This is one of my favorite recipes ever. It combines my frugal side by using up leftover trimmings from my ribs or inexpensive cuts of pork from the market, with my “check out this awesome grilling recipe” side, and results in a terrifically flavorful, soy sauce-and-honey charred dinner that everyone will love. It is fast and easy, and I like to make this in a large batch so that there are leftovers for lunch—but often there’s nothing left over. It really is that good.
Here’s how I make this. (The full recipe is at the end.)
If you follow my Instagram, you’ll see that I make a lot of ribs. I always start with a full spare rib and cut them down to St. Louis cut size, which results in leftover rib meat that doesn’t have any bones in it. That meat is about 1 inch thick by about 3 inches, and is as long as a rack of ribs.
While I like to use the trimmings from my ribs, this dish can be made from any cut of pork that is large enough to cut into the size of 1 ½ to 2 inch cubes. When I’m out of trimmings but in a hankering for this dish, I have made it from pork shoulder and from pork loin. I use whatever is on sale at the market—just keep in mind that you want something that will be about 1 ½ to 2 inches square when cut and put on the skewers.
There are a couple of ways to do this. There’s the “planning ahead” method and the “everyone’s hungry” method.
The “planning ahead” method is what I use when I am cutting my ribs down to size. I take those trimmings, put them in a freezer safe bag, add the marinade, squeeze out all the air, and pop it into the freezer. I feel that the pork sucks in the marinade really nicely. Then all I have to do is thaw the bag, skewer the meat, and get it on the grill. It’s like the perfect frozen dinner. (On the day that I want to grill it, I will pull it from the freezer in the morning, and let it thaw in the fridge all day. There are faster ways to thaw meat, like under cool running water in your sink, or using your microwave. Just be careful to thaw the center while not cooking the meat—you want to cook it outside on the grill.)
The other way to do this is the “everyone’s hungry” method. In that case, just cut up your pork into 1 ½ to 2 inch cubes. Place them into a large bowl, or better yet, a large freezer bag, and marinade them for as long as your hungry stomach can stand. (You can marinade it as long as a day ahead or so.) I’ve marinated the meat as little as 30 minutes while I lit the grill and set the table. If you do a short marinade, you will want to make sure you baste the meat on the grill so that the marinade really cooks in.
No matter which method you use, when you take the pork out of the freezer bag or bowl, make sure you save about ½ cup of the marinade. You will use that to baste the skewers while they cook. And please, do not use this leftover marinade to dip the cooked meat in! It is not safe to eat because the raw meat was in it. You should only use it to baste the skewers while they char on the grill. (In any event, the meat comes out so juicy and flavorful that extra marinade really isn’t necessary—but if it is, make a fresh batch for the table.)
This marinade recipe will coat about three pounds of meat. Mix in a separate bowl, or the freezer bag, or shake up in a mason jar:
- 1 cup teriyaki sauce (or low sodium soy sauce and increase the honey or brown sugar by 1 Tablespoon)
- ½ cup honey or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes (I like it a bit spicier, so I add in 1 Tablespoon)
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder or 3 slices of ginger about the size of a quarter in both dimensions. If you don’t like ginger or don’t have any, it’s ok to leave out.
- 3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
Pour this into the freezer bag with the cubed pork, squeeze out the air, seal it tight, and then smoosh it all around to get the marinade evenly coating the pork. As the pork sits in this marinade in your refrigerator, its juices will mix with the marinade as the marinade works its way inside the pork (which is why you don’t want to eat this marinade).
If you’re doing the “everybody’s hungry” method, let it marinade in the refrigerator. If you are doing the “planning ahead” method, go ahead and throw it in the freezer. (It will marinade for several hours as it thaws in your refrigerator on the day you cook it. No worries.)
Once the meat is thawed, place it on your skewers. I like to skewer it in the center of each piece so that they don’t fall off. I’ve also been lazy before and just skewered a long piece of pork onto the skewer and decided to cut it into pieces after it was done. I didn’t like it as much because the marinade didn’t get around all sides of each individual piece like it would if they were chunks.
Get your grill hot. You can use charcoal like I have done here, or use your gas grill. You want to crank it up to high heat so that you can char the meat. (Now, if you are worried about the potential bad things that can come from eating charred meat, you can do this in a pan in your kitchen over medium to medium-high heat and avoid charring it. I greatly prefer the char.)
Once you get the skewers over the coals, you will want to baste them with the marinade that you reserved. You can baste them with a fancy grill brush, or a spoon, or even a paper towel folded so that it is 1 inch wide and as long as the paper towel is long. You will use the last inch or so as a paint brush. Works just fine. If it catches on fire drop it in the grill and go back to your kitchen for a spoon.
If you run out of skewers like I did here, just use your favorite grill pan for the rest.
You want them to cook about 6-8 minutes on the first side, and then flip them over. Now, be careful—skewers are great conductors of heat because they are made of metal. Make sure you use an oven mitt to turn them over, or a heavy kitchen towel folded a few times. Don’t catch on fire. Once you have cooked the pork skewers on both sides for approximately 6-8 minutes each, take them off back to the kitchen using a clean plate. They should be nicely charred like this:
Once you are back in the kitchen, carefully slide the meat off the skewers and onto a serving platter or individual plates. It will smell absolutely fantastic, and everyone will be grabbing pieces before you can even get them to the table. I snuck this one while I was grilling:
Here is my serving suggestion: I like to serve it over a nice salad and accompanied by some great couscous. I think the salad counteracts any ill effects of eating charred meat. (Well, that’s probably not true.) But in any event, this is a quick and delicious dinner, and holds up well to a good bourbon cocktail.
- 3 pounds pork, of any kind that can be cut into 1½ inch to 2 inch cubes (for example leftover rib trimmings, pork loin, pork shoulder)
- 1 cup teriyaki sauce (or low sodium soy sauce and increase the honey or brown sugar by 1 T)
- ½ cup honey or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes (I like it a bit spicier, so I add in 1 T)
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder or 3 slices of ginger about the size of a quarter in both dimensions. If you don’t like ginger or don’t have any, it’s ok to leave it out.
- 3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
- There are a couple of ways to make this meal. There’s the “planning ahead” method and the “everyone’s hungry” method.
- The “planning ahead” method is what I use when I am cutting my ribs down to size. I take the pork trimmings, cut them into 1½ to 2 inch cubes, put them in a freezer safe bag, add the marinade (see below), squeeze out all the air, and pop it into the freezer. Then all I have to do is thaw the bag, skewer the meat, and get it on the grill. (On the day that I want to grill it, I will pull it from the freezer in the morning, and let it thaw in the fridge all day. There are faster ways to thaw meat, like under cool running water in your sink, or using your microwave. Just be careful to thaw the center while not cooking the meat—you want to cook it outside on the grill.)
- The other way to do this is the “everyone’s hungry” method. In that case, just cut up your pork into 1½ to 2 inch cubes. Place them into a large bowl, or better yet, a large freezer bag, and marinade them for as long as your hungry stomach can stand. (You can marinade it as long as a day ahead or so.) I’ve marinated the meat as little as 30 minutes while I lit the grill and set the table. If you do a short marinade, you will want to make sure you baste the meat on the grill so that the marinade really cooks in.
- Mix the marinade ingredients in a separate bowl, or the freezer bag, or shake up in a mason jar. This marinade recipe will coat about three pounds of meat.
- Pour this into the freezer bag with the cubed pork, squeeze out the air, seal it tight, and then smoosh it all around to get the marinade evenly coating the pork. As the pork sits in this marinade in your refrigerator, its juices will mix with the marinade as the marinade works its way inside the pork (which is why you don’t want to eat this marinade).
- If you’re doing the “everybody’s hungry” method, let it marinade in the refrigerator. If you are doing the “planning ahead” method, go ahead and throw it in the freezer. (It will marinade for several hours as it thaws in your refrigerator on the day you cook it. No worries.)
- No matter which method you use, when you take the pork out of the freezer bag or bowl, make sure you save about ½ cup of the marinade. You will use that to baste the skewers while they cook. Do not use this leftover marinade to dip the cooked meat in! It is not safe to eat because the raw meat was in it. You should only use it to baste the skewers while they char on the grill. (In any event, the meat comes out so juicy and flavorful that extra marinade really isn’t necessary—but if it is, make a fresh batch for the table.)
- Once the meat is thawed, place it on your skewers. I like to skewer it in the center of each piece so that they don’t fall off.
- Get your grill hot. You can use charcoal which is what I prefer, or use your gas grill. You want to crank it up to high heat so that you can char the meat. (Now, if you are worried about the potential bad things that can come from eating charred meat, you can do this in a pan in your kitchen over medium to medium-high heat and avoid charring it. I greatly prefer the char.)
- Once you get the skewers over the coals, you will want to baste them with the marinade that you reserved. You can baste them with a fancy grill brush, or a spoon, or even a paper towel folded so that it is 1 inch wide and as long as the paper towel is long. You will use the last inch or so as a paint brush. Works just fine. If it catches on fire, drop it in the grill and go back to your kitchen for a spoon.
- If you run out of skewers, just use your favorite grill pan for whatever meat is left.
- You want to cook the pork about 6-8 minutes on the first side, and then flip them over. Now, be careful—skewers are great conductors of heat because they are made of metal. Make sure you use an oven mitt to turn them over, or a heavy kitchen towel folded a few times.
- Once you have cooked the pork on both sides for approximately 6-8 minutes per side, take them off back to the kitchen using a clean plate. They should be nicely charred. If they are not cooked in the middle, get them back on the grill until they are done.
- Once you are back in the kitchen, carefully slide the meat off the skewers and onto a serving platter or individual plates.
- I like to serve it over a nice salad and accompanied by some great couscous. I think the salad counteracts any ill effects of eating charred meat. (Well, that’s probably not true.) But in any event, this is a quick and delicious dinner, and holds up well to a good bourbon cocktail.
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