Samgyeopsal
Korea | |
Associated cuisine | Korean cuisine |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Pork belly |
Samgyeopsal | |
Hangul | 삼겹살 |
---|---|
Hanja | 三겹살 |
Revised Romanization | samgyeop-sal |
McCune–Reischauer | samgyŏp-sal |
IPA | [sam.ɡjʌp.s͈al] |
Hangul | 삼겹살구이 |
Hanja | 三겹살구이 |
Revised Romanization | samgyeop-sal-gui |
McCune–Reischauer | samgyŏp-sal-gui |
IPA | [sam.ɡjʌp.s͈al.ɡu.i] |
Samgyeopsal (Korean: 삼겹살; lit. 'three-layer meat'), samgyeopsal-gui (삼겹살구이 lit. 'grilled three-layer meat'), or grilled pork belly is a type of gui (grilled dish) in Korean cuisine.
Etymology
Directly translated from Korean, samgyeop-sal (삼겹살) means "three layer flesh", referring to striations of lean meat and fat in the pork belly that appear as three layers when cut.[1][2]
It is the part of the abdomen under the loin from the 5th rib or 6th rib to the hind limb.[3] In Korea, the word samgyeop-sal, meaning "pork belly", often refers to samgyeop-sal-gui (grilled pork belly), in the same way that the word galbi, meaning "ribs", often refers to galbi-gui (grilled beef ribs). Gui refers to roasted, baked, or grilled dishes.
One can also find ogyeopsal (오겹살), with an o meaning "five" and "gyeop" meaning a layer. Ogyeop-sal includes the skin part of the pork belly, unlike samgyeop-sal where the skin is removed.
History
The first mention of the meat dish was in a Donga-ilbo article published on November 3, 1984, titled "How to Distinguish Between Good and Bad Meat", where the dish is called "segyepsal (세겹살)" instead of samgyeopsal.[4] The word samgyeopsal only became an entry for the Standard Korean Language Dictionary after 1994.[5]
Until the 1980s, the main type of meat the Koreans preferred was beef, but pork and chicken meat were encouraged at a national policy level as a good alternative as most of the cattle were used for agriculture and thus beef supplies were deficient.[6] In response to government policies, chaebols, especially Samsung, started to run pork farms.[6] Samsung later shut down the farms due to backlash from farmers worried that Samsung was attempting real estate speculation.[6]
During the late 1980s to the 1990s, the dish became a popular menu along with
Preparation
Thick, fatty slices of pork belly,[8] sometimes with the skin left on and sometimes scored on the diagonal,[1] are grilled on a slanted metal griddle or a gridiron at the diners' table, inset with charcoal grills or convex gas burners.[2][9] Usually, diners grill the meat themselves, flipping and cutting them with tongs and scissors, and eat directly from the grill.[1][2][8]
The meat is usually neither marinated nor seasoned, although marinated samgyeopsal in flavors such as ginseng, wine, garlic, herbs, curry, doenjang, and gochujang has gained popularity since the late 2000s.[2][10] Slices of garlic, onions, green chili peppers, mushrooms, and kimchi are often grilled alongside using the fat trickling from the pork belly.[1][2][9]
Common accompaniments for samgyeopsal include
Consumption
Grilled meat is placed on fresh and/or pickled leaves of vegetables, with some ssamjang, and rolled up to make ssam (wrap) which is eaten in one mouthful.[9] Any combination of accompaniments mentioned above can be added to the roll according to preference, most popularly sliced garlic.[2]
Cooked rice, stews such as kimchi-jjigae and doenjang-jjigae, as well as naengmyeon (cold noodles), can be served as meals.[1] Sometimes, leftover meat is mixed with rice, gim-garu (seaweed flakes), and seasonings to make bokkeum-bap (fried rice) at the end.
Samgyeopsal is often accompanied by, or accompanying (as anju) shots of soju.[2][8][9][11][13] Somaek, a simple cocktail made by dumping a shot of soju into a glass of beer, is also a popular beverage consumed with samgyeopasal.[8]
In culture
In South Korea, the third day of March is "Samgyeopsal Day", due to samgyeopsal's three-layered composition.[14] According to a 2006 survey by National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, 85% of South Korean adults stated that their favourite slice of pork is the pork belly.[15]
There is a myth in South Korea that eating Samgyeopsal protects humans from air pollution by particulates (sometimes translated as fine dust 미세먼지 in Korean).[16][17] This is thought to have originated from the practice of Korean miners eating pork after an intensive mining operation.[17] Contrary to the myth, samgyeopsal can rather help the absorption of chemicals in the particulates that are soluble in oil.[16]
See also
- Bacon – Type of salt-cured pork
- Korean barbecue – Regional style of food preparation
- List of pork dishes
References
- ^ a b c d e f Sula, Mike (26 October 2016). "Delight in the belly of the beast at Pro Samgyubsal". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gold, Jonathan (28 July 2011). "Jonathan Gold Reviews Palsaik Samgyeopsal". LA Weekly. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ "삼겹살". terms.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ "[백 투 더 동아/11월3일]삼겹살과 한국 사람은 언제부터 사랑에 빠졌을까". date=2017-11-02. 2 November 2017.
- ^ a b c "삼겹살". tongyeong sinmun. 5 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "[팜역사속으로]우리는 언제부터 삼겹살을 먹게 되었을까?". farminsight. 2018-10-19.
- ^ a b "[이춘호 기자의 푸드 블로그] (상)삼겹살 이야기". yongnamilbo. 2014-07-25.
- ^ a b c d Whitten, Richard (8 February 2017). "Tour Guide: Seoul, South Korea". Paste. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ a b c d Chandler, Michael Alison (29 April 2011). "Smart Mouth: A marathon of Seoul food, just the way Koreans do it". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ Tan, Karen-Michaela. "The new colour thing: Korean rainbow pork". The Star. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ CNN Travel. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Catan, Patricia May P. (2018-03-06). "Somac's samgyeopsal and more". SunStar. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ Cumming, Ed; Fox, Killian; Grundy, Gareth; Hayward, Tim; Tait-Hyland, Molly; Jenkins, Allan; O'Neill, Holly; Madigan, Andrew; Williams, David; Granleese, Bob; Allen, Lisette; Missing, Sophie; Rayner, Jay; Fowler, Alys; Barton, Laura. "The 5th annual OFM 50: What we love about food in 2017". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ Kim, Jeong-pil; Kim, Hyo-jin (3 March 2015). "Consumption of tasty pork belly bulge on its special day". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ [1] 2006 ACK Survey
- ^ Chosun ilbo.
- ^ a b "Behind the Myth: Pork". Gwangju News. 2014-04-29.