When It’s Dusty Day, We Had Samgyeopsal.
After returning from Tijuana, I felt a scratchy tightness in my throat. On our last day there, the dust seemed to hang thickly in the air—perhaps a reminder of Tijuana’s desert geography. In Korea, when we feel that gritty sensation from too much dust, there’s one thing we always reach for in our home: pork belly, or samgyeopsal In Korea,🐷
there’s this belief that the natural oils in samgyeopsal help cleanse the throat of dust and impurities.😂
Korean Style Samgyeopsal Dining
So last night, my husband cooked up some crispy pork belly. The way we like it is to first sear the outside until golden and then slice it into bite-sized pieces before grilling them a bit more. Typically, we’d wrap it in leafy greens(We call it Ssam), but our vegetable stash was running low. Instead, we made a quick side of thinly sliced cabbage and onions, tossed in a soy sauce marinade. In Korea, it’s common to have onions soaked in soy sauce alongside Samgyeopsal, and, of course, we always need a good dollop of Ssamjang.
My version of ssamjang is a homemade mix of gochujang (spicy red pepper paste), doenjang (soybean paste), and fresh garlic. If Mexico has its signature salsa, then ssamjang is Korea’s beloved condiment for grilled meats.
And we enjoyed it all with some hearty brown rice—a bit too much, actually, because my husband couldn’t stop saying how delicious everything was!
Have Meats Than Rice!
You know what, when we have meats, we’re encouraged to fill up on the meat itself rather than the rice. It’s a bit like in Mexico, where you might be offered one tortilla instead of two so you can savor more of the taco filling.
And my husband made pickled garlic! It’s been fermenting for about a week now, and we tried it for the first time today. It’s the perfect side dish to pair with rich foods.
With the weekend behind us, it’s back to the usual pace, and L.A. is starting to cool down for fall.