Samgyeopsal (삼겹살; ) is a popular Korean dish. Commonly served as an evening meal, it consists of thick, fatty slices of
pork bellyPork belly is the meat derived from the belly of a pig. In the United States, bacon is made most often from pork bellies.This cut of meat is enormously popular in Chinese cuisine and Korean cuisine. In Chinese cuisine, it is generally marinated and cooked as a whole slab. Pork belly is used to...
meat (similar to uncured
baconBacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured in a brine or in a dry packing, both consisting largely of salt; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months , boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
). The meat is not marinated or seasoned, and cooked on a grill at the diners' table. Usually diners grill the meat themselves and eat directly from a grill.
The name can be translated as "three (
sam; 삼) layered (
gyeop; 겹) meat (
sal;살)," of course hinting at the three layers that are visible in the meat.
Samgyeopsal (삼겹살; ) is a popular Korean dish. Commonly served as an evening meal, it consists of thick, fatty slices of
pork bellyPork belly is the meat derived from the belly of a pig. In the United States, bacon is made most often from pork bellies.This cut of meat is enormously popular in Chinese cuisine and Korean cuisine. In Chinese cuisine, it is generally marinated and cooked as a whole slab. Pork belly is used to...
meat (similar to uncured
baconBacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured in a brine or in a dry packing, both consisting largely of salt; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months , boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
). The meat is not marinated or seasoned, and cooked on a grill at the diners' table. Usually diners grill the meat themselves and eat directly from a grill.
Name
The name can be translated as "three (
sam; 삼) layered (
gyeop; 겹) meat (
sal;살)," of course hinting at the three layers that are visible in the meat. You can also find
ogyeopsal (오겹살), with
o meaning "five."
Popularity in Korea
The price of pork in South Korea changes month by month, but
samgyeopsal remaines one of the most inexpensive kinds of meat that Koreans can enjoy (100 grams of samgyeopsal cost 2,180 won or $1.75 as of June 2009). It is popularly consumed both at restaurants and at home, and also used as an ingredient for other Korean dishes such as
kimchi jjigae.
According to a 2006 survey by Agricultural Cooperatives in Korea (농업협동조합), 85% of South Korean adults surveyed stated that their favorite pork part is
samgyeopsal. The survey also showed that 70% of recipients eat the meat at least once a week.
Accompaniments
The most common accompaniments for samgyeopsal are
lettuceLettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold, raw, in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and in many other dishes...
(
sangchu; 상추) and sliced raw
garlicAllium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both culinary and medicinal purposes. It has a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that...
. But very often the meat is served with other accompaniments such as
perilla leavesPerilla is a genus of annual herb that is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. In mild climates the plant reseeds itself. There are both green-leafed and purple-leafed varieties which are generally recognized as separate species by botanists. The leaves resemble stinging nettle leaves, being...
(
kkaennip; 깻잎), sliced green
chili pepperChili pepper is the vegetable of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries...
s, Korean-style
green onionGreen onion can refer to:*Scallion, various members of the genus Allium that lack a fully developed bulb*"Green Onions", a hit 1962 soul instrumental by Booker T. & the M.G.'s*Green Onions , a 1962 album containing the above instrumental...
salad, sliced raw
onionOnion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa. Allium cepa is also known as the "garden onion" or "bulb" onion...
s, and aged
kimchiKimchi , also spelled gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee, is any one of numerous traditional Korean pickled dishes made of vegetables with varied seasonings. Its most common manifestation is the spicy baechu variety. Kimchi is the most common banchan, or side dish...
(
mugeunji; 묵은지). Garlic, onions, and kimchi can be either grilled with the meat or consumed raw with the cooked meat.
SojuSoju is a distilled beverage native to Korea.Most brands of modern soju are made in South Korea. Though traditionally made from rice, most major brands supplement or even replace the rice with other starches such as potato, wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca...
, a traditional Korean alcoholic beverage, is also very often consumed with the meat.
Dipping Sauce
Samgyeopsal is almost always served with at least two kinds of dipping sauces. One is
ssamjangSsamjang is a thick, spicy paste used with food wrapped in a leaf in Korean cuisine. The sauce is made of doenjang, gochujang, sesame oil, onion, garlic, green onions, and optionally brown sugar.-Use:...
(쌈장), a paste consisting of Korean chili paste (
gochujangGochujang is a savory and pungent fermented Korean condiment. Traditionally, it has been naturally fermented over years in large earthen pots outdoors, more often on an elevated stone platform, called jangdokdae in the backyard.-History:...
; 고추장), Korean soybean paste (
doenjangDoenjang is a traditional Korean fermented soybean paste. Its name literally means "thick paste" in Korean.-Production:...
; 된장),
sesame oilSesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. Besides being used as a cooking oil in South India, it is often used as a flavor enhancer in Chinese, Korean, and to a lesser extent Southeast Asian cuisine.-Composition:Sesame oil is composed of the following fatty acids:Sesame oil...
(참기름), and other ingredients. The other is
gireumjang (기름장), made with
saltA salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
and sesame oil, sometimes also with a small amount of
black pepperBlack pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe approximately five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single...
. Usually
ssamjang is used when a diner eats
samgyeopsal with vegetable accompaniments, and
gireumjang when a diner wants to taste the cooked meat itself.
Consumption
Prior to consumption, the large slices of meat are cut into smaller bite-sized pieces with scissors. A common way to consume
samgyeopsal is to place a slice of the cooked meat on a leaf of lettuce and/or a perilla leaf with some cooked rice and ssamjang, and to roll it and eat it. It is usually called
sangchu-ssam (상추쌈). Cooked rice and other foods wrapped in Korean lettuce can also be called
sangchu-ssam, though. One can add any combination of vegetable accompaniments mentioned above to the roll according to one's preference, but the most popular ingredient is sliced garlic.
See also
- Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig . The word pork often denotes specifically the fresh meat of the pig, but can be used as an all-inclusive term which includes cured, smoked, or processed meats It is one of the most-commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig...
- Pork belly
Pork belly is the meat derived from the belly of a pig. In the United States, bacon is made most often from pork bellies.This cut of meat is enormously popular in Chinese cuisine and Korean cuisine. In Chinese cuisine, it is generally marinated and cooked as a whole slab. Pork belly is used to...
- Bacon
Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured in a brine or in a dry packing, both consisting largely of salt; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months , boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
- Korean barbecue
Korean barbecue, or gogi gui, refers to the Korean method of grilling beef, pork, chicken, or other types of meat. Such dishes are often prepared at the diner's table on gas or charcoal grills that are built into the center of the table itself. Most diners enjoy doing their own grilling at the table...
- Korean cuisine
- List of Korea-related topics