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Pork collar, pork belly and mushrooms grilling together on a Korean barbecue gridiron at a tabletop grill

Korean BBQ at Home

A Korean BBQ at home guide for apartment kitchens — which grill actually works indoors, how to handle the smoke, and the order to cook everything in.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g / 1 lb samgyeopsal, thick-cut pork belly, about 1 cm / 0.4 in slices
  • 400 g / 14 oz bulgogi-cut beef, thin-sliced ribeye or sirloin, pre-marinated
  • 1 onion, thick-sliced
  • 200 g / 7 oz king oyster or shiitake mushrooms, halved
  • 2 cups sliced or whole-leaf kimchi, for grilling
  • 8–10 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled or peeled
  • Ssamjang, store-bought or homemade: 2 tbsp gochujang + 1 tbsp doenjang + 1 tsp sesame oil + 1 clove garlic, minced + 1/2 tsp sugar (substitute for doenjang: extra gochujang plus a pinch of miso — less funk, still savory)
  • 1 head lettuce (red leaf or butter lettuce) and a handful of perilla leaves, for wraps (substitute for perilla: an extra layer of lettuce, or fresh basil in a pinch — different flavor entirely, but it keeps the wrap-and-dip mechanic intact)
  • Sesame oil, salt and black pepper, mixed, as a dipping sauce
  • Steamed rice, to serve

Method
 

  1. Set up your grill (see equipment options below) and get ventilation running before you cook anything, not after the smoke starts.
  2. Preheat the grill or pan until a drop of water sizzles and evaporates within a second or two.
  3. Lay the pork belly down first, unseasoned, spaced so pieces aren't touching. Let it render undisturbed for 2 minutes before flipping.
  4. Once a pool of rendered fat has collected, push the pork to one side and add the garlic cloves, mushrooms and kimchi directly into that fat. Let them cook in it rather than on a dry section of the grill.
  5. Flip the pork every 2 to 3 minutes, using scissors to snip thick pieces in half once they're mostly cooked, so more surface area gets direct contact with the heat.
  6. Add the marinated beef last. Bulgogi-cut beef is thin and cooks in under 2 minutes per side — don't put it on until the pork is nearly done, or it will overcook waiting.
  7. Add the onion wedges alongside the beef; they only need a couple of minutes to soften and pick up char at the edges.
  8. Serve everything straight off the grill with lettuce and perilla leaves, ssamjang, the sesame oil dip, and rice, so people build their own wraps as they go.