Samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) is Korea's most popular barbecue dish. You do not need a fancy Korean BBQ restaurant to enjoy it — here is everything you need to recreate the experience at home.
What Is Samgyeopsal?
Samgyeopsal literally means "three-layer meat" — a reference to the alternating layers of meat and fat in pork belly. It is Korea's favourite barbecue cut, grilled at the table in thick slices and eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves with ssamjang, garlic, chilli, and whatever banchan accompanies the meal. Unlike bulgogi, the meat is not marinated — it is seasoned only with salt, pepper, and sesame oil. The quality of the pork does all the work.
The Meat
Buy the thickest pork belly slices your butcher will cut — about one centimetre thick. Korean restaurants use even thicker cuts, sometimes up to two centimetres. Avoid pre-sliced thin pork belly, which will overcook and crisp up too quickly. You want pieces that char and caramelise on the outside while staying juicy within. Allow about 200-250g of pork belly per person — it sounds like a lot, but wrapped in lettuce with accompaniments it goes quickly.
The Table Setup
The joy of samgyeopsal is communal cooking at the table. A Korean BBQ grill pan (with channels that drain fat away from the meat) is ideal and can sit on a portable gas burner. If you do not have a tabletop setup, a very hot griddle pan or cast iron skillet on the hob works well — just cook in batches and bring the meat to the table on a warm plate. Set the table with lettuce leaves (red leaf or butter lettuce), sliced raw garlic, sliced green chillies, ssamjang, and a small dish of sesame oil mixed with salt and pepper for dipping.
The Banchan Spread
Samgyeopsal without banchan is incomplete. At minimum, you need kimchi (ideally slightly aged and sour), sliced raw white onion in a soy-vinegar dressing, pickled radish (danmuji), and seasoned spring onion salad (pa-muchim). Perilla leaves (kkaennip) are the traditional alternative to lettuce for wrapping — they have a distinctive herbal, slightly minty flavour that cuts through the richness of the pork. Pickled perilla leaves are available on Amazon if you cannot find them fresh.
The Ssam Assembly
Take a lettuce leaf in one hand. Add a piece of grilled pork belly, a dab of ssamjang, a slice of raw garlic, a piece of grilled kimchi, and optionally a pickled perilla leaf. Fold the lettuce around everything and eat in one bite. The combination of rich, fatty pork with crunchy lettuce, pungent garlic, spicy ssamjang, and sour kimchi is one of the great flavour experiences in Korean food. Chase it with a shot of soju or a sip of cold beer.
Cooking Tips
Do not move the pork too much while it grills — let each side get a proper char before flipping. Cut large pieces into bite-sized strips with scissors at the table (this is standard practice in Korea). Grill garlic cloves and kimchi alongside the meat — both improve enormously when charred. And keep the ventilation going — samgyeopsal produces a lot of smoke, which is charming in a Korean restaurant but less so in a British flat. Open the windows.
K-Food → How-to
Samgyeopsal at Home: The Complete Guide
How to recreate the Korean pork belly BBQ experience at home.
Do not move the pork too much while it grills — let each side get a proper char before flipping. Cut large pieces into bite-sized strips with scissors at the table (this is standard practice in Korea). Grill garlic cloves and kimchi alongside the meat — both improve enormously when charred. And keep the ventilation going — samgyeopsal produces a lot of smoke, which is charming in a Korean restaurant but less so in a British flat. Open the windows.
Take a lettuce leaf in one hand. Add a piece of grilled pork belly, a dab of ssamjang, a slice of raw garlic, a piece of grilled kimchi, and optionally a pickled perilla leaf. Fold the lettuce around everything and eat in one bite. The combination of rich, fatty pork with crunchy lettuce, pungent garlic, spicy ssamjang, and sour kimchi is one of the great flavour experiences in Korean food. Chase it with a shot of soju or a sip of cold beer.
Samgyeopsal without banchan is incomplete. At minimum, you need kimchi (ideally slightly aged and sour), sliced raw white onion in a soy-vinegar dressing, pickled radish (danmuji), and seasoned spring onion salad (pa-muchim). Perilla leaves (kkaennip) are the traditional alternative to lettuce for wrapping — they have a distinctive herbal, slightly minty flavour that cuts through the richness of the pork. Pickled perilla leaves are available on Amazon if you cannot find them fresh.
03
The Table Setup
The joy of samgyeopsal is communal cooking at the table. A Korean BBQ grill pan (with channels that drain fat away from the meat) is ideal and can sit on a portable gas burner. If you do not have a tabletop setup, a very hot griddle pan or cast iron skillet on the hob works well — just cook in batches and bring the meat to the table on a warm plate. Set the table with lettuce leaves (red leaf or butter lettuce), sliced raw garlic, sliced green chillies, ssamjang, and a small dish of sesame oil mixed with salt and pepper for dipping.
02
The Meat
Buy the thickest pork belly slices your butcher will cut — about one centimetre thick. Korean restaurants use even thicker cuts, sometimes up to two centimetres. Avoid pre-sliced thin pork belly, which will overcook and crisp up too quickly. You want pieces that char and caramelise on the outside while staying juicy within. Allow about 200-250g of pork belly per person — it sounds like a lot, but wrapped in lettuce with accompaniments it goes quickly.
01
What Is Samgyeopsal?
Samgyeopsal literally means "three-layer meat" — a reference to the alternating layers of meat and fat in pork belly. It is Korea's favourite barbecue cut, grilled at the table in thick slices and eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves with ssamjang, garlic, chilli, and whatever banchan accompanies the meal. Unlike bulgogi, the meat is not marinated — it is seasoned only with salt, pepper, and sesame oil. The quality of the pork does all the work.