Sometimes, a good meal doesn’t need a lot of time, complicated seasoning, or an elaborate marinade.

Whether you’re cooking for yourself or putting together a quick outdoor gathering, throwing some meat cubes on skewers and putting them on the grill can be a simple—and surprisingly delicious—choice.

Today, I made exactly that.

And the best part?

I made it right in my office.

Just Follow the Vibe

For this little grilling session, I picked up some pork shoulder.

As for the seasoning, I have to admit something:

I almost never measure it.

I just follow the vibe.

A little of this, a little of that, and hopefully everything comes together.

Before doing anything else, I lit the charcoal and let the grill get ready.

Then I washed the pork shoulder and cut it into small cubes.

The size of the cubes actually matters. Smaller pieces will cook differently from larger ones, and the size can affect both the cooking time and how the meat feels when you bite into it.

So I say, cut them however you like. There’s no need to make it complicated.

My Quick Pork Marinade

Once the pork was cut, I put all the cubes into a bowl and started adding the marinade.

Soy sauce.

Marinade seasoning.

Brown sugar was called for in the recipe I saw, but I only had regular sugar.

So regular sugar it is.

Then some black pepper, ketchup, oil, and minced garlic.

The original recipe also called for Sprite, but I decided to skip that. It seemed like a little too much sugar for my taste.

I mixed everything together really well and let the pork marinate for at least three hours.

And then came the waiting.

My Dipping Sauce

While the meat was marinating, I made a simple dipping sauce.

Nothing fancy here either.

I grabbed another bowl and added some vinegar, salt, black pepper, sugar, soy sauce, onions, and chili.

The video I watched used both red onions and green onions. I happened to have some onions on hand, so I went with what I had.

Same story with the chili.

The recipe used green chili, but I only had red chili.

So red chili it is.

These were pretty spicy, though, so I didn't add too much.

And that's it.

Simple.

Onto the Skewers

Once the pork was ready, I started putting the meat cubes onto the skewers.

Here's one little trick I tried:

I put the fattier pieces toward the top of the skewer.

My thinking was that as the fat heats up, some of the rendered fat can drip down onto the leaner pieces underneath, helping add more flavor as everything cooks.

It's a small thing, but I like experimenting with little details like this.

Now it was time to get everything onto the YANFLAMMA Smokeless Grill.

No Extra Marinade for Me

While watching the original cooking video, I noticed the owner brushed the skewers with more marinade while they were cooking.

But I decided not to do that.

For me, it just felt like a little more work than necessary, and I didn't think the skewers needed to be constantly covered in extra marinade.

I wanted to see how they would turn out with the marinade they had already absorbed.

So I closed the grill and let them cook.

Look at That Color

After some time, I checked on the skewers.

And honestly?

I liked what I saw.

The meat had developed a beautiful color, and everything looked nicely cooked.

At that point, I was ready to take them off the YANFLAMMA Grill.

And look at these!

Some pretty good-looking skewers.

Time to Taste

Of course, there's only one thing left to do.

Taste them.

I grabbed one, dipped it into the sauce...

Mmm. Good.

The pork was flavorful, the little bit of char from the grill added something extra, and the dipping sauce brought a nice kick to every bite.

And that's when I realized something.

This is exactly the kind of food I enjoy making.

It's simple.

It's not overly complicated.

I didn't need ten different spices or a complicated cooking technique.

Just some pork shoulder, a few ingredients, some charcoal, skewers, and a little bit of instinct.

Simple Food Doesn't Mean Ordinary Food

Sometimes we think a great meal has to take hours to prepare.

It doesn't.

Sometimes you just need good ingredients, a hot grill, and a little creativity.

These meat cubes weren't some complicated recipe. They were just a simple meal I decided to make in my office today.

But simple doesn't mean boring.

And quick doesn't mean ordinary.

Sometimes, simple food is exactly what makes a great meal.

That's another little cooking experience with my YANFLAMMA Smokeless Grill.

And honestly, I'm already thinking about what I'm going to grill next.