Texas Style Korean BBQ Pork Shoulder

I have been following all the “Fusion” BBQ here in TX in general, and in Austin specifically, and wanted to try my hand at something new for tomorrow night. Plan is to inject a 10lb shoulder with a Korean “BBQ Sauce”, rub with simple sea salt and evaporated cane juice, and then rest in the reefer overnight. Will smoke over pecan and apple wood to a traditional temp of 195-200 and then rest and shred in a disposable aluminum pan. Will then add in more sauce to taste.

With the shredded pork shoulder, I am going to serve with lettuce wraps filled with Koshihikari rice and assorted pickled veggies. Pics to follow.

BBQ Sauce Recipe:

2 Cups Water
2 Cups Light Brown Sugar, Packed
2 Cups Dark Korean Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Brown Rice Vinegar
1 Bunch Scallions, Thinly Sliced
2 TBS Fresh Ginger, Finely Grated
2 TBS Fresh Garlic, Finely Grated
2 TBS Gochujang, Heat Level 3
2 TBS White and Telicherry Pepper Corns, Cracked

Place all ingredients in a heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain all the solids out with a fine mesh sieve and then through cheesecloth.

Sauce simmering away yesterday.
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I like where this is going. Looking forward to more pics.

Following this…

color me intrigued

Where did you find the Gochujang. AND what is it?

Available in most grocery stores.
It’s a fermented chili paste which has a great sweet/hot balance.

Tex, I’ve done something similar for our local wine group. I can’t wait to see your pics and read the review.

Four hours in:
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So I’m curious Tex, how did this turn out?

Pretty good. I’ll post a detailed impression when I get home.

Circling back around…

The finished product was very good and we fed a pretty good crowd of adults and children. I will say that the injection did not have any major affect on the flavor of the pork once it came to temp. I pulled the shoulder after it rested about an hour and the flavors just weren’t there (smoke was, obviously). I then went ahead and sauced the pulled pork with about a cup of the reserved injection, and that made a huge difference in taste.

Basic fabrication of the wraps was a whole leaf of green leaf lettuce with a scoop of rice topped by the pork and a trio of quick pickles (cucumber, red onion and carrot), sauce and sriracha as needed. Would do it again as it is super easy for a crowd to be fed family style.

Takeaway IMHO, is there is no need to inject the should. Just give it a good rub of salt and sugar and off to the smoker she goes. I’ll get some pics off my phone to post.

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Perilla leaves would also be good to wrap the pork. looks super good Tex,

that sauce sounds like it would be good on anything… was it really viscous once you reduced and strained or still loose?

Fairly viscous

And depending on the audience, I would up the gochujang by double.