My good friend Ray whose nickname is Uncle Ray makes a fantastic spicy grilled marinated pork shoulder. He tells me it’s spicy because he uses a Korean style chili paste. He tried many combinations of flavors to get it just right and this version has become a family favorite. Since he made it for everyone for our family get together on Labor Day, he kindly allowed me to share his secret recipe. His secret ingredient is “Go-Chu-Jang” which is a savory and pungent fermented Korean paste made from red chili, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, and salt. It’s an indispensable condiment that’s used a lot in Korean dishes and its flavor is quickly catching on with many other cultures in California and is starting to appear in tacos, sushi rolls, and pasta.

Ray uses chili flakes for some spicy heat and rice wine which has alcohol as the wine helps to denature the pork protein to make it more tender. The brown sugar and honey aids in caramelization. It’s best to marinate it overnight in a Ziploc bag for the flavors to blend and marry. This dish is traditionally served with onions and Ray used some sweet Maui onions. This dish is very versatile as it can be prepared and then refrigerated, or frozen into a block, and brought to the beach or mountains or during camping. It can be thawed and quickly grilled to serve a perfect meal with some bread, tortillas, cooked rice, or noodles. It also makes a great gyro, wrap, burritos, or tacos.