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Samgyeopsal served with lettuce leaves and kimchi
Sizzling pork belly ready for lettuce wraps

Samgyeopsal (Korean Grilled Pork Belly)

Author: Flavelo
Recipes Main Courses
Samgyeopsal (literally "three layer meat") is South Korea's national dish: grilled pork belly, cooked and eaten at the table. It is more than a meal, it is a ritual. The fatty, crispy grilled meat cubes are wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves (ssam) with spicy sauce, garlic, and rice, creating the perfect bite: an explosion of cold and hot, raw and cooked, fatty and fresh textures all at once.
🕒 Prep Time 20 mins
🍳 Cook Time 15 mins
⌛ Total Time 35 mins
🍽️ Servings 4 servings
🔥 Calories 850 kcal
🌍 Cuisine Korean

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

  • Tabletop grill or frying pan
  • Kitchen scissors (for cutting meat during cooking)
  • Tongs

Allergen Information

⚠️ Soya (ssamjang, kimchi)
⚠️ Sesame
⚠️ Cereals containing gluten (ssamjang)

Instructions

1 ✓

Leave the meat whole or cut into long strips (approx. 1 cm thick).

Tip: In Korean BBQ, the meat is cut into bite-sized pieces with scissors during cooking so it stays juicier.
2 ✓

Heat up the grill or pan. Place the meat on it. Put the garlic cloves and kimchi next to it to fry as well.

Tip: Garlic and kimchi fried in rendering pork fat get an amazing flavour.
3 ✓

When the underside of the meat is golden brown and crispy, turn it over. Now cut into bite-sized pieces with scissors.

Tip: Fry the fatty parts until crispy so much of the fat renders out, making it less cloying.
4 ✓

Serving (Making Ssam): Take a lettuce leaf, put a little rice on it, a piece of meat, fried garlic, a little ssamjang, and kimchi. Fold into a parcel and eat in one go!

Tip: The essence of the culinary experience is the simultaneous flavours. Don't eat the meat and lettuce separately!

Recipe FAQ

Why isn't the meat marinated?
Classic samgyeopsal is plain meat. The flavour of quality pork fat is the essence, complemented by salty-spicy dips (ssamjang, sesame oil with salt) when eating.

Ingredients

  • 600 g pork belly, skin-on or skinless (whole or thick slices)
  • 2 heads garlic (separated into cloves)
  • 2 packs fresh lettuce leaves (round lettuce or perilla)
  • 1 bunch spring onions
  • 200 g kimchi
  • 4 servings cooked rice
  • 4 tbsp Ssamjang (Korean chilli bean paste)
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil (mixed with salt for dipping)