Pork Belly Bulgogi

One of the markets I visit had pork belly bulgogi in the meat case, and I bought it and then started looking for recipes. This one comes from Kiejo Sarsfield, a chef in the London area. The pork belly cooks up beautifully and it's was fun to eat wrapped in lettuce leaves. I find pork belly difficult to slice, so if you can find it sliced you are well advised to buy it!

• Ready In: 1 hr 35 mins
• Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 500  g  pork belly, thinly sliced, around 1/8 inch
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1  tablespoon  korean  chili paste (gochunjang)
• 1  tablespoon  korean  soybean paste (sunjang ssamjang)
• 1  green onion, chopped
• 1  teaspoon  minced garlic
• 2  tablespoons  sesame oil
•  ground black pepper, to taste
•  sugar, to taste
• 2  tablespoons rice wine or 2  tablespoons dry sherry

• Accompaniments

•  lettuce leaf
•  shiso leaf
•  sliced garlic

Directions

1. Mix together all of the ingredients except the pork, in a medium sized bowl. I use less soy sauce and a bit more of the wine instead.
2. Add the pork and mix thoroughly, coating all sides. I found this easiest to do with my hands,.
3. The original recipe did not specify, but I let it marinate for an hour at room temperature. If you want to let it marinate longer, refrigerate it.
4. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C).
5. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. I also lightly greased the foil.
6. Distribute the pork pieces on the baking pan (I found that half the recipe fit perfectly on my jelly roll pan).
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the meat is cooked and has started to brown.
8. Remove from the oven.
9. Finish off by browning for 3 to 5 minutes under the broiler or in a large skillet.
10. Note1: the recipe did not specify the amount of sugar and I added about a tsp of brown sugar to half the quantity of pork, as that is what I had at hand.
11. Note2: I served with leaf lettuce, although I think Boston lettuce leaves work better. I also served with a little sambal oelek on the side, as well as some Korean rice.