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5.0 from 9 votes

Pork Belly Cooked with Onions

Here is the simplest way to cook pork belly (Sam-Kyup-Sal) Korean style. 

Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr
Servings: 4
Calories: 1195 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Korean

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs pork belly
  • 1 large onion (or 2 medium onions)
  • 10 Korean green onions (Daepa, with roots if possible or scallions with roots)

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Cut the onions into 1/2 inch thick slices so that you have enough onion slices to cover the bottom of a thick iron or good quality pot that does not burn easily.
  2. Cut the pork belly into 2-3 inch wide pieces and put it on top of the onions. You can lay the meat skin side down if you do not wish to have the meat side too burned.
  3. Clean the green onions or scallions and cut it in half. You should have enough green onions to cover the meat. If you can, save the root end of the green onions, clean it well and also add it to the pot. Use 1/2 leeks and 1/2 green onions if you’d like. 
  4. Turn the heat to medium high and COVER the pot. Let it cook for few minutes (10 min or so) until you smell the onions burning a bit. So you may wonder: No water? No oil? No worries. You will get the fat dripping from the pork belly so you actually don’t need any additional liquid.
  5. Lower the heat to low and cook for about an hour until the meat is cooked thoroughly. The onions may look burnt but it’s ok. You are not going to eat the onions but just the meat. You can test how well the meat is cooked by piercing the meat with a chopstick or fork. If the chopstick or fork goes in without too much resistance and if there’s no blood, it is completely cooked.
  6. Take the meat out of the pot, let it sit for few minutes. Discard onions. Cut the pork into about 1/4 inch slices (thicker or thinner, however you like it) .
  7. Eat the pork with one of the following condiments: soy sauce and vinegar, ssam-jang, kimchi, or sae-woo-jeot (salted and fermented tiny shrimps). Along with the condiments, I recommend you eat this pork with rice, lettuce wraps (see ssambap) and kimchi.

Notes

  • Be sure to buy good quality pork belly. If available, (black pig pork belly) is a great choice. 

Nutrition Information

Calories 1195kcal (60%) Carbohydrates 4g (1%) Protein 22g (44%) Fat 120g (185%) Saturated Fat 43g (215%) Cholesterol 163mg (54%) Sodium 78mg (3%) Potassium 542mg (15%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 1g (2%) Vitamin A 320IU (6%) Vitamin C 8.3mg (9%) Calcium 39mg (4%) Iron 1.7mg (9%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 1195

% Daily Value*

Calories 1195kcal 60%
Carbohydrates 4g 1%
Protein 22g 44%
Fat 120g 185%
Saturated Fat 43g 215%
Cholesterol 163mg 54%
Sodium 78mg 3%
Potassium 542mg 12%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 1g 2%
Vitamin A 320IU 6%
Vitamin C 8.3mg 9%
Calcium 39mg 4%
Iron 1.7mg 9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.