It’s been a very long time since I last had samgyeopsal. I think Koreans have to eat samgyeopsal on a regular basis - Otherwise people go crazy like me.
According to a recent Korean news paper, Koreans consumed about 17 kg of pork per person in 2005, compared to beef - 6.6 kg and chicken - 7.4 kg, and more than 50 % of the pork was the samgyeopsal. To meet this consumption, Korea has imported massive amounts of samgyeopsal from 14 countries, the amount was about 85,000t for the last 11 months. Why are Koreans so crazy for samgyeopsal?
Well, for me, it is delicious. That is all I can say. 
I especially like it when the meat is cooked in a golden crispy way.
The reason I haven’t had it for a long time was, simply, I didn’t have a grill plate for it. I wasn’t going to buy it until I moved out from this house, because I didn’t want to increase our load, but my tolerance had nearly reached the limit. I decided to buy a grill pan finally, whether it will be a burden or not. (I will tell you about the grill plate in the next post.)
This is the samgyeopsal we ate. (1.4 kg served 4 people - about US $22, I know it is a lot to eat, but we haven’t had this for nearly for 8 months, we were like some kind of hungry wolves. :))
It was s~o good, the meat was melting in my mouth. I totally loved having baked Kimchi with the meat. It is another level of delight.
Enjoying Samgyeopsal dos and don’t
Do
- Have some fresh vegetables with the meat. You can wrap the meat with some lettuce and Perilla leaves (Korean style sesame leaves - Ggaennip in Korean). It is healthier and also helps digestion.
- Bake some garlic and spicy green chilies on the grill and add them when you wrap the meat. It really enhances the taste.
- You can also bake some fermented Kimchi on the grill. Some restaurants serve you 1 year old fermented Kimchi. It is not as horrible as you may think, it totally rocks. Some experts say that it is the best part of having samgyeopsal.
- Cook the meat on the strong heat for a short time. That way you don’t loose the meat juice (you don’t want it to go dry).
Don’t
- While the meat is cooking on the grill, don’t turn it over every so often. Apparently the more you do, the more it looses its flavour. Some experts say that only turning the meat once is best.
- Don’t stretch out your hands to pick the meat from the opposite side. People get angry at you. (Every wolf is hungry here)
- Don’t keep eating. You need to learn the beauty of cooperation by joining in turning the meat when it is cooked. You are a mean spirited person if you keep eating while the others work together to turn the meat.
- Don’t eat the meat when it is burnt. It is bad for your health (The burnt part can cause cancer).
I couldn’t keeping taking pictures after smelling it (and who would?), so I can’t give you a visual image of “dos and don’t”, yet I am going to hold another party soon, then I can show you more of the side dishes I made.
Related Posts
Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui)
Steamed Pork Wrapped in Leaves (Bossam in Korean)
Steamed Pork Ribs (Dwaeji Galbi Jjim in Korean) - Natural Sauce Version
BBQ, Food Culture, Korean cuisine, Korean Food, Meat, Pork Belly, Red Meat, Samgyeopsal
ooh, you are making me hungry…this sounds and looks really good!
Is that considered Korean BBQ ?
What side dishes did you serve with this?
난 삼겹살을 먹어 본 적이 있어요. 참 맛있어요.
I can understand why Koreans can go crazy without eating it =)
Hi Kat,
I know, it made me drool too.
I was salivating at the end of the post.
Hi tigerfish,
I guess it is considered as BBQ. Koreans usually mean cooking seasoned meat when they say BBQ. The meat isn’t seasoned, but you can season it with some kind of soy sauce or chili paste if you want.
Hi slayer3,
I served it with some Kimchi, fresh vegetables like lettuce, Perilla leaves, mug worts, chicory, cucumber, non-spicy green chili, spicy green chili and garlic (both to bake), and Ssamjang sauce (dipping sauce).
Hi Equinox,
I agree it is delicious, in a savory way.
I am a pork person too! You don’t want to turn the meat too often because you want the meat to sear in the high heat, meaning let the sugars in the meat juice caramelize and turn brown. The brown part is what makes the meat very tasty.
For Malaysians, we usually use pork stomach to cook up this very savory soup. And this pork belly soup is a special festive soup and would show up only when we celebrate the Chinese festivities.
Hi simcooks,
I totally agree with you. The brown part is the best.
Hi Rasa Malaysia,
It must be a really special soup.
Love it! Turned my white Hubby into pork belly and soju, and he keeps craving it…
Love this dish.
I (an average white american male with an uneducated tongue) don’t really like the traditional sour kimchi that is usually served with this. I make my wife crazy by insisting on fresh (less than 4 day old) kimchi. Wrapping the pork belly in a large fresh kimchi leaf with a bit of rice, raw garlic & jalapeno or hot green chili slice is pure heaven.
The salted sesame oil/black pepper sauce is also very good.
is this similar to bossam?
Sally,
Bossam and samgyeopsal BBQ is different.
Bossam is steamed meat (its tenderness is the aim), and samgyeopsal BBQ is grilled (being more crispy is the aim of it).
However you can use the same meat for both.
I think I will make this for a party!!!! I love this website! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Thanks Sally,
I hope you have a wonderful party.
Hi,
Is pork belly you got with some soft bones? Because I found that there are two different kinds of pork belly. One is without bones and the other one is with some very little soft bones.
Hi baobaighost,
I can’t really say the pork belly I used was 100% bone less.
99% of the meat didn’t have any bones, but occasionally (only 2-3 times) it had some soft bones, and I just cut them out with scissors as the meat was cooked. If there is pork belly that doesn’t have any bones, I would go with it.
The pork belly with the soft bones is cut from the very end of the pork ribs and is usually “meatier” than the more common pork belly.
Hi Sue, I posted a a reply on the forum to the ‘This is Sue’ thread but just wanted to leave a reply here to say my first ever attempt at cooking a Korean meal (including samgyeopsal) went very well yesterday - thanks for the advice! Jeremy
I bought some samgeopsal for dinner tonight!! I’m excited. I’ve made it 3 other times, once for a party. I don’t have a grill plate, so I just cooked it in a frying pan on the stove. Everyone loved it!
And me, a person who doesn’t like pork much, and meats that have fat… well, I love it!! I even crave it sometimes!
Thanx so much for this recipe!!
I just made it yesterday and today for the first time. It’s delicious!I love meat wrapped with salads so this will become one of my favourite food!And it’s so easy to make!
When you put ‘pork belly’ on your title, I was thinking that it is the inside of its belly you mean, so I wonder how you, Korean, love eating that inner part of the pork.
But when I saw your picture, then I knew what you mean. We call it ’sam-cwan’ in Hok-kien adapted Bahasa Indonesia, literally it means 3 layers (skin, fat and meat). We use to cook that part (yes you are trully right, it is on the belly side of the pork) grilled until crispy on the skin part, or make it in stew, Chinese style.
I think the word Samgyeopsal, the ’sam’ = three, right?
Thank you for sharing the way you enjoy the ’sam cwan’ in Korean way. It is so interesting to read how you Korean love it very much, so love that you are not supposed to pick the opposite side’s when you gather to have Samgyeopsal party.
I think I will try it some day.