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Samgyeopsal is Korea’s favorite barbecue: thick slices of unmarinated pork belly grilled until golden and crisp, then wrapped in lettuce with garlic, kimchi and ssamjang. It is a social meal, cooked at the table and eaten slowly with friends. With no marinade and plenty of fat, it is naturally perfect for keto.
Per serving: 839 calories · 3 g net carbs · 16 g protein · 84 g fat (calculated from the ingredients)
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork belly sliced 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
- 12 cloves garlic peeled, some sliced
- 1 cup kimchi
- 4 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 1 head red leaf lettuce and 12 perilla leaves for wrapping
- Sesame salt dip: 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- Ssamjang (Chapter 10) to serve
Instructions
- Heat a grill pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. No oil is needed.
- Lay the pork belly slices in the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the bottom is deeply golden.
- Flip and cook 3 minutes more. Cut into bite-size pieces with kitchen scissors.
- Add the garlic, mushrooms and kimchi to the pan around the pork and cook them in the rendered fat until golden.
- To eat, place a piece of pork in a lettuce leaf with a perilla leaf, a dab of ssamjang, some grilled garlic and kimchi. Wrap and eat in one bite.
Notes
Nutrition
About This Dish
Samgyeopsal means "three-layered meat," describing the stripes of fat and lean in pork belly. It became Korea’s favorite barbecue in the 1970s and 1980s, and Koreans now eat so much pork belly that the country imports large amounts to meet demand. March 3, written 3/3, is unofficially celebrated as Samgyeopsal Day. A popular saying holds that samgyeopsal with soju is the perfect way to end a hard week. Many restaurants grill it on a tilted pan so the fat drains away while the kimchi cooks at the bottom.
Pairs Well With
This recipe is from The Ultimate Korean Keto Cookbook by Gisele Costello, Chapter 7: Pork (Seongsan Ilchulbong). See all Korean recipes