China Food Trip # 2 : Midnight BBQ and Beer in Xuzhou

Xuzhou (pronounced Suchow) is a 7-hour drive from Shanghai. We were invited to visit this far-off province  by one of my dad's clients. We arrived there almost midnight after a long car ride from Suzhou. We were exhausted but a little hungry. Woo Bing, Mr. Woo's son and our resident tour guide there, suggested that we go and try their local barbeque before calling it a day. We wanted to make the most out of the place (since we travelled so many hours!) and agreed with minimal persuasion. He brought us to an open area with a few wooden tables and benches and a huge projector screen showing the World Cup game that night. The place had no ambiance whatsoever, it even bordered on looking sketchy because half of the crowd were shirtless boisterous men drinking. Not quite a pretty sight. But as soon as I bit the little piece of sheep meat and slid it from the stainless stick using my teeth, the place didn't matter. The burst of flavor from the marinade was incredible. I've never had anything like it. The sheep meat bbq was followed by a gamut of other things...chinese sausages, innards, sheep ears, flat fish and yes even testicles. Yup you read that last one right. I don't even want to repeat it! Haha!  Each one was unique in texture and flavor. We paired these interesting items (pulutan in our languange) with their freshly brewed beer which was excitingly sweet and bubbly. Though in the end, we all smelled of smoke and felt oily and sticky, we truly enjoyed the whole experience. Something we will definitely go back to if we find ourselves back in that small town again. 

Check out their rustic portable grill...

the extra spices that we dipped the bbqs in

bbq + sweet beer = love

innards, sausages and ears

smorgasbord of unique parts of sheep..take your pick! :)