NAPA, Calif. - What's Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's barbecue secret ingredient? A sake-spiked marinade, of course.

Like many other chefs looking to add a little thrill to the grill, Morimoto heads to the liquor cabinet. Because rum, tequila and other liquors all do a fine job of getting meat ready to face the fire.

As Elizabeth Karmel, known for her grill skills, puts it: Never marinate your food in something you wouldn't drink.

"I cook a lot with booze. It makes everything taste better and really gives food a fabulous depth of flavor," said Karmel, executive chef of Hill Country Barbecue Market and the soon-to-open Hill Country Chicken, both in New York City. "Food is so much about fun and who wouldn't want a tequila sunrise marinated chicken, right? And so many of the flavors in a tequila sunrise cocktail are the same flavors that we would use in, for example, a marinade."

Morimoto, who appears on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America," (he also was a star of the original Japanese "Iron Chef" show) demonstrated his techniques recently at his new restaurant on the Napa riverfront.

He sprinkled sake over pork loin, stabbing the pearly pink meat with chopsticks and then immersing it in a marinade including mirin, a type of rice cooking wine, and sake.

A man of few words, Morimoto cooked in silence. But through a written translation, he explained that using sake is a tip commonly shared by yakitori chefs. (Yakitori is a dish of grilled chicken kabobs.)

He explained that Asian liquors work well with typical seasonings, including salt and pepper, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and barbecue sauce.

So how do you match liquor with meat? Karmel usually uses lighter alcohols and citrus flavors with white meats and more robust alcohols and flavors with darker meats.

"But that said, one of my favorite marinades is a Jack Daniels and Coke marinade that I use on a pork chop," she said.

Other flavors she likes are vodka-based marinades for fish, pork, beef or even grilled fruit, and rum-based soaks for grilled fruits, summer veggies, shellfish, tuna, chicken or pork.

And don't worry, the alcohol cooks away in the heat. This also means that when you're done you can pair the dish with whatever you like, including wine.

Michael Paley, chef of Proof on Main in Louisville, Ky., takes a locavore approach to liquor. He brines pork loin overnight in a bourbon-based brine.

Being in Louisville, "we're fortunate to be surrounded by some of the best bourbon producers in the world," he said. Bourbon makes a good marinade base "because it complements so many different flavors and ingredients, especially honey and brown sugar."

You don't want to use top-shelf booze for the marinade, of course. Save that for what you pour for yourself.

Some recipes to try:

• BAHAMA MAMA MARINADE (from Karmel's book "Soaked, Slathered and Seasoned")

Makes 3 1/4 cups. Use it for soaking fruit, summer vegetables, shellfish, tuna, chicken or pork.

In a small, nonreactive bowl, whisk together the juice and zest of 1 large lemon, 1 cup fresh orange juice, the zest of 1 orange, 1 cup pineapple juice, 1/2 cup dark rum, 1/4 cup coconut rum, 3 tablespoons cherry kirsch or maraschino cherry juice, 2 tablespoons grenadine, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt and 1/4 cup almond or extra-virgin olive oil. Mix until well blended.

• SAIKYO YAN RACK OF PORK RIBS (from Morimoto)

Combine 2 cups of saikyo miso, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup sake, 1/2 cup mirin. Use to marinate a 6- to 8-pound rack of pork ribs overnight in the refrigerator. Wipe dry and season with salt and pepper. Grill, cooking to desired temperature.