Samgyeopsal — thick slices of pork belly grilled on a table-top grill, wrapped in perilla or lettuce leaves with ssamjang, garlic, and kimchi — is the defining Korean grilling experience. The technique is deceptively simple: the fat renders from the pork belly over direct heat, the edges crisp, and the eating procedure (the ssam wrap) combines textures and temperatures simultaneously. The garlic cloves are grilled alongside, becoming soft and sweet as the pork belly's rendered fat bastes them.
- **The pork belly:** 1–1.5cm thickness. Thinner slices crisp without rendering; thicker slices render fat without crisping adequately. - **The rendering:** The fat side of each slice placed facing down first — the fat renders into the grill, providing the cooking medium for everything else. - **The scissors:** Korean grilling tradition uses kitchen scissors to cut the pork belly into pieces directly on the grill surface — a practical technique that produces bite-sized pieces without lifting the meat off heat. - **The ssam wrap:** Leaf + ssamjang + garlic (roasted) + kimchi + rice + pork = one bite. The combination provides every flavour dimension simultaneously. - **The grill temperature:** Must be hot enough to render the fat and produce a crisp edge — not so hot that the surface chars before the fat renders.
Maangchi