Samgyupsal Gui (Korean Pork Belly BBQ)
Easy Korean BBQ pork belly (samgyupsal) at home! Grill slices, wrap in lettuce, and enjoy with ssamjang, green onion salad, and grilled kimchi.
Equipment
- Cast iron skillet or Korean tabletop grill
- Kitchen scissors
- Tongs
- Paper towels
- Disposable table cover or newspaper (Optional) makes cleanup easier if grilling at the table.
Ingredients
- 2 lb (900 g) pork belly fresh and sliced
- 8-12 cloves garlic
- 2 heads red and green lettuce or assorted salad greens and leaves
- 16-20 perilla leaves (kkaennip)
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) sesame oil sprinkled with dashes freshly cracked pepper
Optional sides
- 4 oz (113 g) mushroom white or king oyster mushrooms
- 1 cup (240 ml, about 150 g) kimchi sliced
- 2-4 fresh green chili sliced
- 1 cucumber sliced
Ssamjang (Korean dipping sauce)
- 3 tbsp (45 g) Korean soybean paste (doenjang)
- 1 1/2 tbsp (22 g) Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1 tbsp (15 g) minced garlic
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) sweet rice wine (mirim)
- 1/2 tbsp (6 g) sugar or honey
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) sesame oil
- 2 tsp (6 g) toasted sesame seeds
Korean green onion salad
- 4 large green onion thinly shredded
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) soy sauce
- 1 tbsp (6 g) Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp (10 ml) cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) Korean plum extract (maeshil cheong) optional
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp (4 g) toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
For the ssamjang (Korean dipping sauce)
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Portion into small sauce dishes.
For the green onion salad
- In a mixing bowl, combine the green onion with the remaining ingredients and toss together using kitchen tongs. Divide the mixture into two serving dishes to share.
To prepare BBQ
- Heat the grill to medium heat and lightly grease the surface. Lay the pork belly strips, mushrooms, and garlic cloves on the grill and cook for approximately 2-3 minutes before flipping them over to the other side.
- After flipping, let the meat sear for 30 seconds before cutting the pork belly into bite-sized chunks with a pair of scissors. Continue cooking until the pork belly is golden brown and crispy, adjusting the heat if it browns too quickly.
- Avoid flipping the meat too often to prevent loss of flavor, and keep an eye on the mushrooms and garlic to avoid burning.
- Use a paper towel to wipe away any excess oil as needed. Additionally, you can add kimchi to the grill and cook it in the pork fat for added flavor.
- To make a wrap, take a slice of lettuce and/or perilla leaf in one hand, dip a piece of cooked meat in sesame oil, add some ssamjang sauce, green onion salad, and fried garlic to it. You may also add fried kimchi on top if you prefer. Roll it tightly and enjoy