We are in the middle of barbecue season! I would like to introduce you to a new type of charcoal, bincho-tan that can dramatically improve the taste and quality of your barbecued food. Back in June 10th, our team, Chef Iida, the executive chef at Aburiya Kinnosuke in New York City, Chef Sato and Chef Yasuda (both from Aburiya Kinnosuke) and Hiroko Shimbo, offered an exciting and informative Bincho-tan Workshop 
to students and staffs at the Theater Kitchen of International Culinary Center at French Culinary Institute (FCI). What students learned from our workshops are: Bincho-tan is a unique charcoal which is made from the very dense and hard wood of the ubamegashi (Quercus phillyracoides) tree. The wood from this tree is so dense that it sinks in water! Very unique production methods along with the very special characteristic of this wood produce a charcoal that is almost pure carbon. During combustion in still air bincho-tan charcoal burns at close to 1,000 degree F much higher than conventional charcoal. If you fan it the temperature can hike up steeply. Yes, this is a very high temperature, but it does not bun the cooking items because it mosly cooks by infrared radiant heat. This is possible because the very high combustion temperature of bincho-tan produces much more radiant heat than the lower burning temperature of ordinary charcoal. Because of this cooked items acquire a very crisp surface on the outside and are juicy and moist inside. Look at this fish! It was SO DELICIOUS! The story continues…….
