Samgyeopsal and Beyond: A Local's Guide to Korean Pork BBQ

"Samgyeopsal and a shot of soju?" Say that to any Korean and watch their face light up. Pork belly on a grill with a green bottle on the table is the country's default night out, and honestly, we eat a lot more of it than bulgogi. Don't leave Korea without it.

This is part two of LVR's Korean BBQ series. Part one is beef (hanwoo) (opens in a new tab): the special-occasion meat. This one is the everyday one.

Samgyeopsal: the national night out

Samgyeopsal (삼겹살) means "three-layer flesh": pork belly, sliced thick, grilled at your table, no marinade. Ask Koreans to name their favorite cut of pork and about six in ten say samgyeopsal. There's even a Samgyeopsal Day, March 3 (3/3, sam-sam), started by pig farmers in 2003.

It's what we eat after work, after a bad day, on a rainy evening. There's even a shorthand: sam-sso, samgyeopsal plus soju. "It's raining, sam-sso?" "Rough day, sam-sso?" Nobody says no. The fatty, salty belly and a cold shot of soju were made for each other.

The full samgyeopsal table: belly, wraps, dips and doenjang-jjigae. · Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (토라이 리퍼블릭) (opens in a new tab), "삼겹살," 2024 / KOGL Type 1 (opens in a new tab)

Ogyeopsal and Jeju black pork: the upgrade

Ogyeopsal (오겹살) is "five-layer" belly: the same cut with the skin left on, so you get a chewy, crackly edge.

The best-known ogyeopsal comes from Jeju black pig (heuk-dwaeji, 흑돼지). The native Jeju black pig is protected as a Natural Monument, but that's a pure line of about 250 animals kept by the island's livestock institute. The black pork in restaurants comes from black pig breeds raised on farms, and it's still a different animal from the pink pigs behind regular samgyeopsal. Jeju Island has been famous for its black pigs for a long time, and this is my personal favorite pork in Korea. The flavor is deeper and the meat is firmer and juicier than regular belly. Try it. You don't have to fly to Jeju; Seoul and the other big cities have restaurants that bring in proper Jeju black pork. Look for 제주 흑돼지 on the sign.

Jeju City's black pork street. You can also find Jeju black pork in Seoul. · Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (한국관광공사 이범수) (opens in a new tab), "제주 흑돼지거리," 2019 / KOGL Type 1 (opens in a new tab)

Dwaeji-galbi: the family dinner

When I was a kid, eating out with my parents usually meant dwaeji-galbi (돼지갈비): pork ribs, often butterflied into a long strip and sometimes still on the bone, soaked in a sweet soy and garlic marinade, and grilled with a spread of side dishes and lettuce. Every neighborhood has a galbi place it's proud of. Some marinades are soy-based and sweet, some are spicy with gochujang, and many places mix shoulder meat in with the rib. For a lot of Koreans, it tastes like childhood.

Dwaeji-galbi: sweet soy and garlic, turned often so it doesn't burn. · Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (부산관광공사) (opens in a new tab), "초량돼지갈비," 2020 / KOGL Type 1 (opens in a new tab)

The marinade burns easily, so turn it often and cut it with the scissors when it's caramelized at the edges.

Dwitgogi: the butcher's cut

Dwitgogi (뒷고기) means "back meat," and it started in Gimhae, near Busan, home to a big slaughterhouse. The story goes that butchers trimmed the small leftover bits after the premium cuts and sold them cheap "out the back." Today it's a mix of small cuts, mostly from the head and neck, like jowl, cheek and the meat around the eye. It's cheap, chewy, full of flavor, and very much a working-class barbecue. If you see 뒷고기 on a sign, go in with an open mind and a cold beer.

Naengsam: the bacon of our childhood

Naengsam (냉삼) is short for frozen samgyeopsal: belly that was flash-frozen and sliced thin, the way it was sold for home kitchens before fresh, thick belly was everywhere. It faded in the 1990s, when chilled fresh pork took over, and came back in the last few years as a retro trend.

Our parents brought it home from the butcher and fried it in a pan, and we dipped it in gireumjang: salt, sesame oil and black pepper. Think bacon, but eaten with stir-fried kimchi, raw garlic, lettuce wraps and a pot of doenjang-jjigae. Naengsam places now lean into the nostalgia, often with old-school steel tables and trays. It's cheap, fast and very good.

Three ways it gets cooked

• Over charcoal. Great flavor, but belly is so fatty that it flares, so it's hard to get right. You'll see it more with marinated galbi.
• On a griddle (bulpan). The most common. Here's the move: lay kimchi along the low edge of the griddle where the pork fat runs. The kimchi fries in the fat and turns sweet and smoky. It's one of the best things on the table.
• On a cauldron lid (sot-ttukkeong, 솥뚜껑). A heavy cast-iron lid flipped upside down over the flame. It comes from the old kitchen, where the rice pot sat over a wood fire and you could grill on top. The fat runs to the edge, the kimchi fries there, and it looks great.

Belly on a cast-iron lid, kimchi frying at the edge in the pork fat. · Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (토라이 리퍼블릭) (opens in a new tab), "삼겹살," 2024 / KOGL Type 1 (opens in a new tab)

How to order and eat

• Portions. Menus list meat by the inbun (portion). Portion sizes vary from about 100 to 250 g. As a guide, samgyeopsal in Seoul restaurants averaged about 21,300 won per 200 g in summer 2026, so a smaller menu portion costs less. Order one per person to start, then add.
• Grill and cut. Staff often get it started. The scissors and tongs on the table are for you: cut the belly into bite-size pieces when it's golden on both sides.
• Wrap it. Lettuce or perilla leaf, a piece of pork, raw or grilled garlic, a dab of ssamjang, maybe some scallion salad. One bite.
• Dip it. Salt and sesame oil for the plain belly, ssamjang for the wraps.
• Drink. Soju, beer, or both as somaek. Korean drinks for first-timers (opens in a new tab)

One wrap, one bite. · Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (토라이 리퍼블릭) (opens in a new tab), "삼겹살," 2024 / KOGL Type 1 (opens in a new tab)

Dessert is not dessert

At a pork BBQ place, "dessert" (husik, 후식) is more food. Usually it's doenjang-jjigae with a bowl of rice, or naengmyeon, cold noodles in icy broth (mul) or spicy (bibim).

A friend from abroad once stared at me: "You just ate all that meat and all those sides, and now you're eating rice?" Yes. For most Koreans that's the standard course, and some people can't get up from the table without their rice.

Dessert, Korean style: mul or bibim naengmyeon after the meat. · Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (알렉스 분도) (opens in a new tab), "물냉면," 2020 / KOGL Type 1 (opens in a new tab)

Do you need a famous place?

No. There are levels, for sure. But famous places have lines even for Koreans, and the gap between a famous place and a good neighborhood place isn't that big. Every neighborhood has a good pork joint. Don't wander for an hour. The place you're eating at is the best place in town.

If you'd like a guide for your first one

A first Korean BBQ dinner is easier with someone who can order, show you the wrap and pour the first drink. This tour starts with exactly that.

Small-Group Night Food Tour in Seoul with Korean BBQ

• Good for: a first or second night in Seoul, solo travelers, anyone who wants the BBQ etiquette explained.
• What you eat: pork belly or soy-marinated pork barbecue with side dishes and a Korean "bomb shot" mixed drink, then a traditional pub with rice wine and a pancake, a street-food stop and dessert in Ikseon-dong. About 3.5 hours, starts at Anguk Station.
• Know before you book: it's a tasting tour across four stops, not a full BBQ dinner, and tips aren't included.

Plan for tonight

Find a samgyeopsal place with a full room. Order one portion each, put the kimchi in the fat, wrap your first bite, pour the soju if you drink. Then order the doenjang-jjigae and rice. You'll be thinking about it on the flight home.

Useful links

• Dine-out prices by region, including samgyeopsal (opens in a new tab) (Korea Consumer Agency, in Korean)
• Jeju black pig, Natural Monument No. 550 (opens in a new tab) (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, in Korean)