Five London chefs share their recipes and tips on how to cook the perfect barbecue

The sun is out, the mercury is soaring, and the vibes are most definitely good – it’s time to fire up the barbie.

To help avoid cremated burgers or the dreaded undercooked sausage, we’ve asked some of London’s most celebrated barbecuing chefs to share their top recipes for home barbecuers.

Some of our chefs have given us party-sized portions, but all the recipes are flexible, so divide them up as needed until you can throw the barbecue shindig of your dreams.

From Asian-inspired pork chops to fruity salads with a pinch (or two) of spice, take a look at these recipes to fire up your back yard-centric summer from the start.

David Carter, Smokestak and more – Soy-glazed pork chop

Ingredients (makes one large chop)

• 400-500g pork chop

• 80g honey

• 20ml soy sauce

• 5ml fish sauce

• 300ml beef stock

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 1 thumb size ginger

• 1 red chilli

• 1 shallot

• Salt

Method

• To make the soy glaze, mince all the veg. Sweat off the shallots until translucent, then add the ginger, garlic and chilli; cook out until fragrant.

• Add stock, fish and soy sauce. Bring to the boil. Add the honey and gently reduce until it forms a sticky syrup consistency.

• Get your fire started and liberally season the pork with sea salt.

• When your coals are burning hot, place on the grill to get some colour on both sides. Once you have a bit of caramelisation, move away from the hot coals to a low/medium heat.

• You now want to caramelise with the glaze, so brush the glaze on, flip, caramelise on coals and repeat four or five times until mahogany and charred (not burnt and black – it will be deceiving as glaze is super rich in colour).

• Be sure to char and render the fat as well, as this is the prized bit.

Neil Rankin, Temper and more – Burnt fruit and chicory salad with Sichuan pepper

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1/4 pineapple

• 1 whole orange

• 1 yellow peach

• 1 yellow chicory

• 1 red chicory

• Small bunch mint

• Small bunch dill

• 1 tsp of Sichuan peppercorns, toasted then powdered

• Good quality, first press rapeseed oil

• Salt

Method

• Quarter the orange and slice the pineapple into 2cm thick slices. Grill both until black on the surface.

• Half the peach and cook on a flat plate until caramelised.

• Pick leaves off the chicory and place in a bowl. Squeeze half the orange on the chicory to dress. Slice the pineapple and peach and add them, as well as the rest of the orange.

• Roughly chop the mint and dill and add them, plus the pepper.

• Finish with salt to taste and oil. â€‹

Pip Lacey, Hicce – Beef hot sticks

Ingredients (makes 14-16 skewers)

• 500g beef mince

• 500g chestnut mushrooms

• 3 Spanish onions

• 50g soy sauce

• 50g miso

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 1 bunch parsley

• Salt and pepper

• Toasted white sesame seeds

• Guindillas peppers

• Breadcrumbs (optional)

• Wooden or metal skewers

Method

• Soak the skewers in water, if you're using wooden ones.

• Dice the onions, garlic and mushrooms.

• Sweat the onions and garlic down with some olive oil in a pan on medium heat for five minutes then add the miso and stir in for one minute.

• Remove the onions and saute the mushrooms in the same pan with olive oil on a slightly higher heat. When the mushrooms are cooked and starting to colour, add the soy and stir in for 30 seconds.

• Remove the mushrooms and mix with the onions and leave to cool. Once cool, mix them with the beef mince using your hands, and add chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

• Portion the mix into balls and leave in the fridge to rest for at least two hours. If the mixture seems wet, add a handful of breadcrumbs.

• When you're ready to eat, mould the balls around the skewers, use a rolling motion on a board or parchment paper to get a good shape. Leave a small part of the skewer visible at one end, for holding.

• Place the “hot sticks” on the barbecue, making sure the holding end of the skewer isn't over direct heat.

• Leave for around eight minutes, turning every few minutes.

• Once cooked, sprinkle sliced guindillas and toasted sesame seeds on top.

Ben Chapman, Smoking Goat and more – Liver grilled in sage

Ingredients (makes 15 skewers)

• 500g fresh calves liver

• 15 sage leaves, plus extra for seasoning butter

• 15 rosemary sprigs (minimum 12cm length)

• 750g unsalted butter

Method

• Gently heat all the butter in a pan until it turns brown.

• Roughly cube the liver into 3cm x 2cm pieces (each weighing roughly 30g).

• Season the butter with sage and salt.

• Wrap each liver piece in a sage leaf, and neatly skewer with a rosemary sprig.

• Gently grill the livers until charred on the outside and pink in the middle.

• Brush each with a small amount of the seasoned brown butter and serve.

Josh Katz, Berber & Q – Honeyed barbecue pork belly with pineapple salsa

Ingredients (serves 12)

For the brine

• 600g table salt

• 400g caster sugar

• 1 x 4-4.5kg pork belly, boned

For the pork belly

• 200g pork rub (see below)

• 4-5 Turkish chilli peppers

• 2 large onions, sliced into 2cm rounds

• 150ml runny honey

• 100ml white wine

• 2 dried bay leaves

• 3 tbsp harissa

• Half a bunch of thyme sprigs

For the pineapple salsa

• 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into wedges or slices

• Olive oil

• 100g sugar

• 80ml cider vinegar

• 2 tbsp orange juice

• 1 star anise

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1.5 tsp ground cumin

• 4-5 spring onions, green parts only, chopped

• 2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander

​​For the pork rub (makes 300g so save the leftover rub for another day)

• 25g curry powder

• 40g chilli powder

• 30g smoked paprika

• 80g soft dark-brown sugar

• 40g flaked sea salt

• 35g caster sugar

• 20g garlic granules or powder

• 10g ground cumin

• Quarter tsp ground fennel seeds

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Method

• In a container large enough to hold the pork belly (a saucepan works well), add the salt to 500ml of just-boiled water and stir to dissolve, forming a sludge-like consistency.

• Top up with eight litres of tap water, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Submerge the pork belly in the brine and leave in the fridge overnight.

• The next day, heat the oven to 130C.

• Make the pork rub by blitzing all the ingredients together in a food processor or spice grinder, to a fine powder. Transfer it all to an airtight container – the leftovers can be kept for up to two weeks.

• Remove the pork belly from the brine and pat dry. Score both sides of the belly with a sharp knife in a crosshatch pattern, up to ½cm deep. Generously massage the pork all over with the rub.

• Scatter the chilli peppers in a roasting tray or casserole dish large enough to accommodate the pork belly, and lay the onion slices as a bed upon which the pork will sit. Transfer the pork, skin-side down, to on top of the onion and drizzle half the honey directly over it and the remaining half into the tray or dish.

• Add 300ml water and the white wine, followed by the bay leaves, harissa and thyme. Cover tightly with a double layer of tinfoil, making sure to crimp the foil along the edges of the tray or dish.

• Transfer to the oven and cook for two hours*, basting periodically with the juices, before turning the pork over to cook for a further three hours*, until tender and all but pulling apart with the lightest of pressure.

• Once cooked, carefully lift the pork from the tray or dish and transfer it to rest on a cooling rack. Strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a heavy-based saucepan. Place the pan over a high heat and simmer to reduce to a sauce with a glaze-like consistency – thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Cool and refrigerate.

• Wrap the pork in cling film before returning it to the cooling rack, set over a shallow tray, pressed with a heavy weight, overnight in the fridge. I use a roasting tray filled with water as a press, but heavy tins should also work just fine.

• The next day, take the pork belly out of the fridge and allow it to come back to room temperature. Set up a barbecue for single-zone direct grilling over a medium-high heat.

• Roll the pineapple in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the pineapple directly over hot embers, until well charred all over. Remove from the grill and hack into rough pieces.

• Combine the sugar, vinegar and orange juice in a small saucepan and place over a medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar. Add the star anise, cinnamon stick, cayenne pepper and ground cumin as well as the pineapple chunks, and continue to cook over a low heat for 12-15 minutes, until the liquid has thickened. The salsa should be quite dry. Season with salt to taste and leave to cool a little. Fold the spring-onion greens and coriander through the mixture once it is nearly cool.

• Slice the pork into 2.5cm thick slabs. Reheat the glaze. Grill the pork-belly slices on both sides, brushing continually and generously with the glaze until well charred and warmed through. Serve the pork with the pineapple salsa.

*If you're working with a smaller portion of meat cook for approximately 30 minutes per 500g, turning just before halfway through cooking.