Korean barbecue meat types - Beef cut, Pork cut in Korean

In Korean barbecue restaurants, names of beef cuts that are not often seen in Western-style restaurants are mentioned. Beef cuts are used for steak, on-table grill and stew/soups. Here the names of beef cuts you can see in Korean BBQ menu are listed.

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Beef cut

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An-sim, Deung-sim, Kkot-deung-sim are main BBQ part which are good not only for steak, but table grills. Galbi is eaten in two ways - salt&pepper roast, or marinated. Chaekkeutsal is a part you can see in bucher shop rather than K-BBQ restaurant.

Galbi, Korean bbq (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galbi)

안심
an-sim
Tenderloin

등심, 꽃등심
deung-sim, kkot-deung-sim
Loin, Sirloin

갈비
galbi
Rib

채끝살
chaekkeutsal
Striploin

I personally prefer Bu-chae-sal (=Nag-yeob-sal) the most. That's tender top blade of cow shoulder. It's also named as Flat iron steak (US), butlers' steak (UK), feather blade steak (UK) or oyster blade steak (Australia / New Zealand)[wiki]

Buchaesal (https://namu.wiki/w/%EB%B6%80%EC%B1%97%EC%82%B4)

부채살 (=낙엽살)
bu-chae-sal (=nag-yeob-sal)
Shoulder, Top Blade


Have you seen super thin slice of meats in Korean BBQ ? That's the beef cut "brisket" group widerly loved. The most popular name is "Chadolbagi" which is actually translted as "marbled". But marbled cut occupies only small portion of entire brisket. Becaus of that, all-you-can-eat restaurants tend to use "brisket and flank" with nice slicing skill. Those thin "brisket and flank" slice is most likely called Woo-sam-gyeob.(Sometimes Chadolbagi, if the owner is not honest)

Chadolbagi (https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%B0%A8%EB%8F%8C%EB%B0%95%EC%9D%B4)

차돌박이
chadolbagi
Marbled (Brisket)

양지, 우삼겹
yangji, woo-sam-gyeob
Plate, Brisket, Flank

Well, Yang-ji cut's main usage isn't just barbecue. It is more commonly conceived as stew meat or as meat for soy-sauce based brasied beef dish "Jang-jo-rim". Not only flank, but also round cuts("woodunsal" and "hongdukkaesal") are well known for same uses.

Jangjorim (https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9E%A5%EC%A1%B0%EB%A6%BC)

우둔살, 홍두깨살
woodunsal, hongdukkaesal
Round

In terms of beef bone broth, "satae"(shank) and "sagol"(leg bone) are main ingredients. Yangji can jump in to the boiling water together depends on recipes. After hours of boiling, the meats generate milky color broth.

Sagol gomtang - beef bone broth (https://namu.wiki/w/%EA%B3%B0%ED%83%95)

사태
satae
Shank

사골
sagol
Beef leg bone

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Pork cut

 

(Reference : blog.naver.com/jobsticks/60188508058)

Overall, common Korean pork barbecue cuts are samgyupsal, moksal, hangjeongsal, galmaegisal, (pork) galbi. The photo below is a top shot of pork barbeque. I could see pork belly and shoulder on the grill. Can you make guess which one is which?

Samgyeobsal (upside) and Moksal (downside, brownish), Korean BBQ (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moksal.jpg)

Samgyeobsal(or samgyupsal), the pork belly is one of the main contributors which has formed the BBQ culture itself. When beef is pricy, ordinary people's go-to meat used to be always pork belly. When I enjoyed pork BBQ, the second go-to cut used to be Moksal, which means shoulder part of pork. It has good texture, and less fat than pork belly.

삼겹살
samgyupsal
pork belly

목살
moksal
shoulder

갈비
galbi
rib

Hang-jeong-sal is the part where the neck and shoulders of the pig are attached, which the color is bright and the fat is evenly mixed. One of the most famous dishes made with this cut is Italian bacon, "Guanciale". In Korea, however, it is more known as one of the cuts for barbecue.[wiki]

Hangjeongsal in Korean BBQ (https://namu.wiki/w/%ED%95%AD%EC%A0%95%EC%82%B4)

항정살
hangjeongsal
spare rib roast

Galmaegisal refers to the part of a pig that forms a thin and long diaphragm. That can be separated when ribs are excised. It belongs to high-quality meat because it is fat-free, and has a soft, chewy taste.[wiki]

갈매기살
galmaegisal
skirt meat

For me, pork tenderloin and loin are seen more often in a breaded pork cutlet dish called "Tonkatsu". Those are the most tender and quality cuts of pork, and are served as "steak" in Western-style Korean restaurants, along with shoulder cut.

Don-ga-tsu, breaded pork cutlet (https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%8F%88%EA%B0%80%EC%8A%A4)

안심
ansim
tenderloin

등심
deungsim
loin

"Jokbal" is a dish made by boiling and stewing pork legs with various seasonings and spices, like Schwein Haxen in Germany. Also, Jokbal itself has the meaning of pork's foot. FYI, As with all other foods, especially the pork feet, they become tough and tasteless when cooled. If you ever get a chance to eat pork feet, be sure to eat them warm.

Job-bal, Korean pork dish (https://namu.wiki/w/%EC%A1%B1%EB%B0%9C)

족발
jogbal
Pork feet

Pork's shoulder is low in fat and many in use. Two super popular Korean dishes use pork's shoulder mainly, those name are "suyuk" and "jeyuk bokkeum". Suyuk is hard boiled pork sliced thinly. It usually goes with kimchi. When Suyuk is served with various green wraps, the name turnes "bossam”.

(L) Suyuk, (R) Bossam (https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%B3%B4%EC%8C%88)

On the other hand, Jeyuk-bokkeum is a dish that is stir-fried in a pan with various seasonings such as garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and red pepper powder. It is loved meal by many Korean men.

Jeyuk bokkeum, Stir-fried pork (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokkeum)

앞다리살(=전지)
ap-da-ri-sal(=jeonji)
Picnic/ Arm shoulder/ Arm picnic

At last, hind leg part is often used in stewed foods, such as "jangjorim", like beef rump.

뒷다리살(=후지)
dwi-dda-ri-sal(=huji)
Ham, leg