Korean BBQ is one of the most popular foods worldwide. Out of Korean BBQ the most popular meat is pork, especially pork belly (삼겹살). However, many times people said when they make pork belly BBQ, that it is not so delicious. There are a couple reasons why. If you read all this article, your pork belly BBQ meal will be dope as fuck.
1. Your pork belly is not fresh. In other words, it is not good pork.
Not only with sushi but also with BBQ, the freshness of ingredients is very important. However, in many places (especially western countries like the US) pork belly is not a major meat product, so butchers may provide pork belly that is not good. I believe competition makes for better quality and other countries have less competitive markets than South Korea. Remember, when you buy pork belly for Korean BBQ, that should be fresh unless you want to make it with spices or seasoning (양념).
2. Your pork belly has too much fat.
People sometimes misunderstand pork belly and fat. Some butchers sell almost 90% fat as pork belly. I am so sorry, but meat with a lot of fat like that is not pork belly but just fat. Then what is the most ideal ratio of fat and meat? The best ratio of fat and protein is 3:7. Yes! 30% fat and 70% protein. If you can see more than 50% fat on your pork belly, I do not recommend buying it. Although you go to a good meat shop or Costco, you must check the ratio. For example, Costco (where I do love to go grocery shopping) has pork belly that is good many times but not always. So, please check for a ratio of 3:7. Also, some pork belly can be soft. Well, this may be my personal opinion, but the flavor of slightly tougher meat is better than meat that is too soft. Also, (this can be another personal preference) pork belly which has pork skin is better because it is easier to make crispier. And depending on what kind of pork belly you want, my recommendation is to buy a block of pork belly, and not pre-cut strips. Pork belly is from near the ribs. In other words, pork belly from near the inside/ribs is more delicious. If you can talk with the butcher, please ask them for pork belly from near the ribs.
3. You do not know how to cook meat correctly
In South Korea, the majority of premium pork belly and BBQ restaurants have the employees cook the meat for you. Yes, although you have high quality pork, if you do not know how to cook it correctly, the pork belly flavor cannot be great. I will give you two simple pieces of advice. First, when you cook pork belly BBQ, try to make the entire surface gold. In other words, make all surfaces undergo the Maillard reaction. Also, if you can cook it directly over a flame, the flavor can be much better. Secondly, if you do not want to cook pork belly by itself, cook with some sauce like spicy pork or pork bulgogi sauce. I will provide the recipes for some pork belly sauces later on. Additionally, there are some different ways to prepare pork belly besides BBQ, like bossam (boiled pork belly), which I will also provide the recipe for later.
4. You do not know how to eat Korean BBQ.
Good Korean BBQ is not just from cooking, but from how you eat it. There are some ways you can eat Korean BBQ to make it better.
First eat with good sauce: Use good salt or make some sauce using sesame oil. Eating with ssamjang or gochujang can be a great option as well. If you really do not know which sauce you want, a normal honey BBQ sauce can be a good option as well.
Second, eat with fresh vegetables: South Koreans eat pork belly with vegetables and we call that ‘ssam’. Lettuce or perilla leaves can be great options. You can make scallion salad which is called ‘pamuchim’. The best way is to eat with ssam, pamuchim, and ssamjang. If you really do not know how to make pamuchim or which vegetables you have to buy, just eat pork belly with kimchi. Rice and some jjigae (which is Korean stew) will also improve/compliment your pork belly flavor.
5. Eat pork belly with soju.
One way of saying ‘hello’ in South Korea is by using the phrase ‘some day let us eat pork belly with soju.’ I can say pork and soju are the perfect marriage couple. Any soju will be great with pork belly. If you do not like soju, beer or somaek (which is beer mixed with soju) can be a great substitute.
When you have a hard day, pork belly can be a great meal for healing. If you read this article, how about go to the market and get some pork belly and eat deliciously? I will provide more information about sauce and ssam with another article Thank you for reading!