BBQ From AROUND the WORLD
Part I – KOREA
By DeGrey
It was not that long ago (1950’s) that 1,000s of American Servicemen and Women were stationed in Korea. The soldiers and sailors lucky enough to come home to the USA brought with them a taste for Korean BBQ. Fortunately, I live in a relatively large urban area so a quick Google brought up a dozen Korean BBQ restaurants within a 25 mile radius. Yummy! Can you say “road-trip”? So what is “Korean BBQ” and what makes it unique? As with all BBQ it’s all about preparation and cooking methods.
The term Korean barbecue or Gogigui (meat roast) in Korean refers to the Korean method of roasting beef, pork, chicken, or other types of meat. Such dishes are often prepared at the diner's table on gas or charcoal grills that are built into the table itself. Some Korean restaurants that do not have built-in grills provide portable stoves for diners to use at their tables.
The most representative form of gogigui is bulgogi usually made from thinly sliced marinated beef sirloin or tenderloin. Another popular form of it is galbi made from marinated beef short ribs. However, gogigui also includes many other kinds of marinated and unmarinated meat dishes, and can be divided into several categories. Korean barbecue is not only popular among Koreans, but also has gained popularity internationally.
Bulgogi is the most popular variety of Korean barbecue. Before cooking, the meat is marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and pepper. It is traditionally cooked using gridirons or perforated dome griddles that sit on braziers, but pan-cooking has become common, as well.
Galbi is made with beef short ribs, marinated in a sauce that may contain soy sauce, water, garlic, sugar, and sliced onions. It is believed to taste best when grilled with charcoal or soot (숯, burned wood chips).
Jumulleok is short steak marinated with sesame oil, salt, and pepper. It is almost similar to unmarinated gogigui and one thing that distinguishes it from other kinds is its steak-like juicy texture. Spicy pork daeji bulgogi is also a popular gogigui ish and it is quite different from beef bulgogi because the marinade is not soy sauce-based, but instead consists of sauces based on gochujang and/or gochu garu (Korean chili powder). Hot stuff, Baby!
Chadolbegi is a dish made from thinly sliced beef brisket, which is not marinated. It is so thin, it cooks nearly instantly as soon as it is dropped onto a heated pan.
Samgyeopsal basically comprises thicker strips of unsalted pork belly. It has fatty areas and is tender. In Korea, samgyeopsal is eaten more frequently than chadolbegi due to the comparatively lower price of pork.
Also, loins (deungshim, 등심) and boneless ribs (갈비살) are a popular choice for an unmarinated type of gogigui. Learning to pronounce the dishes is almost as much fun as eating them. Good eats & cheers!