Korean BBQ at home: meat, marinade, ssam and banchan

A grill in the middle of the table, everyone with tongs or a pair of chopsticks, meat sizzling and a stack of lettuce leaves slowly getting smaller: Korean BBQ is just as much about eating together as it is about the meat itself. You grill, cut, wrap and pass it around, and you can easily recreate that convivial bustle at home with a table grill or simply a grill pan. Here you can read which meat to ask for at the butcher, which sauces to buy and what else belongs on the table; most of it is available together in the Korean shelf at our shop in Amsterdam. It is the marinades from Sempio and O'Food and the cans of Milkis and Chilsung that Korean families bring into their homes for an evening of grilling, just as they are found in supermarkets in Korea.

What is Korean BBQ?

Korean BBQ is the Korean way of grilling meat at the table: raw or marinated meat goes on a grill in the middle and everyone takes some that is cooked. You eat it in a lettuce leaf with sauce and garlic, a ssam, with small side dishes (banchan) and rice on the side.

The best-known classics are samgyeopsal, slices of pork belly that go on the grill without marinade, bulgogi, thinly sliced marinated beef, and galbi, marinated ribs. If you want to know what else makes Korean cuisine so unique, read Korean cuisine 101.

What do you need for Korean BBQ at home?

For Korean BBQ at home you need a heat source on the table, good meat, a few sauces, lettuce and some side dishes. An electric table grill or griddle works perfectly, and a cast-iron grill pan on the stove can also work. Have tongs and kitchen scissors ready, because in Korea you cut the meat into bite-sized pieces on the grill. Never use charcoal indoors, because it releases carbon monoxide, and open a window or turn on the extractor hood while grilling: pork belly splatters and smokes a lot.

Choose a shelf to see what is available.

Marinades & BBQ bulgogi · grill saucesReady-made marinades for beef, pork and chickenShop nowJang & sauces gochujang · ssamjangFor the dipping sauce and the spicy marinadeShop nowKimchi 김치The regular guest next to the grillShop nowSpices & mixes gochugaru · syrupFor homemade marinades and pajeoriShop nowTea & drinks without alcoholSoda and tea to drink with itShop now

Which meat do you buy for Korean BBQ?

For Korean BBQ you mainly buy pork belly, thinly sliced beef and ribs, and the most important thing is that the slices are thin or at most one centimeter thick, so that they cook quickly on a hot plate.

• Samgyeopsal: pork belly without the sword and without bone, in slices of half to one centimeter, without marinade (see our samgyeopsal recipe).
• Moksal: pork neck, the neck of the pig, in slices of one centimeter.
• Dwaeji bulgogi: pork neck or pork belly in thin slices, marinated in a spicy marinade with gochujang.
• Bulgogi: ribeye or entrecote, sliced paper-thin. Half an hour in the freezer makes cutting it yourself easier.
• Galbi: short ribs, cut across the bone into slices of about one centimeter. That cut is called LA-galbi.
• Chadolbaegi: beef brisket, sliced paper-thin.
• Dakgalbi: boneless chicken thighs, in pieces and in a gochujang marinade (see the recipe for dakgalbi).

Which marinade do you use for Korean BBQ?

Sempio Bulgogi Marinade is a ready-made bulgogi marinade based on soy sauce, sweet and savory, in which you leave thinly sliced ribeye or entrecote for half an hour. For galbi, short ribs cut across the bone, you take Sempio Kalbi Marinade. For Korean BBQ you actually have two flavor directions: sweet and savory with soy sauce for bulgogi and galbi, or spicy with gochujang for pork and chicken.

Bulgogi 불고기 · SempioFor thinly sliced ribeye or entrecoteGalbi 갈비 · SempioFor short ribs cut across the boneGochujang bulgogi Sempio · 75 gA packet for pork or chicken thighsSpicy bulgogi with gochujangFor pork neck or pork belly in thin slicesBulgogi 불고기 · sweet and savoryFor thinly sliced ribeye or entrecote

Prefer to try it yourself first? A packet of Sempio BBQ Bulgogi Sauce is enough for one evening; how you cook bulgogi is explained in our bulgogi recipe.

View all Korean marinades →

Prefer to make your own marinade?

Kikkoman Soy Sauce is the base if you make your own galbi or bulgogi marinade. Mix soy sauce with a splash of water, a generous spoonful of Korean rice syrup or sugar, grated garlic, some grated onion and a grated pear together, with Ottogi Sesame Oil and black pepper. The pear makes the meat tender, and with a spoonful of gochujang through it you immediately have a spicy version for pork neck or chicken.

What is ssam and what do you put in it?

Sempio Ssamjang Soybean Dipping Paste is ssamjang, the thick, savory dipping sauce based on doenjang and gochujang that goes in almost every ssam. A ssam is a wrap: you put a lettuce leaf in your hand, a piece of meat on top, a dollop of ssamjang and a slice of garlic, and eat it in one bite. How ssamjang compares to gochujang and doenjang, you can read in Gochujang, doenjang and ssamjang.

Ssamjang 쌈장 · dipping sauceA dollop in every lettuce wrapSesame oil 참기름 · for gireumjangWith salt and pepper, the dip for samgyeopsalDoenjang 된장 · soybean pasteFor homemade ssamjang and jjigaeGochujang 고추장 · red chili pasteFor ssamjang and spicy marinadesGochugaru 고춧가루 · coarseFor pajeori, the spicy scallion salad

Choose sturdy lettuce such as oak leaf or romaine; in Korea, perilla leaves (kkaennip) are often served too, but lettuce alone is fine. Serve with raw garlic, sliced green chilies and pajeori: paper-thin strips of leek or scallion dressed with gochugaru, vinegar, a little sugar and sesame oil. Gireumjang is sesame oil with salt and pepper, the dip for plain pork belly.

Make your own ssamjang

Sempio Doenjang Miso Paste is the starting point for homemade ssamjang: for example, mix two parts doenjang with one part gochujang, finely chopped garlic, some scallion, a drizzle of sesame oil and a spoonful of sesame seeds. A little rice syrup makes it milder.

Browse all Korean sauces →

Which banchan should you serve with Korean BBQ?

HoSan Kimchi Vegetables is ready-to-eat kimchi, and kimchi is the banchan you almost always see on the table at Korean BBQ. Banchan add something fresh, sour or spicy between bites of rich meat. Try placing a few pieces of kimchi next to the pork belly on the grill too; they turn soft and lightly caramelized. Read more about kimchi in Kimchi 101.

It’s quick to make your own: oi muchim is cucumber with gochugaru, sigeumchi namul is spinach with garlic and sesame oil, and gyeranjjim is a light, steamed egg dish—soft and mild alongside all the spicy food. Or open a few jars, such as black beans in soy sauce (kongjaban), wild garlic leaves in soy sauce or seasoned garlic stems.

Browse all kimchi →

What rice do you eat with Korean BBQ?

Yejimi Premium Korean Rice is Korean short-grain rice, and it’s an essential: sticky enough to pick up with chopsticks. Japanese short-grain rice such as JFC Yume Nishiki Rice is a great substitute, and for a quick meal there’s Hetbanh Cooked White Rice, precooked rice that just needs heating. A sheet of seasoned gim wrapped around rice and meat is delicious too.

At many Korean BBQ restaurants, a pot of doenjang jjigae with rice is served at the end, or the rice is fried on the grill with kimchi and the last bits of meat. At home, you can recreate this with our kimchi bokkeumbap recipe.

What do you drink with Korean BBQ?

Lotte Milkis Soda is a creamy Korean soft drink that pairs well with rich grilled meat and spicy sauces. Cider is also often served in Korea: a clear lemon-lime soft drink such as Chilsung Lemon Lime Soda.

Milkis Melon 밀키스 · creamy soft drinkGentle fizz with melonMilkis Original 밀키스Creamy and lightly sweetChilsung 칠성사이다 · ciderClear lemon-lime soft drinkYuja tea 유자차 · with honeyA spoonful in hot or cold waterIced tea cold-brewedWith green mandarinMelon milk BinggraeSweet melon milk for after the meal

Browse all Korean teas and drinks →

How do you grill Korean BBQ at home?

Let the grill or pan get really hot before adding the first pieces of meat. This gives the pork belly a browned crust right away and keeps it from simmering in its own fat. Don’t put everything on the grill at once; cook in small batches as you eat, so there’s always something hot and crispy ready and the grill doesn’t cool down.

Marinated meats such as bulgogi and dwaeji bulgogi burn more quickly because of the sugar in the marinade, so keep the heat a little lower, turn them more often and, ideally, grill them after the unmarinated meat, or the grill will get sticky. Cut the pork belly into pieces only once the underside is nicely browned, and use separate tongs for raw meat.

Recipes for Korean BBQ at home

These recipes will help you serve the meat and banchan.

SamgyeopsalGrilled pork belly with lettuce, ssamjang and garlic.BulgogiThinly sliced marinated beef cooked in a pan.DakgalbiSeasoned chicken thighs with cabbage and rice cakes.Oi muchimSpicy cucumber salad, fresh alongside the meat.Sigeumchi namulSpinach with garlic and sesame oil.GyeranjjimFluffy steamed egg, soft between the spicy bites.

You could also make some yangnyeomjang, and the next day kimchi jjigae with some leftover pork belly is a good idea.

Frequently asked questions

For Korean BBQ at home you don't need a perfect grill, because the best thing is a table full of little dishes where everyone sits wrapping, cutting and sharing themselves, and that works just as well with a pan of pork belly, a jar of ssamjang and a head of lettuce as it does with a complete table grill. Feel free to start small, and pop into the toko in Amsterdam if you want to know which sauce goes with which cut of meat, because we love to help you think it through. If you want to learn more about Korean cuisine, read Korean cuisine 101, and for everything about kimchi you can visit Kimchi 101.