Korean barbecue is one of my favorite, and it refers to the popular method in Korean cuisine of grilling meat, typically beef, pork, or chicken. Such dishes are often prepared on gas or charcoal grills built into the dining table itself. Some Korean restaurants that do not have built-in grills provide customers with portable stoves for dinners to use at their tables. Alternatively, a chef uses a centrally displayed grill to prepare dishes to order.
The most representative form of gogi-gu-i is bulgogi, usually made from thinly sliced marinated beef sirloin or tenderloin. Another popular form is galbi, made from marinated beef short ribs. However, gogi-gu-i also includes many other kinds of marinated and unmarinated meat dishes, and can be divided into several categories. Korean barbeque is popular in its home country, but has also gained popularity worldwide.
Bulgogi is the most popular variety of Korean barbecue. Before cooking, the meat is marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and pepper. It is traditionally cooked using gridirons or perforated dome griddles that sit on braziers, but pan cooking has become common as well.
Galbi is made with beef short ribs, marinated in a sauce that may contain soy sauce, water, garlic, sugar and sliced onions. It is believed to taste best when grilled with charcoal or soot (burned wood chips).
Chadolbegi is a dish made from thinly sliced beef brisket, which is not marinated. It is so thin that it cooks nearly instantly as soon as it is dropped onto a heated pan.
Samgyeopsal is made of thicker strips of unsalted pork belly. It has fatty areas and is tender. In Korea, samgyeopsal is eaten more frequently than chadolbegi due to the comparatively lower price of pork. It is traditionally eaten with soju (a traditional alcohol).
Loins and boneless ribs are also a popular choice as an unmarinated type of gogigui.
Gogi-gui comes with various banchan (side dishes). A green onion salad called pajeori and a fresh vegetable dish including lettuce, cucumbers, and peppers invariably accompany the meat dishes at restaurants. A popular way of eating Korean barbecue is to wrap the meat with lettuce and add condiments such as pajoeri (spicy scallion salad) and ssamjang (a spicy paste made of doenjang mixed with gochujang).
