Grilled Pork

Pounding slices of pork tenderizes the meat, making it thin enough to take on the flavor of the marinade and allowing it to cook fast enough to stay moist.

Luke Nguyen grew up in Australia and learned to cook at his Vietnamese parents’ restaurant. On his first visit to Saigon 11 years ago, he had this simple sandwich filled with peppery pork and hoisin sauce.

Rubbing a vibrant jerk paste on chops before a quick 20 minutes on the grill gives them an insanely good, peppery heat.

Inspired by the Southern practice of cooking meat with Coca-Cola, Zak Pelaccio marinates racks of spare ribs in a mixture of root beer, fish sauce and garlic, then roasts and grills them until tender and charred.

Prick fresh sausages all over before grilling to release the excess fat.

Melissa Rubel adds scallions, fresh ginger, garlic and sesame oil to ground pork for a juicy Asian-flavored burger.

Grilling pork quickly not only keeps it moist, but adds a charred, smoky flavor that is lovely in these tacos. Remember to grill the cutlets only until they’re just cooked through; leave them on the heat any longer and they can dry out.

This exceptional grilled-pork taco is made with impressively fresh ingredients—and some Coca-Cola.

Andy Ricker roasts these meaty, tender ribs for two to three hours over a low fire for a fabulously smoky flavor. In this easy adaptation, the ribs are slow-cooked in the oven, then finished on the grill. Baby back ribs cut across the bone are the classic Thai choice, but whole ribs are just as delicious.

The grated onion in the garlicky red wine marinade here helps tenderize the pork shoulder, which can sometimes become tough when grilled.

This Mexican-inspired spice rub is also delicious on steak and chicken legs. The combination of paprika and ancho chile powder enhances the meat’s smoky grilled flavor.

This delicious pork shoulder is marinated in citrus juices with garlic, oregano and cumin, then slow-roasted over indirect heat on a charcoal grill.

To give pork rib roasts an irresistible sweet-salty crust, Jean-Georges Vongerichten marinates them in an amber mix of soy sauce and Grade B maple syrup, then caramelizes them slowly on the grill. He serves the meat on a bed of crisp green beans and slow-braised onions in a spice broth of star anise, fennel and cumin.

Chef Tim Love rubs meat with a bit of sugar to help brown it but finishes the dish over low heat so the sugar doesn't char the outside. Here, he coats pork chops with cocoa and chile powders for a rub that's like a deconstructed version of Mexican mole sauce.

Pork satay, a staple among hawkers in Singapore, is typically very sweet. Bryant Ng’s version, which he marinates in a combination of lemongrass and coconut milk, is more balanced. He also adds extra fennel seeds, making the tender skewered meat even more aromatic.

Pork tenderloin is leaner than skin-on chicken and delicious in the spicy, smoky recipe here. Capsaicin, the chemical that makes chiles taste hot, can help boost metabolism; for extra fire, add the chile seeds to the marinade.

Pisto is a mixture of vegetables very similar to French ratatouille or Italian caponata. In Rioja, a region known for great vegetables, it's served both hot (topped with a fried egg) and cold, as a salad or side dish. Here, Janet Mendel grills the vegetables to create a deeply flavored pisto that enhances the flavors of robust, Tempranillo-based wines.

"Pork chops are a perennial favorite with our 140 members," Kristin Kimball says. "We have to limit the amount we give out, or they'd be gone too quickly." The pork is especially good glazed with maple syrup tapped from the farm's own trees. "We use maple syrup a lot, since we don't have sugar. We probably go through 15 gallons in a year."

This classic Mexican dish of pork shoulder and spices uses a double layer of banana leaves as a flavorful pouch for cooking, but the thick, fibrous leaves are not edible.

Instead of using high-calorie coconut milk, Sue Zemanick substitutes coconut water (the clear liquid inside young coconuts) and a touch of full-fat sour cream to add richness to this curry sauce. Lime juice and red curry paste contribute superb tanginess and flavor, too.

The adobo, or marinade, adds a tangy, garlicky flavor to the grilled steaks and pork chops and also tenderizes them.