Pork Belly

Eyyyy!

More Korean goodness is coming your way today in this two-in-one deal of a post!

That’s right, two recipes because pork belly is my absolute most favorite thing ever. For real. If you ever need to bribe me, offer me samgyeopsal-gui (삼겹살구이) or kimchi jaeyook bokkeum (김치제육볶음) and I will do whatever you want. Also preparation for samgyeopsal-gui and kimchi jaeyook bokkeum are both really simple and easy so I couldn’t really justify doing two blog posts so you’re welcome.

Fun fact, apparently pork belly is the favorite cut of pork for 85% of Korean adults and in 2011 South Korea imported 70,000 tons of it from Europe tariff-free. Pork belly is the true, one and only BAE.

So, we’ll talk about samgyeopsal-gui first, then kimchi jaeyook bokkeum, and then you’ll go off and make your own and discover why I’m so obsessed with it.

Jump to Recipe

Samgyeopsal-gui (삼겹살구이)

So first we’ll talk about samgyupsal-gui since it’s less prep and give you a good idea of what the meat tastes like on it’s own. You might also be more familiar with this kind of pork belly if you’ve ever been to a Korean BBQ restaurant.

For samgyeopsal-gui, the pork belly is not marinated, just seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled. It’s served with rice, lettuce/perilla leaf wraps (called ssam – 쌈), ssamjang -쌈장 (literally, wrap sauce), and raw garlic (along with your standard panchan (side dishes) such as a load of kimchi, bean sprouts, et cetera). You load a piece of lettuce with rice, ssamjang, pork belly, garlic, and whatever else you want, then roll it up and stuff that whole bish into your mouth. Seriously. It’s an unwritten rule that you don’t take bites out of your wrap and it’s a hobby of mine to make the most outrageously huge wraps I can and force them onto others so that I can giggle at my friends as they struggle to eat a wrap that’s the size of their fist in one go.

Samgyeopsal-gui is best right off the grill/pan, which is why I would really like a butane tabletop grill set like this:

IWATANI Smokeless Korean barbecue grill “YAKIMARU” CB-SLG-1

But it’s kind of a lot of money and we don’t have the space to store something like that in the apartment I live in. Maybe someday my dreams will come true. Also if you do get this particular grill set, I don’t think it comes with the butane canisters and you would have to order those separately.

Iwatani BUT-6 Butane Canister, Pack of 4, 8-Ounces

Anyway, for those of us who aren’t going to tabletop route, a cast iron skillet or stainless steel pan are also fine. Just cook in small batches to maximize your enjoyment of pork belly.

BUT FIRST.

We gotta make ssamjang. Also make sure you separate your lettuce leaves and give them a good rinse so that they’re nice and clean and dry (ish) and crunchy when it’s time to eat them. And make your rice. And peel some garlic. And cut some kimchi if you’ve got it. And set out your other side dishes if you’re having them.

Anyway, ssamjang. Ssamjang is Korean red chili paste (called gochujang (고추장)…and it’s pronounced go-chu-jahng. If I ever hear any of you call it go-chu-jayng, I will rip your tongue out), fermented soy bean paste (doengjang – 된장), crushed garlic, mayonnaise, sugar, and a splash of water. That’s the basics of it, but I like to add a tiny splash of soy sauce and rice vinegar too because salt and acid and flavor and whatever. The longer you let this sit, the better it tastes, so I would recommend making it at least an hour beforehand.

Another option for your meat dressing (if you can’t find gochujang and doengjang or don’t want to order from my outrageously helpful link where you can get BOTH pastes below, which is your loss, tbh because you absolutely need both of these things for more Korean food fun) is salt, pepper, and sesame oil.

Chung Jung One Sunchang Hot Pepper Paste (Gochujang) 500g +- Soybean Paste (Doenjang) 500g

Once all of your sides and sauces are ready to go, it’s time to fry up that pork belly! Heat your grill pan/cast iron skillet/whatever on medium so that it gets nice and hot and start laying those bad boys on there! You have the option to salt and pepper your meat beforehand if you didn’t forget to like I did 😬

Fry your belly on for a couple of minutes on both sides until browned and crispy, then drain on a paper towel before plating if you’re frying your belly on the stove. If you’re eating it straight from the grill, no need to drain!

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Whitney and I had a simple set up (kimchi, garlic, ssamjang, rice, and lettuce) this time, and it was all we needed to maximize our pork belly enjoyment!

Now that you’ve had a taste of plain pork belly, time to start jazzing it up a little! Time to make kimchi jaeyook bokkeum!

Kimchi Jaeyook Bokkeum

Take some some of your gochujang and doengjang and dump it into big bowl with some sugar, onion slices, crushed garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, miring, and gochugaru (red pepper flakes. Not mandatory but definitely makes it better/spicier. Honestly, I forgot to add gochugaru when I was making this one and the color was a little less red than I normally like but otherwise it was fine).

Non-GMO Gochugaru, Korean Red Pepper Powder Flakes, Coarse Grind 6 OZ

Add some pork belly, scallions, and kimchi and mix it all up.

Throw in a pan or cast iron skillet and stir-fry until kimchi softens and pork belly is fully cooked, about 8-9 minutes.

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Toss that goodness into a bowl and serve with rice and whatever sides make you happy.

We had ours with roasted and salted gim (seaweed) like in the link below (I like this brand if you can’t find seaweed anywhere else, but I’ve found that roasted and salted seaweed is becoming more available so you might luck out and not need to order these online if you don’t have an Asian market nearby), but you can also make lettuce wraps with this too. Another way I like to eat kimchi jaeyook bokkeum is on bread (like a nice soft sub roll or a Portuguese papo secos) with lettuce and mustard. It’s so good!

Kim’s Gourmet Roasted Seaweed (Nori) Snacks, Sea Salt (16 packs)

Kimchi jaeyook bokkeum tends to keep better as a leftover than samgyeopsal-gui, so don’t feel pressured to eat all of it in one sitting! I would recommend reheating it in a pan as opposed to the microwave because then the pork belly won’t get rubbery and weird though.

Some good things about jaeyook bokkeum are that the kimchi is optional (so don’t stress if you can’t find any at the grocery store! It will still taste good) and that you don’t have to use pork belly. Pork shoulder/butt is an option as well (but pork belly is still better).

Now, with all these options for tastiness before you, go forth and make pork belly! Then comment below and tell me if you liked it! Or find me on Instagram or Facebook and post a picture! I think I have a Twitter too, I just don’t use it but you can look for me there too I guess 🙈🤷🏻‍♀️