The perfect guide to Korean BBQ from A to Z – 1
(I’m not an English native so my English is not perfect there could be mistakes.)
If you are a beginner to Korean BBQ, welcome! You are in the right post!
As a Koran whoes favorite food is Korean BBQ, I will explain Korean BBQ from A to Z through two posts.
In this post, I will talk about what Korean BBQ is and the types of Korean BBQ!
What is Korean BBQ?
Korean BBQ refers to grilling meat ourselves at the restaurant. It’s a popular and widely enjoyed cuisine in Korea.
Korean BBQ in Korea and Korean BBQ abroad seem to be a bit different to me. When I was in Toronto, Canada, I often visited Korean BBQ restaurants, and they have various types of meat like both pork and beef together. However, in Korea, many restaurants have one or two of pork belly (samgyeopsal), pork ribs or beef etc. For example, the restaurant has pork belly and beef but no pork ribs or the restaurant has pork belly and pork ribs but no beef. (Of course, some restaurants sell all of them. )
When we eat Korean BBQ, we usually have lots of side dishes like kimchi, soybean sprout side dish(Kongnamul-muchim), spring oninon side dish (pamuchim), Soybean Paste Stew(Doenjang Jjigae), or cold noodles(Naengmyeon), etc. All of them go well with Korean BBQ. So I highly recommend trying them with Korean BBQ as much as possible!
Types of Korean BBQ
1. Pork Belly(samgyeopsal)
Samgyeopsal(Korean) means three layers of meat. (It has three layers of fat and meat!)
It’s my go-to for Korean BBQ and I’m sure lots of Koreans love Samgyeopsal. It has rich fat which offers excellent texture and flavor.
In Korea, we have 3 different types of samgyeosal.
First, Regular Samgyeopsal. It’s a samgyeosal style that is the most popular. It’s fresh meat and kind of thick. In my opinion, the texture of regular Samgyeopsal is the best.
Second, Naengsam is short for naengdong samgyeopsal and it means forozen pork belly! Unlike regualr Samgyeopsal, It’s very thin and short. So it’s grilled so quickly. If you are so hungry, Naegsam will be the best option!
Thrid, daepae samgyeopsal is frozen pork belly like naengsam. But there is a big differnce! Daepae samgyeopsal is rolled up like a picture on the left. It’s very thin so the texture is the crispiest!
2. Marinated pork ribs(dwaeji galbi)
The marinade for pork ribs typically includes soy sauce as the base, along with ingredients such as sugar, pear, garlic, and others. So it has a sweet and rich flavor.
It has less fat than pork belly so if you don’t like fatty meat, it will be good for you 🙂 It also tastes sweet so people of all ages can enjoy it including kids!
3. Neck meat(hangjeongsal)
Hangjeongsal has 1000 layers of meat and fat so it has a very rich flavor even more than pork belly! Its texture is so unique. If you enjoy fatty meat, you should try it!
4. Marinated Pork Rind(dwaejikkeopdegi)
Marinated Pork Rind has an amazing chewy texture. I usually eat it after having pork belly. And there is a magic powder that makes marinated pork rind flavor better. It’s bean powder! It’s very nutty and goes well with marinated pork rind! So don’t forget it when you eat marinated pork rind!
5. Brisket deckle(chadolbagi)
Chadolbagi is a frozen rolled-up beef like daepae samgyeopsal. It’s a part of brisket and it’s fatty. I think this is the most unique part of beef for Korean BBQ. It’s more pricey than pork BBQ because it’s beef. But I think it’s worth trying it when you try Korean BBQ. It’s my favorite beef for Korean BBQ.
We also have different types of beef for Korean BBQ such as short rib, sirloin, ribeye roll, etc. But I don’t think they are unique so I will skip them.
Today, I explained about Korean BBQ and I hope you enjoy it 🙂
The next post will be about how to eat Korean BBQ. See you soon!