When you go to Korean Butcher near you, it is daunting. You are not sure which meat to order, so here is the list of Korean BBQ meat cuts you have to buy.
Also, if you are not lucky enough to live near Korean butcher, you can check out my blog post on what to buy at supermarket for Korean BBQ.
Beef
Chadol Baegi (차돌박이, thin sliced brisket)
Thin sliced brisket is the hardest to find in American / English butchers. It is a lot of work for the butcher, so they will never cut it for you.
So if you go to a Korean butcher, thin sliced brisket is a must. It is called Chadol Baegi (차돌박이).
Briskets in America is slow cooked as a whole, but in Korea it is cut into three different parts – upper part ; soup, middle part ; Korean BBQ, lower part; braised.
Personally among all the Korean BBQ meat cuts, this is the tastiest. Normally, it would be the toughest part, but because it is so thinly sliced, the chewiness just doesn’t exist. Normally it has to be frozen before cutting so thinly (unless it is almost impossible).
Shrimp Meat (새우살, Rib Eye Cap)
Shrimp meat is outer muscle of the beef ribeye roll. But it is not an easy beef cut you can find.
Butchers won’t usually just sell just the rib eye cap because without rib eye cap, beef ribeye roll won’t taste nice.
It is the softest and juiciest part of whole cow, and one of my favourite part when I buy Korean BBQ meat cuts.
It is called shrimp meat because when you cut it, it looks like a shrimp (picture below).
Galbi (갈비, Short Rib Cut)
Most common and most popular meat to do Korean BBQ. It costs a fortune to eat galbi at a restaurant, so I recommend buying few of these.
There are two types of boneless rib cuts – one is la galbi cut and the second is short rib butterflied.
Cut of beef for bulgogi
One of the most well known beef dish in America is probably bulgogi.
It is not only very easy to make but also best to do Korean BBQ. Here is my favourite recipe that I follow.
There can be many cut of beef for bulgogi but the most popular part is eye of round (홍두깨살) or sliced rump steak (우둔살).
If you have more money you can also use ribeye.
Deungshim (등심, Loin)
Deungshim is the most common meat you can get at butchers. It is thicker and bigger than most beef cut for Korean BBQ.
it can be chewier than tenderloin (안심) but it has better marbling and meaty. So it is much popular than tenderloin.
You can also get Cote Deungshim (꽃등심) which is basically ribeye. it is call cote (flower in English) because the marbling looks like a flower.
It is much more expensive than Deungshim (등심), but it sure is tastier.
If you have the money upgrade your meat cut from Deungshim to Cote Deungshim.
Anchangsal (안창살, Outside Skirt Steak) + Salchi Sal (살치살, Chuck Flap Tail Japanese Cut, under blade roast) + Toshi Sal (토시살, butcher’s cut / hanger steak, onglet)
These are specialised beef cuts. It is a slightly tougher than other beef cuts. But it is also known to be best beef cut for Korean BBQ.
Like small steak houses, Brooklyn’s St. Anselm, has these cuts on the menu. Butchers say that these cuts are the best
Because it is tougher than other beef cut, it is cut into smaller pieces. Because it is tough to chew needs to be high heat cook really fast (usually 석화에 구워 먹음)
Pork
Hangjung sal (항정살, Pork Jowl)
Hangjung sal is sliced pork jowl. It might sound weird but if you BBQ it, it taste amazing.
Slightly weirdly crunchy but also juicy.
If you want to expand your palette, I definitely recommend hangjung sal.
Samgyeopsal (삼겹살, Pork Belly)
I don’t think I even have to mention this cause of popularity among Koreans and internationally.
There are so many different ways to eat pork belly. My favourite is to have frozen thinly pork belly but there are also thick cuts, five layer cuts, gochujang samgyeopsal marinade and more.
Moksal (목살, Pork Collar)
Pork Collar Korean BBQ is popular among people who don’t like oily pork belly.
Also, it doesn’t have that aggressive pork smell, so it is quite popular among who doesn’t like pork.
Some people call it the galbi of pork, so you know how good it would be.
The list is quite extensive. But if you think there can be all the way up to 120 beef cuts at Korean butcher, it isn’t a lot. You can check my 20 second video about explaining it here. Hope it helps.
If there are any other cuts, please comment below. I am more than happy to answer!