Can’t get enough of Korean food? This spicy Korean pork belly recipe is a knockout combination of tingling spices and rich pork belly. This easy recipe uses very few ingredients but is so satisfying — the pork belly just melts in your mouth!

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Spicy Korean Pork Belly Recipe

This pork belly recipe is actually a fusion between Chinese Twice-Cooked Pork and Korean spicy Samgyupsal. It just so happens that spicy samgyupsal is my absolute FAVORITE dish on the rare occasion we go out to eat at our favorite Korean restaurant. However, my husband objects to the restaurant pork…in his opinion, it isn’t FATTY enough.

(We always joke that he is Jack Sprat, eating only fat and I’m the wife eating only lean, the exact opposite of the nursery rhyme.)

So I created this pork belly recipe

My husband gets that fatty pork he loves and I get the spicy samgyupsal I love. I might add I like my recipe EVEN MORE than the restaurant samgyupsal now 😉

Even though I am not a fat-fiend like my husband, I don’t mind the fattiness of this dish. It just melts in your mouth, and the spices are right on point.

Pair it with rice and some radish kimchi for the ultimate dinner. The radish kimchi adds a refreshing counterpoint to the heavy richness of the pork.

Korean pork belly ingredients:

• Gochujang(spicy chili paste)
• Gochugaru (spicy Korean chili flakes)
• Agave or brown sugar
• Mirin
• Low sodium soy sauce
• Garlic
• Cooking oil (I used avocado oil)
• Green onion for garnish

Besides the ingredients, you will need a medium-sized pot and good quality wok.

This is the wok that I use and recommend. At one point I got sick and tired of constantly having to replace non-stick pans and finally decided to invest in a high-quality wok that I knew would last for years, which it has — over ten years, in fact!

I swore I would never buy another nonstick pan again. 🙂

(Note about the pork belly: my grocery store only carries cubed pork belly, but if yours is in a large block you can buy the larger then cube yourself as well.)

How to make Korean spicy pork belly

1. Rinse the pork belly

Rinse the pork belly with cool water and put in a large pot, adding water to cover.

You don’t need to put in tons of water, only enough water to cover the pork belly fully.

2. Boil the pork belly

Cover the pot of pork belly and place it on the stove over high heat, bringing it to a boil. After reaching full boil, remove cover and boil for 5 minutes.

After boiling 5 minutes, remove from the stove and drain, rinsing with cold water.

Set aside to drain and cool completely

3. Assemble your ingredients

While the pork is coming to a boil, assemble your ingredients. Combine them and mix thoroughly.

(I always use the Assi Brand gochujang and gochugaru…you should be able to find them at your local Asian market.)

4. Slice the pork belly

After the pork is cool enough to handle, you are going to slice it vertically into 1/4 inch pieces, from the fat side down to the meaty side.

If you still see pink in the center, that is fine! We are going to cook it again.

5. Cook the pork belly

Place your wok or pan on the stove over medium-high heat.

Once the wok is hot, add 2 Tbsp oil and wait until shimmering hot. Add the pork and cook until meat is just cooked through and no pink remains.

Then add the sauce mixture and stir to coat the pork completely.

Reduce heat to low and cook 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, remove from heat and add the green onions!

(I would normally use brown sugar for this recipe, but hubby came home with two bottles of agave from Costco, so I tried to incorporate into this recipe and it turned out great! But if brown sugar is what you have BY ALL MEANS use that.)

6. Serve and enjoy!

Now you are ready to serve! Enjoy the pork belly with some rice and banchan (Korean side dishes) and you will be good to go. 🙂

Related posts:

• 20 Must Try Korean Recipes to Spice Up Your Life
• Instant Pot Korean BBQ Ribs (Spicy)

*Calorie data is approximate. This data was calculated using Nutritionix on 5/4/2019.

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Spicy Korean Pork Belly

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

This spicy Korean pork belly recipe is a knockout combination of tingling spices and rich pork belly. This easy recipe uses very few ingredients but is so satisfying -- the pork belly just melts in your mouth!

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Ingredients

• 1.5-2 lbs pork belly
• 1/4 cup gochujang
• 1 Tbsp gochugaru
• 1 Tbsp agave or brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp mirin
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 3 green onions, sliced

Instructions

1. Take the cubes of pork belly and place in a pot. Cover completely with cold water.
2. Cover and bring to boil. After reaching full boil, remove cover and boil for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from stove and drain, rinsing immediately with cold water. Set aside to drain and cool completely
4. While the pork is boiling, assemble the sauce ingredients (gochujang through garlic).
5. Finely mince garlic. Add all sauce ingredients (gochujang, gochugaru, agave/sugar, mirin, soy sauce, and garlic) together and stir until combined.
6. After pork has cooled enough to handle, slice each cube vertically (from fat side through to lean) into 1/4 inch slices. If there is pink remaining that is OK! We will be cooking again.
7. Place a wok or pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp oil and wait until shimmering hot. Add the pork and cook until meat is just cooked through and no pink remains.
8. Add the sauce and stir to combine with meat. Cook 2 more minutes. 
9. Remove from heat and add green onions.
10. Serve with rice and kimchi.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Korean Red Hot Chili Pepper Flakes Powder, Sun Dried 7oz Shaker
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  Kikkoman Lite Soy Sauce, 64-Ounce Bottle
• 
  All-Clad 6414 SS Copper Core 5-Ply Bonded Dishwasher Safe Open Stir Fry Pan / Cookware, 14-Inch, Silver

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 768Total Fat: 54gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 33gCholesterol: 191mgSodium: 1537mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 0gSugar: 10gProtein: 54g

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