Korea's Pork Belly Barbeque

Samgyeopsal-gui 삼겹살구이

Samgyeopsal is a popular Korean dish. Commonly served as an evening meal, it consists of thick, fatty slices of pork belly meat (similar to uncured bacon). The meat, usually neither marinated nor seasoned, is cooked on a grill at the diners’ table. Usually diners grill the meat themselves and eat directly from a grill. It is often dipped into a spicy pepper paste.

The literal meaning of the word is “three (sam; 삼) layered (gyeop; 겹) flesh (sal;살)”, referring to what appears to be three layers that are visible in the meat. One can also find ogyeopsal (오겹살), with o meaning “five”.

According to a 2006 survey by Agricultural Cooperatives in Korea (농업협동조합), 85% of South Korean adults surveyed stated their favorite pork issamgyeopsal. The survey also showed 70% of recipients eat the meat at least once a week. The high popularity of samgyeopsal makes it one of the most expensive parts of pork. South Korea imports wholesale samgyeopsal from Belgium, the Netherlands, and other countries for the purpose of price stabilization as imported pork is much cheaper than domestic.

The South Korean government planned to import 70,000 t of samgyeopsal with no tariff in the second half year of 2011. Thus, importation of samgyeopsalwas expected to expand.

Samgyeopsal is popularly consumed both at restaurants and at home, and also used as an ingredient for other Korean dishes, such as kimchi jjigae.

The most common accompaniments for samgyeopsal are lettuce (sangchu; 상추) and sliced raw garlic, but very often the meat is served with other accompaniments, such as perilla leaves (kkaennip; 깻잎), sliced green chili peppers, shredded green onions, sliced raw onions, and aged kimchi (mugeunji; 묵은지). Garlic, onions, and kimchican be either grilled with the meat or consumed raw with the cooked meat. Mushrooms, such as button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms, are also grilled with the meat.

Samgyeopsal is almost always served with at least two kinds of dipping sauces. One is ssamjang (쌈장), a paste consisting of chili paste (gochujang; 고추장), soybean paste (doenjang; 된장),sesame oil (참기름), and other ingredients; the other is gireumjang (기름장), made with salt and sesame oil, sometimes also with a small amount of black pepper. Usually ssamjang is used when a diner eats samgyeopsal with vegetable accompaniments, and gireumjang when a diner wants to taste the cooked meat itself.

Prior to consumption, the large slice of the pork belly is cut into smaller pieces with scissors. A common way to consume samgyeopsal is to place a slice of the cooked meat on a leaf of lettuce or a perilla leaf or both, with some cooked rice and ssamjang, and to roll it up in the leaf and eat it. It is usually called sangchu-ssam (상추쌈). Cooked rice and other foods wrapped in Korean lettuce can also be called sangchu-ssam. Any combination of the vegetable accompaniments mentioned above can be added to the roll according to preference, the most popular is sliced garlic. Many people also add in kimchi, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and grilled onions. Usually, different types of banchan are added. Part of the reason so many people enjoy this food is they can customize it to their liking.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of pork belly (fresh or pre-sliced frozen)

Green onion salad (pajeori):

• 14-16 green onions (about 5 cups), sliced thinly
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoon hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)

Doenjang-gochujang dipping sauce (my special kind of ssamjang I make for samgyeopsal-gui):

• ¼ cup doenjang
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoon gochujang
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Vegetables:

• 1 bunch of lettuce, washed and drained
• 2 dozens of perilla leaves (optional), washed and drained
• 2 carrots, cut into bite size sticks
• 1 English cucumber, cut into bite size sticks
• 7-8 green chili peppers, chopped
• a dozen of raw garlic, sliced
• 1 large onion, cut across into ¼ size pieces

Directions:

1. Slice pork belly into bite sized pieces. Put it on a large plate and keep it in the refrigerator.

Make green onion salad

1. Soak shredded green onion in cold water for 5 minutes. Rinse and drain.
2. Combine soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and hot pepper flakes in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
3. Portion the green onion into small serving bowls, and put some sauce on top of each. Set aside.

Make ssamjang (dipping sauce)

1. Combine soybean paste, hot pepper paste, sugar, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds, and sesame oil in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

How to cook:

1. Heat up your grill plate or pan. Put a little sesame oil on the hot plate for flavor.
2. Cover the grill plate with pork belly. Grill them and turn them over when the bottoms get a little crispy. Keep cooking and turning them over until both sides are crispy.
3. As the pieces get ready to eat, take them off the grill and put them on a small side plate. People can take the pieces from this plate, or if they’re too hungry they can take them right off the grill!
4. Eat, but keep cooking!

Jigeum yoli 지금 요리