sizzling samgyeopsal (pork belly) and crispy grilled mackerel, these dishes deliver bold, smoky flavors that are hard to resist. Whether cooked over charcoal or on a stovetop grill pan, the caramelized crust is what makes Korean grilled dishes special.
Yaki-saba no Nitsuke (Grilled Mackerel and Onion Simmer)
Yaki-saba no nitsuke is a Tottori fish dish made by breaking a whole pre-grilled mackerel into large bite-size pieces and gently simmering it again with onion, water, sake, sugar, and soy sauce. The method became familiar in inland areas where grilled fish was easier to preserve and transport, bringing smoke and soy broth together with onion sweetness. Because the mackerel is already cooked, a long hard boil would dry and break it. A short gentle simmer softens the onion, and resting the fish in the broth seasons it without disturbing the flesh.
Com Tam Suon Nuong (Broken Rice with Grilled Pork)
Com tam translates literally as broken rice, named after the fractured grains left over from milling that were once too damaged to sell and eaten only by those who could afford nothing better. In Ho Chi Minh City, what began as subsistence food became a morning institution. The smaller, porous grains cook drier than whole rice and absorb sauces and meat juices more efficiently, turning an unwanted byproduct into a texture worth seeking out. Suon nuong, the charcoal-grilled pork chop, is the centerpiece. The meat soaks for at least an hour in a marinade of lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, and sugar before hitting the coals. Under direct heat, the marinade caramelizes against the bone, building a sticky, slightly charred crust that carries both sweetness and smoke. The assembled plate puts the grilled chop over broken rice, topped with shredded egg crepe, pickled daikon and carrot, and a generous pour of nuoc mam pha, the sweet-salty-sour dipping sauce made from fish sauce, lime, sugar, and fresh chili. Across the city, com tam stalls open before dawn and the morning ritual of pulling a motorbike over to eat a quick plate at a sidewalk table is part of the daily rhythm of the place.
Korean Beoteo Ojingeo Gui (Butter Grilled Squid)
Butter ojingeo gui is a Korean street snack of semi-dried squid scored with shallow cuts, seared in butter on a flat iron griddle, then coated in a glaze of soy sauce, oligosaccharide syrup, and gochugaru. Semi-dried squid has less moisture than fresh and a more concentrated chew, which means it develops a toasty crust from the butter quickly without steaming through. The scoring allows the glaze to penetrate into the flesh rather than sitting only on the surface. Over high heat, the soy-and-syrup mixture caramelizes fast, coating the squid in a glossy, sweet-salty lacquer. Gochugaru adds a round, lingering heat at the finish. A scatter of sesame seeds goes on last, releasing a nutty aroma with each bite. The combination of butter richness, soy glaze, and chile heat has made this one of the most recognizable items at Korean pojangmacha stalls.
Grilled Sliced Rice Cake (Pan-Fried Rice Cake with Soy Honey Glaze)
Jeolpyeon-gui is a Korean grilled rice cake snack made by pan-frying flat rice cake slices in sesame oil over medium-low heat until golden on both sides, then glazing them in a sauce of soy sauce, honey, sugar, and water over low heat. Searing the rice cakes in sesame oil before adding the glaze creates a thin, crisped surface layer that performs two functions at once: it keeps the interior from losing its chewy, dense character and creates enough texture for the glaze to cling to rather than slide off. Once the glaze goes in, the heat must drop immediately to low -- the sugar content is high enough to burn in seconds if left on medium heat. The entire coating step takes only two to three minutes of flipping the pieces until the sauce reduces into a lacquered shell. Soy sauce delivers a salty, savory backbone, honey brings a weighted sweetness that granulated sugar alone would flatten, and together they form a glaze that tastes more complex than the ingredient list suggests. Toasted sesame seeds and pine nuts scattered over the finished pieces add a nutty fragrance that plays off the soy-based umami below. Leftovers reheat well in a dry pan and regain most of their crispness.
Ago Chikuwa Grilled Flying Fish Cake
Ago chikuwa is a Tottori fish cake made from flying fish, called ago locally, ground into a cohesive paste, formed as a cylinder around a bamboo core, and rotated over strong heat until deeply grilled. Unlike ordinary chikuwa based mainly on pollock, shark, or Atka mackerel, this version centers on lean flying fish at its spring-to-summer peak. The finished cake is darker, with a firm aromatic skin that makes a crisp sound under a knife. Cold boneless, skinless fish is repeatedly ground with salt until sticky, and ice water is incorporated gradually so the paste does not warm. It is pressed to an even thickness around food-safe soaked bamboo rods, then turned continuously under intense top heat to brown every side. Once the center is fully cooked, the rods are withdrawn and the cakes cooled. They may be torn by hand or bitten whole, added to soups, or served with soy sauce as a drinking snack.
Hanoi Bun Cha (Grilled Pork Patties with Rice Noodles)
Bun cha defines the lunchtime rhythm of Hanoi. Every alley in the Old Quarter fills at midday with the smoke of charcoal grills, the sound of fat hitting hot coals, and the caramel-edged smell of pork charring at the edges. Two forms of pork are grilled simultaneously: fatty sliced pork belly and small, hand-shaped patties of seasoned ground pork. Both cook over coconut-shell charcoal until the edges blacken and the fat renders into drippings, carrying the smoke of the fire into every bite. The grilled meat drops directly into individual bowls of warm dipping broth - a sweetened fish sauce sharpened with vinegar, garlic, and chili. This broth sits between a condiment and a light soup, and diners naturally drink a little of it between bites of meat and noodles. Rice vermicelli arrives on a separate plate alongside a full mound of fresh herbs: perilla, mint, lettuce, and dill. The ritual of eating matters as much as the ingredients - noodles are dipped into the broth, a piece of pork is retrieved, wrapped in fresh herbs, and eaten in one bite. In 2016, Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain ate bun cha at a simple Hanoi street stall. The restaurant preserved the table they occupied behind a glass case, a response that says everything about how deeply this dish is bound to the city.
Grilled Beef Large Intestine Rice Bowl
Daechang rice bowl places cleaned, blanched, and glazed beef large intestine over rice and sliced onion, with egg yolk and wasabi added at the table. Rub 350 g beef large intestine thoroughly with flour inside and out, then rinse it several times. Add cooking wine to boiling water and boil the intestine for 5 minutes to remove surface impurities and part of the grease. Drain it well. Thinly slice 100 g onion, soak it in cold water for 10 minutes to reduce its sharpness, and leave it in a sieve until no excess water remains. In a skillet, combine 30 ml soy sauce, 15 g sugar, 5 g red pepper flakes, and 10 g minced garlic. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is uniform, then add the blanched intestine. Cook and turn the pieces until the outside is browned and coated. Beef intestine releases a considerable amount of fat; blot only the clear excess from the pan with paper towels while preserving enough sauce to glaze the surface. Do not allow the sugar and soy residue to blacken. Once the pieces are hot through the center and browned outside, transfer them to a board and cut into bite-size sections. Divide 400 g warm rice between two bowls and spread the fully drained onion across the rice. Add the grilled intestine and 30 g sliced green onion. Place 1 of the 2 egg yolks in the center of each bowl and divide 10 g fresh wasabi at the side so its amount can be adjusted bite by bite. Use eggs suitable for raw yolk service and serve the assembled bowls immediately rather than holding them warm.
Korean Grilled Chicken Skewers
Dak-kkochi-gui is a Korean grilled chicken skewer built on the flavors of street-stall cooking, made by threading bite-sized chicken breast or thigh onto bamboo sticks and painting them with a sauce of gochujang, soy sauce, honey, and minced garlic. Thigh meat is the better choice because its higher fat content keeps each piece juicy over direct heat, while breast will dry out quickly. Applying the glaze in two or three separate coats rather than all at once builds a thick, sticky, caramelized surface. Cutting the chicken into uniform cubes ensures even cooking, and alternating pieces with slices of green onion or bell pepper adds moisture and prevents the meat from tightening up. Turning the skewers frequently over medium heat keeps the sugars in the sauce from scorching while the surface develops an even, deep char. The same result comes out well in an air fryer at 200 degrees Celsius for twelve to fourteen minutes. Gochujang's fermented heat against the sweetness of honey and the smell of searing meat is the unmistakable signature of Korean pojangmacha.
Mitarashi Dango (Grilled Rice Dumplings in Sweet Soy Glaze)
Glutinous rice flour is kneaded with water, shaped into small balls, boiled until they float, then skewered and grilled until the surface develops charred spots and a light crust. The contrast between the toasty exterior and the dense, springy interior is the defining texture of mitarashi dango. A thick glaze made from soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and starch is spooned over the hot skewers, coating each ball in a glossy, sweet-savory film. The sauce should be viscous enough to cling but fluid enough to drip slowly - too thin and the flavor washes off, too thick and it overwhelms the delicate chew of the rice. Eaten warm, the dango is at its most pliable and the glaze at its most aromatic, with the soy caramel scent rising visibly in the steam. Street vendors across Japan sell these at temple fairs and festivals, but they are simple enough to replicate at home in under thirty minutes.
Miso-Stuffed Grilled Akebi
Miso-stuffed grilled akebi is an autumn dish from Yamagata, where cooks use the bittersweet peel of the chocolate vine rather than only eating the white pulp around its seeds. Maitake, shimeji, and myoga are sautéed, then cooked down with miso and sugar until the filling is dry enough to pack. The mixture is cooled, stuffed into the cleaned akebi shells, and secured with kitchen twine. Covered pan-grilling with repeated turning softens the peel and lets it absorb the savory sweet miso seasoning.
Vietnamese Grilled Pork Vermicelli
Charcoal-grilled pork is placed over cold rice vermicelli and eaten mixed with nuoc cham in this southern Vietnamese noodle bowl. The pork marinates in fish sauce, sugar, and garlic before grilling, so direct heat caramelizes the surface sugars into a deep brown crust while the interior holds its moisture. Fresh mint, cilantro, and coarsely crushed roasted peanuts are scattered on top, layering herbal fragrance with crunch. Nuoc cham, built from lime juice, sugar, fish sauce, and chili, is the sweet-sour-salty binding agent that pulls together the warm meat, cool noodles, and raw herbs into a single coherent bowl. The temperature contrast between hot pork and chilled vermicelli is central to the eating experience. Pickled daikon and carrot add a final note of acidity that keeps each bite clean. No broth is needed; the bowl is filling and bright.
Grilled Mackerel Rice Bowl
Grilled mackerel rice bowl serves a 280 g mackerel fillet with onion soy sauce over two bowls of rice. Pat both sides of the fish dry with paper towels and remove any pin bones. Before heating the pan, combine 1.5 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp cooking wine, 1 tbsp oligosaccharide syrup, and 0.5 tsp minced ginger. Heat 1 tsp cooking oil in a pan over medium heat and place the mackerel skin-side down. Cook it without pressing or moving for 4 minutes, then turn it and cook the flesh side for 3 minutes. Remove the fish from the pan. Add 70 g sliced onion to the same pan and cook it for 30 seconds. Pour in the mixed sauce and boil over medium heat until it thickens slightly. Divide two bowls of rice between serving bowls, portion the mackerel over the rice, and spoon the onion sauce over the fish. Finish with 20 g chopped scallion.
Korean Spicy Chicken Skewers
Spicy dak-kkochi threads boneless chicken thigh and green onion segments onto skewers, then grills them while brushing on a gochujang-based glaze in multiple rounds. Chicken thigh meat stays moist throughout cooking due to its higher fat content, and the green onion segments sweeten and caramelize under direct heat, providing a counterbalance to the spicy sauce. The glaze -- gochujang blended with sugar, garlic, and soy sauce -- caramelizes against the hot surface to build a sticky, lacquered coating on each piece. Applying the glaze two or three times during grilling stacks distinct layers of sweet-spicy flavor that gradually penetrate deeper into the meat.
Yaki Manju Grilled Miso Buns
Yaki manju is a Gunma confection that first steams wheat buns fermented with rice koji, threads four at a time onto bamboo skewers, and grills them under repeated coats of strongly sweet red-miso glaze. In wheat-growing Gunma, it is traced to misozuke manju made by Ruizo Harashima in Maebashi near the end of the Edo period. The seasoning later moved toward its present sweetness after dark sugar syrup became available. Glutinous rice is cooked into porridge, cooled carefully, mixed with rice koji, and fermented for one to two days to create a starter. Wheat flour and water turn that starter into dough, which is divided into twenty-gram pieces, naturally proofed, and fully cooked by steam. The glaze dissolves coarse sugar and starch syrup with red miso, boils for thirty minutes, and rests after cooling. Brushing and grilling each side two or three times builds a dark sheen, lightly dry surface, and roasted miso aroma.
Korean Garlic-Grilled Skirt Steak
Anchangsal is the inner skirt cut from the diaphragm muscle, yielding roughly a kilogram per animal, which explains why Korean grill restaurants price it as a premium item. The grain runs coarse, marbling is tight within the thick muscle fibers, and the beefy flavor is intense - more so than well-known cuts like galbi or samgyeopsal. Marinating for too long or with aggressive seasoning buries those qualities. A short soak in soy sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic, and black pepper is enough. On a charcoal grill, thin slices cook in under a minute per side. The right doneness shows as caramelized edges with a slight char while the center stays pink - at that point the fat has rendered into the grain and the full flavor of the cut is present. Whole garlic cloves grilled alongside undergo a different transformation: about ten minutes of high heat takes away the sharpness and turns them sweet and soft. The standard way to eat it is wrapped in lettuce with ssamjang and a roasted garlic clove folded in together.
Gohei-Mochi (Grilled Rice Cake with Walnut Miso)
Gohei-mochi is an Aichi mountain-region rice cake made by mashing freshly cooked non-glutinous rice, molding it around a broad skewer, and grilling it with a red miso sauce ground with walnuts and sesame. The hot rice is crushed until sticky enough to hold together while some grain texture remains. Each portion is spread into a thin oval and given shallow surface ridges, then grilled without sauce first so the center heats through and the coating has places to cling. Red miso, sugar, sake, ginger, walnuts, and sesame are kneaded over low heat into a thick sauce, brushed on, and grilled again until fragrant and browned. The food is said to have been eaten in the Chubu mountains by the middle Edo period. Lumberjacks and hunters prepared it before Yama no Ko gatherings that prayed for safety in mountain work; today it is also a common travel snack.
Korean Grilled Chicken Heart Skewers
Dak-yeomtong-kkochi starts by soaking trimmed chicken hearts in milk for fifteen minutes to remove any off-flavors, then threading them onto skewers for direct grilling. A glaze of soy sauce, gochujang, sugar, garlic, and cooking wine is applied in stages during grilling, building up a salty-sweet coating with gentle heat. Unlike regular chicken meat, hearts have a firm, springy chew that deepens in nuttiness the more you bite into them. The milk soak combined with garlic and cooking wine in the glaze cleanly removes any organ taste, so the finished skewers carry only the char from the grill and the layered seasoning. A common sight at street stalls and pojangmacha tents, these skewers work equally well as a quick snack eaten on the spot or as drinking food alongside a cold beer.
Korean Grilled Pork Belly Asparagus Rolls
A spear of asparagus wrapped tightly in thin-sliced pork belly and grilled over high heat - this is one of the most direct expressions of Korean barbecue technique, which treats almost any vegetable as a candidate for the grill when wrapped in fatty pork. Asparagus earns a particular place in this format because its firm structure resists the heat that would turn softer vegetables to mush inside the roll. The samgyeopsal is laid flat, the asparagus placed at one end, the meat rolled snug and pinned with a toothpick. On a blazing grill or a very hot pan, the fat renders and crisps into a tight, caramelized shell. Inside that shell, the asparagus steams in the trapped heat, its grassy sweetness concentrating rather than dissipating. A brush of soy sauce mixed with garlic and honey goes on during the final minute, the sugars caramelizing into a sticky, lacquered glaze. The contrast between the shattering pork exterior and the just-tender asparagus inside is what makes this worth eating.
Korean Grilled Eel Rice Bowl
Jangeeo deopbap is a bowl of grilled freshwater eel over steamed rice, where the key technique is building up a thick, lacquered glaze through multiple applications of a sweet-salty sauce reduced from soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and ginger juice. The eel starts skin-side down on the grill over medium heat for around five minutes to crisp the skin, then is flipped and basted repeatedly with the sauce as it finishes cooking. A single coat of sauce produces a pale, thin color, so at least two applications and ideally three or more are needed to build the characteristic glossy surface. With each additional coat, the sugars in the sauce react with heat through both Maillard browning and caramelization, layering flavor with every pass. Because freshwater eel is naturally fatty, fat drips during grilling can cause flare-ups, so heat control is important throughout the process. Sansho pepper dusted on at the end cuts through the eel's inherent richness with a sharp, numbing fragrance that balances the sweet glaze and keeps the dish from feeling heavy.
Korean Grilled Fish Cake Skewers
Eomuk kkochi gui are Korean grilled fish cake skewers, a staple of street food stalls that pair naturally with tteokbokki. Square fish cake sheets are folded in zigzag layers onto wooden skewers, grilled until the surface takes on color, then brushed with a glossy sauce of soy sauce, gochujang, sugar, and minced garlic. Folding the sheets before skewering multiplies the surface area that the sauce can grip and creates layered thickness that turns each bite into a dense, bouncy chew. Dry-grilling without oil first is important: it drives off moisture from the surface so that when the sauce is applied it clings and does not slide off. A second brief pass over heat after glazing caramelizes the sugars into a lacquered sheen and intensifies the savory aroma. Tucking pieces of green onion between the folds adds another layer of flavor -- the onion's moisture steams away as it grills, releasing a sweet, mellow fragrance that gradually infuses the fish cake.
Ayam Bakar (Indonesian Grilled Chicken in Sweet Soy Marinade)
Ayam bakar marinates chicken thighs in soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, garlic, ginger, ground coriander, turmeric, and lime juice, then cooks the chicken gently before finishing it over high grill heat. Pat the chicken dry so the marinade stays on the surface. Cook it over low heat until the center turns opaque, remove the pieces, and reduce the remaining sauce only until it coats a spatula thickly. The sweet sauce can scorch quickly, so lower the heat and brush it on in thin layers. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, then remove the chicken when the center is cooked and dark glossy patches appear. Rest for 3 minutes.
Shingoro (Grilled Rice Skewers with Egoma Miso)
Shingoro is a grilled rice skewer eaten in Shimogo and Minamiaizu, Fukushima Prefecture. Freshly cooked white rice is pounded only about halfway, leaving both visible grains and enough stickiness to hold together. It is formed into egg-size portions and attached to sixteen skewers. Egoma, or perilla seed, is called junen in Fukushima. The seeds are dry-roasted over low heat while the pan is shaken, and the heat is stopped as soon as five or six seeds begin to pop. They are ground thoroughly and mixed with sugar, miso, and sake to make junen miso. Both sides of each rice skewer are grilled first until browned. Only then is the thick seed and miso paste spread over the surface, and the skewers return to the heat until the sauce develops light char marks. The dish is eaten year-round and is often served to celebrate the new rice harvest.
Korean Grilled Garaetteok
Garaetteok-gui cuts cylindrical rice cakes into eight-centimeter sticks, skewers them, and pan-grills while rotating for even browning before applying a glaze. The glaze combines soy sauce, gochujang, honey, minced garlic, and sesame oil, brushed on once the surface turns golden, then cooked one more minute on low heat so it sets into a thin, sticky coat rather than burning. Grilling drives moisture from the outer layer of the rice cake, forming a slightly firm shell, while the interior softens further from the retained heat -- the contrast between crisp outside and chewy inside is the defining quality of the preparation. Rice cakes that start out stiff benefit from a twenty-second microwave burst before grilling to ensure the center softens evenly throughout. Applying the glaze in two thin layers instead of one thick coat prevents it from running off the surface and gives a more even finish. Keep the heat low during the final stage to avoid scorching the sugars in the gochujang and honey.
Korean Grilled Cabbage Leaf Wraps
Baechu kimchi gui ssam takes napa cabbage to the grill, charring the leaves before using them as wraps for grilled pork belly and doenjang-based ssam sauce. A whole cabbage is halved lengthwise, brushed with sesame oil and sprinkled with salt, then grilled over high heat for two to three minutes per side until the outer edges char while the inner layers keep some crispness. Pork belly is grilled separately until golden and cut into bite-sized pieces. The ssam sauce - doenjang, gochujang, minced garlic, and sesame oil mixed together - is spread on a grilled leaf, topped with pork, and rolled into a wrap. Each bite combines the smoky sweetness of the charred cabbage, the fatty richness of the pork, and the salty, fermented punch of the sauce. Grilled cheongyang chili on the side adds extra heat. The cabbage must not stay on the grill beyond the recommended time or it loses all structure and collapses into mush, making it impossible to use as a wrap. Unlike lettuce or perilla leaf, napa cabbage shrinks under heat and concentrates moisture inside the leaf, which allows it to absorb pork fat naturally as it wraps around the meat.
About Grilled
Marinated versions use soy sauce or gochujang-based glazes, while salt-grilled preparations highlight the natural flavor of the ingredients. Wrap a piece in fresh lettuce with a dab of ssamjang for the full experience.