Chinese BBQ Corn and Sweet Potato

Light a charcoal brazier and allow the coals to reach a steady, moderate heat with no raw flame, distributing them evenly across the bed so that heat is consistent from one end of the grate to the other. The correct stage is a grey-ashed ember bed that glows orange when fanned — not a roaring fire, because a live flame scorches the outside of both vegetables before the centres have had time to soften.

Set the sweet potatoes directly on the coals or on a grate immediately above them and rotate a quarter-turn every three to four minutes so each face of the potato spends equal time against the heat, building a uniformly caramelised interior rather than a charred shell around a raw core. This is where the dish lives or dies: patient, even rotation over moderate heat separates a potato that is soft and yielding throughout from one that is ruined — rush the heat or neglect the turning and nothing recovers it. Continue until a skewer or thin blade meets no resistance at the centre.

Lay the corn, husks intact, beside or above the coals and rotate on the same rhythm as the sweet potatoes, because the husks trap steam against the kernels during this first phase so the corn cooks through gently before it meets direct charcoal. When the outer husks are fully blackened and papery, peel them back to expose the kernels directly to the charcoal for the final stage.

Continue rotating the husked corn over direct charcoal until the kernels are spotted with deep brown-gold char in places and the corn smells of toasted sugar, at which point the Maillard reaction on the natural sugars has produced the characteristic caramel-smoke aroma that signals readiness. Pull the corn at this moment rather than after, as the char deepens quickly once the husks are gone and bitterness follows fast.

For the northern style, remove the corn and sweet potatoes from the heat and finish with fine salt only, which amplifies the inherent sweetness of both vegetables by contrast rather than competing with it. For the Sichuan variant, blend the softened butter with the doubanjiang until fully combined — working them together rather than adding each separately ensures the chilli paste disperses evenly across every kernel — then brush the mixture across the hot corn and scatter the toasted sesame seeds to finish.