The secret ingredient in this complex sauce is earthy, spicy, salty gochujang, a Korean fermented chile paste that adds depth of flavor to recipes. It should be easy to find gochujang at most any Asian market or in the Asian-foods aisle of a large grocery store, but if you can’t find it locally, it can be ordered through online retailers. And whatever you do, don’t leave off the Cucumber-Carrot Kimchi, which adds freshness and crunch to these flavorful wraps!
YIELD: 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
3 lb (1.4 kg) boneless pork butt roast, trimmed
6 cloves garlic, minced
⅔ cup (165 g) gochujang
½ cup (118 ml) honey
⅓ cup (80 ml) low-sodium soy sauce
⅓ cup (80 ml) rice vinegar
2 tbsp (23 g) peanut butter
2 tsp (10 ml) sesame oil or toasted sesame oil
1 tsp (2 g) onion powder
CUCUMBER-CARROT KIMCHI
2 small pickling cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into ¼-inch (6-mm) thick half-circles
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp (30 ml) rice vinegar
2 tsp (10 ml) honey
1 tsp (5 g) gochujang
1 to 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
1 tbsp (10 g) minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ cup (190 g) tomato sauce
2 tbsp (30 ml) water
6 to 8 (10-inch [25-cm]) flour tortillas, for serving
Pierce the pork roast all over with a small knife. Place the pork in the bottom of a large slow cooker. In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, gochujang, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut butter, sesame oil and onion powder. Measure out 1 cup (250 g) of the mixture and pour it over the pork roast, rubbing it into the meat and turning to evenly coat it. Refrigerate the remainder of the sauce. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours, until the pork is very tender.
While the pork is cooking, prepare the Cucumber-Carrot Kimchi. Toss the cucumbers with the salt and place them in a colander set over a bowl for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the cucumbers, firmly pressing down on the cucumber pieces in the colander until all of the water is extracted. In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the rice vinegar, honey and gochujang. Add the drained cucumbers as well as the carrots, ginger and garlic. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Prepare the Korean barbecue sauce by combining the refrigerated sauce with the tomato sauce and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and reduced.
Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Remove and discard the fat and use 2 forks to pull the pork into chunks. Use a large spoon to skim the fat from the surface of the liquids in the slow cooker. Return the pulled pork to the slow cooker and stir it to soak up the juices. Pour the desired amount of barbecue sauce over the pork and stir to combine. Serve the warm pork drizzled with the remaining sauce, topped with Cucumber-Carrot Kimchi and wrapped in flour tortillas.