01/10/2015
SAMGYEOSAL/ 삼겹살
ACCOMPANIMENTS
The most common accompaniments for "SAMGYEOSAL" are lettuce (sangchu; Korean) and sliced raw garlic, but very often the meat is served with other accompaniments, such as perilla leaves (kkaennip; Korean), sliced green chili peppers, shredded green onions, sliced raw onions, and aged kimchi. Garlic, onions, and kimchi can be either grilled with the meat or consumed raw with the cooked meat. Mushrooms, such as button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms, are also grilled with the meat.
DIPPING SAUCE
"SAMGYEOSAL" is almost always served with at least two kinds of dipping sauces. One is ssamjang, a paste consisting of chili paste (gochujang; Korean), soybean paste (doenjang; Korean), sesame oil, and other ingredients; the other is gireumjang, made with salt and sesame oil, sometimes also with a small amount of black pepper. Usually ssamjang is used when a diner eats "SAMGYEOSAL" with vegetable accompaniments, and gireumjang when a diner wants to taste the cooked meat itself.
CONSUMPTION
Prior to consumption, the large slice of the pork belly is cut into smaller pieces with scissors. A common way to consume "SAMGYEOSAL" is to place a slice of the cooked meat on a leaf of lettuce or a perilla leaf or both, with some cooked rice and ssamjang, and to roll it up in the leaf and eat it. It is usually called sangchu-ssam. Cooked rice and other foods wrapped in Korean lettuce can also be called sangchu-ssam. Any combination of the vegetable accompaniments mentioned above can be added to the roll according to preference, the most popular is sliced garlic. Many people also add in kimchi, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and grilled onions. Usually, different types of banchan are added. Part of the reason so many people enjoy this food is they can customize it to their liking.
