← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg skinless pork belly in 2 thick pieces
• 2 l Water
• 2 tbsp Doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
• 1 Onion, halved
• 3 spring onion whites
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 3 cm piece Ginger, sliced
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 450 g Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
• 1 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp Saeujeot (Korean salted shrimp)
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Sesame seeds
• 2 Spring onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp Doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
• 1 tbsp Gochujang
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp Honey
• 1 head of soft lettuce, leaves separated
• 200 g Kimchi

Method

1. Bring the water to the boil in a large pot and whisk in the doenjang. Add the onion, spring onion whites, garlic, ginger, peppercorns, bay leaves and coffee.
2. Lower in the pork, return to the boil, then cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar, and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour, turning the pieces once, until a chopstick slides into the thickest part with no resistance.
3. While the pork cooks, toss the radish with the salt and leave for 15 min. Squeeze out the liquid, then mix with the gochugaru until it turns red, followed by the fish sauce, salted shrimp, garlic, sugar, sesame seeds and spring onion.
4. Stir the ssamjang ingredients together until smooth.
5. Lift the pork out of the liquid and let it rest for 5 min, then cut across the grain into slices about 5 mm thick.
6. Serve the warm pork on a platter with the lettuce, radish salad, kimchi and ssamjang. Everyone wraps a slice of pork with a little of each in a lettuce leaf.

Tips

• The coffee and doenjang are there to remove any porky smell and give a lovely colour; you will not taste them.
• Do not slice the pork until just before serving, or it dries out; it keeps hot in its liquid for 30 min.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Korean Bapsang Kimchimari Beyond Kimchee