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Korean BBQ at home: cuts, grills, sauces and bulgogi

Korean BBQ at home: the best cuts (samgyeopsal, bulgogi, galbi), which grill to use indoors, ssamjang, banchan and where to buy sliced meat in the UK.

Published · 9 min read

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Tabletop grill with bulgogi beef and pork belly, lettuce and perilla leaves, ssamjang and banchan side dishes

To do Korean BBQ at home, grill thin slices of pork belly and marinated beef at the table on a griddle pan or electric grill, then wrap each bite in lettuce with rice, ssamjang (a thick soybean and chilli dip), garlic and kimchi. You need about 200 to 250g of raw meat per person, two or three side dishes and a well-ventilated room.

Korean barbecue (gogi-gui, 고기구이) is less about the grill than about the table: everyone cooks, wraps and eats as they go, so it suits a relaxed evening with friends. This guide covers which cuts to buy and how to ask for them, what to grill on indoors and how to do it safely, the sauces and banchan that make the meal, and a classic beef bulgogi you can cook in a frying pan.

The best cuts for Korean BBQ

Korean barbecue splits into two styles. Unmarinated cuts, such as pork belly, are grilled plain and seasoned at the table with dips. Marinated cuts, such as bulgogi and galbi, are soaked in a sweet soy marinade first. A good spread has one of each.

Korean BBQ cuts and what to ask for in the UK
DishCutThicknessMarinated?
Samgyeopsal (삼겹살)Skinless pork belly, sliced into strips5mm to 1cmNo, dip in sesame oil and salt
Moksal (목살)Pork neck or shoulder collar1cmNo, or lightly
Bulgogi (불고기)Beef ribeye, sirloin or topside2 to 3mmYes, sweet soy and pear
Galbi / LA galbi (갈비)Beef short rib, cross-cut through the bone (flanken)About 1cmYes, sweet soy and pear
Chadolbaegi (차돌박이)Beef brisket, sliced paper-thin from frozen1 to 2mmNo, dip in sesame oil and salt
Dwaeji bulgogi (돼지불고기)Pork shoulder or belly3mmYes, gochujang marinade

For galbi, ask a butcher for "flanken-cut" or "cross-cut" short ribs about 1cm thick: the rib is sawn across the bones so each strip has three or four small bone discs. For samgyeopsal, ask for skinless pork belly, boned and sliced into long strips. Most butchers will do both if you ask ahead.

What grill or pan to use indoors

You don't need a built-in table grill. Any of these works, as long as it can get very hot and lets fat drain or be wiped away:

  • Cast-iron griddle or ridged grill pan on the hob. The simplest option: cook in batches at the stove and bring the meat to the table. Gives the best char.
  • Electric grill plate or tabletop electric griddle. Lets you cook at the table without a flame. Look for one with a fat channel and a temperature dial, and run it from a wall socket rather than a coiled extension lead.
  • Portable butane gas burner with a Korean grill pan. This is what many Korean restaurants and homes use: a domed or slotted pan that lets fat run off into a channel. It is the most authentic, but needs the most care indoors (see below).
  • Outdoors. A charcoal barbecue gives the best flavour of all in summer. Never bring a charcoal grill or disposable barbecue indoors or into a tent or garage, even once it has died down.

How to keep the smoke down

  • Trim very thick fat from pork belly and pat meat dry before it goes on the grill.
  • Wipe excess marinade off bulgogi and galbi; the sugar burns and smokes quickly.
  • Wipe the pan with kitchen paper between batches to stop old fat burning.
  • Run the cooker hood on high and open a window before you start. Warn anyone near the smoke alarm, but never cover or disable it.

Ssamjang, dips and banchan

The side dishes turn grilled meat into a Korean meal. You can buy ready-made ssamjang in tubs, but it takes two minutes to mix your own.

  • Ssamjang (쌈장). Mix 2 tbsp doenjang (Korean soybean paste), 1 tbsp gochujang, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp honey, 1 small grated garlic clove, 1 finely chopped spring onion and 1 tsp sesame seeds. Loosen with a teaspoon of water.
  • Gireumjang (기름장). 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil with a good pinch of salt and black pepper. The classic dip for plain pork belly and brisket.
  • Pa-muchim (spring onion salad). Finely shred 4 spring onions lengthways, soak in iced water for 5 minutes, drain and toss with 1 tsp gochugaru, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp soy and a few drops of sesame oil.

Banchan and wraps to put on the table

  • Lettuce and perilla leaves for ssam. Round, butterhead or red leaf lettuce works well. Perilla leaves (kkaennip), with their minty, anise flavour, are sold in Korean shops.
  • Kimchi, raw from the jar, and also grilled in the pork fat at the end. Our guide on how to use kimchi has more ideas.
  • Sliced garlic and green chillies, eaten raw in the wrap or softened on the grill.
  • Kongnamul (soybean sprout salad), quickly blanched sprouts with sesame oil, garlic and salt.
  • Ssam-mu, thin sheets of pickled radish, sold in packs in the chiller, for wrapping meat instead of lettuce.
  • Short-grain rice and, if you're feeding a crowd, a pot of doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew).

To eat, hold a lettuce leaf in your palm, add a little rice, a piece of meat, a dab of ssamjang, a slice of garlic and some spring onion salad, then fold it up and eat it in one bite.

Recipe: beef bulgogi

Bulgogi (불고기, "fire meat") is thinly sliced beef in a sweet, garlicky soy marinade, and the easiest Korean barbecue dish to start with because it cooks in minutes on a hot pan. Grated Asian pear is traditional; it adds sweetness and helps tenderise the meat. A ripe conference pear or an apple works too.

Recipe

Beef bulgogi

Thin slices of beef in a sweet soy, pear and garlic marinade, seared quickly on a very hot griddle. Serve with rice, lettuce and ssamjang for Korean BBQ at home.

Serves
4 people
Prep
50 min
Cook
10 min
Total
60 min

Ingredients

  • 600g beef ribeye or sirloin, or ready-sliced bulgogi beef
  • 5 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1½ tbsp light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • ½ Asian (nashi) pear or 1 small ripe pear, peeled and finely grated (about 100g)
  • 4 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tbsp mirin or rice wine
  • 1½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 spring onions, cut into 4cm lengths
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil, for cooking
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, to serve

Method

  1. 1If slicing the beef yourself, wrap it and freeze for 1 to 2 hours until firm but not solid, then cut it across the grain into 2 to 3mm slices with your sharpest knife. Cut large slices into pieces about 6cm long.
  2. 2Mix the soy sauce, sugar, honey, grated pear, garlic, ginger, mirin, sesame oil and pepper in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves.
  3. 3Add the beef, onion and spring onions and massage the marinade in with your hands. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
  4. 4Heat a cast-iron griddle, grill pan or large frying pan over a high heat until it is smoking lightly, and brush with a little oil.
  5. 5Lift the beef out of the marinade, letting the excess drip off, and lay it on the pan in a single layer with some of the onion. Don't crowd the pan, or the meat will stew instead of searing.
  6. 6Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, turning once, until browned at the edges and no longer pink. Repeat with the rest, wiping the pan between batches if the sugar starts to burn.
  7. 7Scatter with sesame seeds and serve straight away with rice, lettuce leaves, ssamjang and kimchi.

How much meat per person for Korean BBQ?

Allow 200 to 250g raw meat per person when it is the main event with rice and banchan, or up to 300g for big eaters. For four people, 500g pork belly plus 600g bulgogi beef is a generous spread. Cook in small batches through the evening rather than all at once: the meat is best straight off the grill. Pork must be cooked through with no pink left, so cut thicker belly strips into bite-sized pieces with scissors once they're browned on both sides and give them another minute or two.

What you'll need

Cook indoors with good ventilation, or take the grill outside.

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Where to buy thinly sliced meat in the UK

Thin slicing is the hard part of Korean barbecue at home, and the easiest fix is to buy it ready-cut. You have three options:

  • Korean grocers with a meat counter. The largest Korean supermarkets sell pork belly, bulgogi beef and galbi ready-cut, sometimes ready-marinated. Korea Foods in New Malden lists fresh meat in Korean cuts for bulgogi and galbi.
  • The freezer at a Korean or Chinese supermarket. Packs of frozen, paper-thin rolled beef, lamb and pork belly, sold for hot pot, are ideal for chadolbaegi-style grilling and quick bulgogi. Defrost in the fridge before marinating.
  • A local butcher. Ask for skinless pork belly strips and flanken-cut short ribs. Many will slice beef thinly for you on their machine if you ask when it's quiet.

Korean grocers also sell ssamjang, doenjang, perilla leaves, pickled radish and grill pans. Our directory lists 125 stores stocking Korean groceries. Of those, 21 listings mention fresh meat or a meat counter. The best-served cities are London, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Meat ranges vary from shop to shop, so call ahead before a special trip. For a fuller shopping list, see where to buy gochujang and Korean groceries in the UK, and for marinades and dips beyond this one, read how to use gochujang.

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