Late afternoon sun, eating outside with my family is one of my favourite things.  I love it when we are all together for dinner.  Now our boys are getting bigger and bigger, it becomes harder and harder to always eat together but when it does happen, I am happy and relaxed.  To enjoy this moment more I often want a quick and easy dinner to make so I can enjoy the sitting down part of the meal.

So when Lee Kum Kee asked me to come up with a barbecue recipe I knew in an instant which meal to cook, as it would allow me to talk to everyone without being stuck away from the chatter around the table.

I often make an Asian Coleslaw which is a real hit in our house and looking at the back of the ingredients of the Oriental Sesame Dressing sample sent to me it was near enough the same ingredients I normally use separately, so why not save a bit of time and use that instead?

I also used the ready-made Char Sui Sauce (Chinese Honey Barbecue Marinade) to brush over some large mushrooms that I placed in a griddled brioche roll and we ate and talked, talked and ate with a good measure of giggles thrown in.

Thank you Lee Kum Kee for sending me some samples to try that not only allowed me to make the following two recipes but the Char Siu Sauce was fantastic over pork ribs cooked in the oven.

Asian Coleslaw

(serves 4)

Half a shredded red cabbage

Half a shredded green cabbage

1 large carrot, grated

3 spring onions, finely sliced

2 tablespoons Lee Kum Kee’s Oriental Sesame Dressing

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted

2 tablespoons unsalted peanuts, crushed (optional)

Place the vegetables in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.  Stir through the dressing, adding more if you need to.  Scatter over the seeds and nuts and serve.

Char Sui Mushrooms

(serves 4)

4 large or 8 medium mushrooms

1 teaspoon Char Siu Sauce, brushed over each mushroom

4 brioche bread rolls

On a high heat, griddle the mushroom on each side for about 3 minutes, more if larger and allow to rest for a couple of minutes which will allow you to toast the bread rolls.

Serve with a mushroom in each roll and topped with a spoonful of the Asian Coleslaw.