Cook’s notes
That’s right. Simplified. Modified. Not all of us have a tabletop grill for the traditional cooking method but we can mimic the cooking procedure without sacrificing on flavor.
How? My method is to simmer a slab of pork belly, uncut and unseasoned, in water until tender. I cut it into slices, marinate the slices in spices, soy sauce, rice wine and, for the spice factor, gochujang.
The marinated pork slices are grilled in a lightly oiled cast iron pan. Because the pork is already fully cooked, the pan-grilling is simply meant to allow the sugars in the marinade to caramelize and form a light crust.
An important tip: For best results, choose pork belly with a generous amount of fat between the layers of meat. The fat will melt during pan-grilling to keep the meat moist.
Another important tip: Cooked pork belly is easier to slice when allowed to chill in the fridge for several hours. The meat and fat firm up, and that results in neater slices.
A final note about the rice: A simple white rice is good but if you want a yellow rice, I have four different versions in the archive. Just keep scrolling after the recipe.
Samgyeopsal-inspired pan-grilled pork belly
Ingredients
- 1 slab pork belly (500 grams / 1.1 pounds) boiled, cooled and chilled, then cut into ¼ to ⅛-inch slices
Marinade
- 3 tablespoons gochujang (available in Asian groceries and Asian section of better supermarkets)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (I used Kikkoman)
- 2 tablespoons rice wine (sake or mirin)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 drizzle sesame seed oil
- 1 teaspoon finely grated garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
- 1 generous pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil divided
To serve
- rice
- sliced scallions to garnish
- toasted sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
- Place the pork in a wide shallow bowl.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade, but using only a tablespoon of the cooking oil, and pour over the pork slices. Mix the marinade into the meat well.
- Cover the bowl and allow the pork belly slices to soak up the flavors for at least an hour.
- Heat a skillet (cast iron is especially good) and brush with the remaining cooking oil on the cooking surface.
- Pan-grill the pork belly slices in batches over high heat, brushing with more oil before adding the next batch, three to four minutes per side, until the marinade caramelizes and forms a light crust on the surface.
- Serve the spicy pan-grilled pork belly over rice garnished with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds.
Fried chicken with sticky chili sauce