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Dish guide · Meat

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Samgyeopsal

삼겹살

Grilled pork belly

♨️ Served hot🙂 Not spicy🥬 Not vegetarian

Thick slices of pork belly grilled at your table and wrapped in lettuce. The name means "three-layer flesh", for the stripes of fat and meat. It is Korea's everyday barbecue, usually shared over soju.

What it is

  • The meat is usually not marinated: the fat gives it its flavor. It is grilled on a hot plate or over charcoal, often with garlic, onion, mushrooms and kimchi cooking alongside.
  • Menus price it per serving, and many barbecue places ask for at least two servings per table.

How to eat it

  1. 1Staff often grill the meat and cut it with scissors. If they hand you the tongs, it's your turn: wait until both sides are golden before eating.
  2. 2Make a ssam (wrap): a lettuce or perilla leaf, a piece of pork, a dab of ssamjang (soybean and chili paste), and garlic or green chili. Eat it in one bite.
  3. 3Or dip the pork in gireumjang, sesame oil with salt and pepper.

History

  • Beef was the preferred meat for grilling until the 1980s. As pork became cheaper and the government encouraged eating it, pork belly with soju turned into the classic affordable night out.

Allergies and diet

Usually contains

porksoywheatsesame
  • The pork itself is plain. The soy, wheat and sesame come from the ssamjang and the sesame-oil dip.
  • Kimchi grilled on the plate is usually made with salted fish or shrimp.

Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.

🗣️ Allergy card for the staff

Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.

📍 Where to try it

Sources

We check every fact against at least two sources and write it in our own words. Last checked: 2026-10-28.