Chef Jeong-sun
Bulgogi (불고기, Marinated Grilled Beef)
Paper-thin beef in soy, sesame, garlic, and grated pear, cooked fast until the edges caramelize and served in lettuce wraps at the kind of table people lean into.
Culinary Explorer
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Dwaeji-bulgogi (Spicy Marinated Pork)
Created by
Thin-sliced pork shoulder in a measured gochujang and soy marinade, cooked hard and fast so the chili clings, the edges char, and the pork still tastes like pork.
Main Dishes
Korean
Weeknight
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
15 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield4 servings
Dwaeji-bulgogi lives or dies by heat. The marinade is wet, the pork is thin, and if the pan is timid, everything boils red and tired. Get the pan hot, cook in batches, and let the edges catch. That little char is not decoration. It is where the gochujang (red chili paste), soy, garlic, and pork finally become one dish.
People think spicy pork means more gochujang, more sugar, more red. No. The chili should read against the meat, not bury it. My teacher, Master Seong-nyeo, would taste the raw marinade with the end of a chopstick, then say nothing until the pork was cooked. Only then did she correct it, because pork fat changes the seasoning once it melts. I still do it that way, but I measure first so you don't have to guess in front of a hungry table.
Use pork shoulder, collar, or belly sliced thin, 2 to 3 millimeters if the butcher will do it. Marinate briefly, not overnight, because thin pork takes seasoning quickly and too much time makes it salty. Tonight this asks for a sharp knife or a helpful butcher, a wide pan, and enough patience not to crowd it. Serve it in ssam (leaf wraps) with rice, lettuce, garlic, and one quiet banchan beside it. Write it down. Memory is a borrowed bowl.
Dwaeji-bulgogi is part of Korea's twentieth-century family of marinated grilled meats, shaped by restaurant grilling, home stovetop cooking, and the wider availability of pork after the Korean War. The gochujang-heavy version is closely tied to the modern popularity of spicy pork dishes such as jeyuk-bokkeum, while regional and household versions may use more soy, pear, onion, or gochugaru depending on the table. It is everyday food, not court food, and its place is the busy home table, the work lunch, and the grill shared with lettuce wraps.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pork shoulder, pork collar, or pork belly
Quantity
700g
sliced 2 to 3 mm thick against the grain
onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
thinly sliced
scallions
Quantity
3
cut into 2-inch lengths
neutral oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons, divided
gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
preferably coarse
soy sauce
Quantity
3 tablespoons
maesil-cheong (green plum syrup) or honey
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
mirin or rice wine
Quantity
2 tablespoons
toasted sesame oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
garlic
Quantity
5 cloves
minced
fresh ginger
Quantity
1 teaspoon
grated
onion
Quantity
1/2 small
grated
Korean pear or sweet apple
Quantity
1/2
grated, about 1/3 cup
black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more for serving
lettuce or perilla leaves (optional)
Quantity
to serve
cooked short-grain rice (optional)
Quantity
to serve
ssamjang, sliced raw garlic, and sliced green chili (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pork shoulder, pork collar, or pork bellysliced 2 to 3 mm thick against the grain | 700g |
| onionthinly sliced | 1/2 medium |
| scallionscut into 2-inch lengths | 3 |
| neutral oil | 2 tablespoons, divided |
| gochujang (Korean red chili paste) | 3 tablespoons |
| gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)preferably coarse | 1 tablespoon |
| soy sauce | 3 tablespoons |
| maesil-cheong (green plum syrup) or honey | 1 tablespoon |
| sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| mirin or rice wine | 2 tablespoons |
| toasted sesame oil | 1 tablespoon |
| garlicminced | 5 cloves |
| fresh gingergrated | 1 teaspoon |
| oniongrated | 1/2 small |
| Korean pear or sweet applegrated, about 1/3 cup | 1/2 |
| black pepperfreshly ground | 1/2 teaspoon |
| toasted sesame seeds | 1 teaspoon, plus more for serving |
| lettuce or perilla leaves (optional) | to serve |
| cooked short-grain rice (optional) | to serve |
| ssamjang, sliced raw garlic, and sliced green chili (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide cast-iron skillet, grill pan, or heavy stainless pan
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Tongs
- •Sharp knife or butcher-sliced pork
Instructions
- 1
Slice the pork
If the pork is not already sliced, freeze it 30 to 40 minutes until firm but not hard, then slice it 2 to 3 mm thick against the grain. Thin pork cooks before the sugar burns, and slicing against the grain keeps it tender. If your butcher can slice it for bulgogi, let the butcher do it. That is a safe corner to cut.
Pork shoulder gives the best balance of meat and fat. Pork belly is richer and needs stronger heat. Lean loin dries out fast, so I don't choose it for this dish. - 2
Mix the marinade
In a large bowl, stir together the gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, maesil-cheong or honey, sugar, mirin, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, grated onion, grated pear, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Taste the marinade before the pork goes in. It should be salty, gently sweet, garlicky, and hot, but not muddy. Three tablespoons gochujang is enough for 700g pork; more makes the dish taste only of paste.
Gochugaru gives clean chili flavor and color without the heaviness of more gochujang. That is why both are here. - 3
Marinate briefly
Add the sliced pork, sliced onion, and scallions to the marinade. Mix by hand until every fold of pork is coated, then cover and refrigerate 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours. Do not marinate overnight. Thin pork absorbs salt quickly, and the grated fruit will soften it too far if you forget it until tomorrow.
- 4
Heat the pan
Set a wide cast-iron skillet, grill pan, or heavy stainless pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and wait until the oil moves thinly across the surface. The pan must be hot enough that the pork sizzles the moment it lands. If it only sighs, wait.
- 5
Sear in batches
Lay in half the pork in a loose single layer, leaving excess marinade in the bowl for now. Cook 2 to 3 minutes without fussing, then turn and cook another 2 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the edges are dark red-brown with a little char. Move it to a platter and repeat with the remaining oil and pork. Crowding is the mistake that turns dwaeji-bulgogi into a wet stir-fry.
Cook pork to at least 63 C, then let it rest briefly. With slices this thin, that happens quickly, so watch the edges more than the clock. - 6
Glaze and finish
When all the pork is cooked, return it to the pan with 2 tablespoons of the leftover marinade from the bowl. Cook 30 to 60 seconds, tossing until the sauce clings and looks glossy. This final reduction is small on purpose. You want a coating, not a puddle.
- 7
Serve in ssam
Pile the pork onto a warm platter and scatter with a little more toasted sesame. Serve at once with rice, lettuce or perilla leaves, ssamjang (thick seasoned soybean paste), sliced garlic, and green chili. Fold one leaf around rice, pork, and a small dab of ssamjang. Too much sauce in the wrap hides the meat, and we did not cook carefully for that.
Chef Tips
- •Ask for moksal (pork collar) or shoulder sliced for bulgogi. It has enough fat to stay juicy and enough meat to taste clean. Samgyeopsal (pork belly) works, but cut the added oil in half.
- •If your gochujang is very sweet, reduce the sugar to 2 teaspoons. Brands vary. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, then adjust after tasting.
- •A charcoal grill is good, but a wide cast-iron skillet is honest weeknight cooking. The rule is the same: high heat, batches, and no crowding.
- •For a less sweet table, skip the honey or maesil-cheong and keep the pear. The fruit rounds the chili and helps the pork brown without making the marinade taste like candy.
Advance Preparation
- •The marinade can be mixed up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated without the pork.
- •The pork can be marinated 30 minutes to 2 hours ahead. For food safety, keep it refrigerated and bring it out only while the pan heats.
- •Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated. Reheat quickly in a hot skillet, not slowly in a covered pan, or the sauce loosens and the pork toughens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 430g)
Calories
785 calories
Total Fat
37 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
26 g
Cholesterol
115 mg
Sodium
1700 mg
Total Carbohydrates
75 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
18 g
Protein
38 g
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