Smoke billowed overhead as we made our way through crowds of people sucking on neon juice from adult-sized baby bottles. 626 Night Market, which comes to the Bay Area twice a year, bills itself as a destination for all things Asian street food — from bao to boba. But, to me, the only reason to come is Michael Liu’s Chinese barbecue.
Within minutes of arriving at the Alameda County Fairgrounds back in May, my family and I couldn’t help but notice people clutching golden skewers of beef, lamb and chicken, and the way they flared out like floral arrangements. They were beautiful, and just looking at the reddish, slightly charred pieces made our mouths water. We wandered with intention, past the booths selling ramen cups and Hello Kitty-stamped omelets, until we arrived at Taste Memory.
The line was certainly not the longest at the night market, which returns to Pleasanton this weekend, July 28 to 30. That title goes to Japanese souffle pancake maker Wobble Bake, which seemed to maintain a 30-minute-plus queue for cold versions of its steamed, soft tofu-like pancakes. We didn’t care for them. But the people waiting to get their jaws on Liu’s skewers were the smart ones. If there was any food at this county fair-like event that was going to induce true night market or street food vibes, this was it.
Taste Memory at 626 Night Market in Arcadia California.
Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATE
Chicken skewers from Taste Memory at 626 Night Market in Arcadia California.
Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATE
Taste Memory (Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATE)
That’s because Liu,who operates out of a commercial kitchen in Fremont, takes his barbecue very seriously. A utility engineer by day, he grew up in China’s northernmost province of Heilongjiang, in Harbin, a city where 80% of the restaurants, according to Liu, do barbecue. He ate them at least three times a week as a kid, and the flavors never left him, even after immigrating to the U.S. in 2008 and eventually settling in the East Bay.
“At a young age, I had a food dream in my heart,” Liu told SFGATE. “I ate some tasty food and would think of how to expand it.”
Before launching as a pop-up in Los Angeles in 2018, Liu returned to China to study the work of master grillers from Beijing to Liaoning, both cities famous for skewers. At first, they didn’t want to reveal their secrets to him.
“I just went there [to the restaurants] everyday and they agreed to teach me,” Liu said.
Liu’s guarded recipes — he tested them more than 100 times — are a mix of his research and his own family’s recipes, which go back 50 years. His marinades includes numerous secret spices, including red chiles. His beef and lamb get hit with egg whites, which help to tenderize the meat. The chicken, made from drumsticks, features a sweet and spicy garlic sauce.
Charcoal-grilled squid and chicken skewers from Taste Memory at 626 Night Market in Pleasanton, Calif.
Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATETo prep the skewers, he season the proteins with salt, pepper and cumin — in that order. Salt must be applied first because it penetrates the meat the most deeply, and almost kick starts the cooking process, he said.
“I’m an engineer,” Liu said. “Engineers focus on the procedure.”
Once they hit the charcoal grill, the skewers are turned with military precision, every 30 seconds for beef and lamb and every 20 seconds for chicken. To the left of the tent, where people were lined up to order, Liu’s grillers were set up at narrow charcoal grilling stations, flipping the skewers with intention.
“You want to turn it very frequently so it retains its tenderness,” he said. “This is a very serious process.”
It showed in the flavors. The lamb was incredibly rich and juicy with a warm earthiness from the cumin, and just a trace of gaminess. The beef, made from short rib, was impossibly tender and had a depth of flavor that began and ended with fiery chile notes. The chicken was our absolute favorite: Nubs of tender drumstick meat loaded with garlic and subtle spice. We gnawed the meat right off the skewers and got back in line for more.
The chicken, beef and lamb skewers from Michael Liu’s Taste Memory at 626 Night Market in Pleasanton have a reddish hue from multiple spices.
Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATETaste Memory sells skewers in bundles of four for $10 and also offers seafood skewers, including squid. Like many of the Pleasanton vendors, Liu also sells at the Southern California flagship 626 Night Market in Arcadia and works the state’s larger night market circuit, popping up at FoodieLand, which hits Berkeley in August, and the newer OMG Mid-Autumn Festival that comes to Millbrae in September. All together, that’s just 20 days when Bay Area foodies can snag Liu’s barbecue. Come October, he plans to start catering out of his commercial kitchen. And, who knows, from there, maybe a casual restaurant one day.
Liu speculated that people like his skewers because most American barbecue tends to be one note in flavor, or perhaps because there aren’t a lot of competitors doing Chinese barbecue. Then he thought about being that kid in Heilongjiang, savoring skewers on the regular, and offered up another possibility.
“But I think the flavor is the most important,” he said.
626 Night Market, Alameda County Fairgrounds, Gate 8, 2005 Valley Ave., Pleasanton. Open July 28 through 30. Friday, 3-11 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1-11 p.m. Admission is $5. Parking is $15, card only; www.626nightmarket.com.