Jeyuk-gui (Gochujang Grilled Pork)

Jeyuk-gui lives or dies by the fire. Too low, and the gochujang marinade weeps into the pan and becomes jeyuk-bokkeum (stir-fried spicy pork). Good food, different dish. For gui (grilled food), the pork has to meet high heat, quickly, so the paste cooks onto the meat instead of pooling underneath it.

Choose pork shoulder, pork neck, or collar if your butcher has it, sliced thin but not shaved. Belly gives you richness, loin gives you dryness, but shoulder has the right balance for a weeknight table. The marinade must be red, yes, but not only hot and sweet. Gochujang is already salty and sweet, so I use enough to cling and stop there. Let the pork still taste like pork.

My teacher would make us wipe the bowl clean with one last piece of meat, then shake off the excess before it touched the grill. I thought that was severity. It was instruction. Wet marinade burns before the meat browns. Thin meat needs room. A lettuce wrap needs a piece that is cooked through, edged dark, and still juicy. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, so you can cook the same good plate twice.