Mom Said, “We’re Having Samgyeopsal Today”: What Korean Pork Belly BBQ Really Means to Us

“We’re having Samgyeopsal today. Come home early.”

When a Korean mom says this to her family, it usually means something special is happening that day.

Maybe Dad just got his paycheck.

Maybe the child came first in the class.

Maybe Mom had something good happen to her.

Or maybe there is simply something the family wants to celebrate together.

In other words,

it’s a party.

My family was no different.

When I was growing up, Samgyeopsal was a special meal we had when the whole family could be together. And there was an unspoken rule:

If even one person was missing, it somehow didn’t feel right.

Back when I was a child, beef was also incredibly expensive. Buying good Korean beef to grill at home was almost unthinkable. If we ate beef, it was more likely to be cooked in Guk or Jjigae.

And honestly, Korean beef is still expensive today. Haha.

These days, perhaps

“Come home early. We’re having Korean beef tonight!”

has replaced the old

“We’re having Samgyeopsal today!”

But Samgyeopsal isn’t exactly cheap anymore, either. Koreans love it so much that it is relatively expensive compared with other cuts of pork.

I found out later that Samgyeopsal is especially loved — and therefore relatively expensive — in Korea, while in some other countries, pork belly is less popular and can be much cheaper.

When I think about it, Koreans have really turned a fatty cut of pork into something special.

There was also something I often heard from older people when I was growing up.

“After working hard, eat some Samgyeopsal. It’ll wash the dust right out of your throat."

People who did a lot of physical work were especially likely to say things like this. They worked in dusty environments and breathed in all that dust, so there was a common belief that eating Samgyeopsal would somehow help clean it out of your body.

Of course, we know now that this isn’t something that has been scientifically proven.

But while writing this, I suddenly had a thought.

Maybe ideas like this were also part of the reason Koreans came to love this fatty cut of pork so much.

That’s just my personal thought, though.

 

Grilling Meat on a River Stone: A Childhood Memory

 

When I was little and we lived in the countryside, there was another way we used to eat Samgyeopsal.

Whenever my mother bought some, our whole family would walk about ten minutes from our house to the river.

Can you picture it?

Why would we take Samgyeopsal all the way to the river?

Because my father would find a large, wide, flat stone.

We would wash the stone, build a fire, and heat it until it was scorching hot. Then we would put the Samgyeopsal directly on the stone and grill it.

The fat would sizzle and drip away, and somehow the meat tasted absolutely delicious.

It was just an ordinary childhood meal, but that scene has stayed incredibly vivid in my memory all these years.

After I got married, I asked my husband, who also grew up in the countryside,

“Did you ever eat Samgyeopsal that way when you were a child?”

He said he had.

Maybe it was a fairly common way for families in the countryside to enjoy meat back then. I don’t know how common it really was, but for me, that scene by the river is unforgettable.

 

A vivid memory from my childhood: grilling Samgyeopsal on a hot river stone with my family. 

After we moved to Seoul, we naturally started grilling Samgyeopsal at home on a frying pan.

Whenever my family ate Samgyeopsal, I would put some rice on a lettuce leaf, add a piece of meat, and make a big Ssam.

But my mother would always tell me,

“Eat more meat. You can eat the rice later.”

We didn’t get to eat meat very often back then, so what she really meant was probably,

“Don’t fill yourself up with rice. Eat more meat.”

That was probably just a mother thinking about her children.

But funny enough, I still can’t eat meat without rice.

For me, a Ssam just tastes better when there’s rice inside.

 

Now I’m the mother preparing Samgyeopsal for my own family.

Once we decide,

“We’re having Samgyeopsal today,”

the shopping list is almost automatic.

Lettuce.

Perilla leaves.

Garlic.

Green chili peppers.

Those are the basics.

And then there is the most important thing.

Ssamjang.

 

The Art of Korean Ssam and Homemade Ssamjang

 

Most Korean families have their own homemade Ssamjang. I usually make a generous amount and keep it in the refrigerator, taking out just what we need whenever we eat it.

And just like Kimchi tastes different from one household to another, every family’s Ssamjang has its own flavor, too.

I think I’m actually pretty good at making Ssamjang myself. Haha.

Of course, you can also buy ready-made Ssamjang. If you live outside Korea, you don’t have to make it yourself. Store-bought Ssamjang works perfectly well, too.

And I usually make Doenjang-jjigae as well.

Samgyeopsal.

Doenjang-jjigae.

Kimchi.

Soju.

And a bowl of warm white rice.

That combination is hard to beat.

But if I had to choose the heart of Korean barbecue, I think it would be this:

Samgyeopsal + lettuce + Ssamjang.

Take a piece of meat.

Put it on a lettuce leaf.

Add some Ssamjang.

Add garlic or green chili.

Add anything else you like.

Then wrap it all up into one big bite.

That is a Korean Ssam.

And there’s something really fun about putting that whole big bite into your mouth at once.

 

Sizzling Samgyeopsal (pork belly) served with grilled Kimchi, sliced garlic, and Kongnamul (soybean sprouts).

 

 

My homemade Ssamjang (Korean dipping sauce), the essential companion for Samgyeopsal (pork belly BBQ).

 

Why K-BBQ Always Ends with Fried Rice




One reason Samgyeopsal may not have been as popular in other countries in the past, I suppose, is all that fat.

When you grill Samgyeopsal at home, the oil can splatter everywhere.

That may be one reason people these days often prefer eating Samgyeopsal at restaurants rather than at home.

And Korean Samgyeopsal restaurants have another fun tradition.

After you finish the meat, they use the same grill to make fried rice.

At some point, eating fried rice after Samgyeopsal became almost like the final course of the meal.

So a Korean Samgyeopsal meal can go something like this:

Start with Samgyeopsal.

Have a big Ssam.

Enjoy a glass of soju.

And finish it all off with fried rice on the grill.

Kimchi Bokkeumbap (fried rice) with Gim (seaweed flakes) on the grill—the ultimate final course of a Samgyeopsal meal.

I hear that Korean barbecue has become incredibly popular around the world these days.

Sometimes I wonder what people love so much about it.

Is it the experience of grilling the meat right in front of you?

Is it the Ssamjang you eat with the meat?

Or is it the fun of making one huge Ssam and putting the whole thing in your mouth at once?

I honestly don’t know.

But I do know what Samgyeopsal means to me.

When I was young, Samgyeopsal meant the whole family coming together.

It meant my mother bringing home the meat.

It meant my father heating a stone by the river.

It meant my mother telling me to eat more meat and save the rice for later.

And now, it means me preparing the same food for my own family.

Maybe that’s why Samgyeopsal feels like more than just food to me.

Whether I’ve had a wonderful day or a difficult one, there is something comforting about sitting down with a big Ssam and a glass of soju.

One bite.

One sip.

And somehow, the day feels a little lighter.

Maybe that is one of the reasons Koreans love Samgyeopsal so much.

Samgyeopsal is more than just Korean barbecue.

It is a way for people to come together,

to celebrate,

to talk about a difficult day,

to laugh,

and sometimes, simply to comfort one another.

And at the end of the day,

a big Ssam and a glass of soju can be enough to let go of the day’s troubles and give us a little strength to face tomorrow.

What food gives you the strength to face tomorrow?

 

K-Food Story
Stories behind Korean food by Somang