A Chef’s Best Asian-Inspired Wood-Fired Cooking Tips

With its smoky scent, cooking over a wood fire has an unrivaled flavor. To learn how to prepare wood-fired cuisine with Asian ingredients and techniques, we interviewed the company’s executive chef Chris Arellanes of KYU. Asian-inspired wood-fired restaurant with locations in Miami, Las Vegas, New York and Mexico, KYU offers an extensive menu that highlights wood-fired Asian cuisine.

The best Asian ingredients for wood-fired cooking

KYU’s menu is extensive, with culinary influences from Japan to Southeast Asia. Japanese ingredients are particularly highlighted, highlighted by yuzo kosho, black sugar and myoga (Japanese ginger) on the menu. Whole Japanese sweet potatoes are cooked with buttery black sugar and parmesan. Pork belly pastrami is served with miso mustard. And a whole head of roasted cauliflower is cooked over a wood fire and flavored with goat cheese and shishito herb vinaigrette. Many KYU dishes highlight the blend of flavors: sweet with salty or sour with fatty.

While KYU’s meat dishes are predominant on the menu, some of Arellanes’ favorite ingredients to cook with are vegetables and shellfish. “I love cooking vegetables and different types of shellfish on the grill. They are delicate and require finesse,” Arellanes explained.

Finally, the key to achieving flavor for more delicate ingredients like vegetables is high temperature and the right wood. “Apple wood, cherry wood, hickory and oak. Hot!” Arellanes explained. “We keep it as hot as possible to get even cooking.”

How to Balance Flavors

If a high temperature is crucial for cooking over a wood fire, for the right balance, you must also be careful not to burn anything, which would make it bitter. “Never cook over an open flame, unless you’re trying to get rapid charring and are okay with some kind of carcinogenic flavor,” Arellanes said. “You should always place your coals and work on a nice, warm bed of coal.”

Because of the wide range of culinary influences at KYU, Arellanes believes that finding balance requires not only experience but also precision. You can’t just mix ingredients and hope for the best. You really have to understand flavors and know how to create them. This, Arellances advises, can take years.

But it’s also important to experiment and cook seasonally. Cooking over a wood fire isn’t limited to hearty meats like pork belly or beef ribs. When cooked well and balanced, delicate ingredients can taste great. “We are currently working on our summer menu and have a really cool sambal grilled sea trout with coconut curry and hakurei turnips,” Arellanes said. “I love this dish because it really showcases grilling technique, especially with such delicate fish that has been marinated and is easy to burn and overcook.”

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