Stir-fried pork belly with bean sprouts from Korean Drama Itaewon Class. It’s quick, easy and delicious!
In my first Korean drama series postwe took a look at the dishes featured in the award-winning series, Itaewon Class. This samgyupsal sukju bokkeum (stir fried pork belly with bean sprouts) appears in one of the pivotal moments of the drama.
In Episode 7, Saeroyi’s rival makes an unexpected visit to Danbam and asks for the restaurant’s best stew and best stir fried dish. Sundubu jjigae is presented along with samgyupsal sukju bokkeum.
The drama’s Danbam is a type of restaurant that’s known as “pocha” in Korea. The word “pocha” is a portmanteau of pojang macha which refers to street carts and tents selling food and alcohol drinks. Over the last decade or so, pojang macha inspired indoor eateries emerged and became popular, serving alcohol drinks and anju (food enjoyed with alcohol).
Koreans enjoy a wide variety of food with their drinks, including savory pancakes, grilled meat, stews, and stir-fries. This stir-fried pork belly with bean sprouts is popular as anju.
Why you should make this
The highlights of this dish are the extra thin cut of pork belly and bean sprouts. Both cook up very quickly, so you can seriously whip this up in less than 20 minutes! The thin, tender slices of pork belly pair deliciously with crunchy bean sprouts in a simple, light sauce!
The meat
While you can use any thinly sliced meat, daepae samgyupsal (대패 삼겹살), shaved pork belly, is typical for this dish. Daepae means a hand plane. It’s also great with shaved chadolbagi (차돌박이), beef brisket. You can find a variety of extra thin meats in your local Korean/Asian markets.
If you want to thinly slice the meat yourself, freeze the meat until it’s firm, but still sliceable. With a sharp knife, slice the meat as thin as you can.
The bean spouts
This recipe uses lots of bean sprouts that you can easily find in your local grocery store. They are mung bean sprouts (sukju namul, bean sprouts in Korean). The bean sprouts play an important supporting role in this dish. Keep the sprouts crunchy for the final dish.
You can add some strips of carrot, red chili or bell pepper for a pop of color if you like.
How to stir-fry the pork and bean sprouts
To keep the meat nice and tender and the bean sprouts crunchy, cook everything quickly over high heat. First, cook the meat until it’s no longer pink, and then add the bean sprouts and other vegetables. When the bean sprouts are slightly wilted but still crunchy, stir in the seasoning ingredients and toss everything well to finish up before turning the heat off.
You can simply use soy sauce to season the dish, but oyster sauce is also nice. For the amounts of the meat and bean sprouts in this recipe, you’ll need about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce or oyster sauce. You can also use a tablespoon each.
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Notes
If you want to thinly slice the meat yourself, freeze the meat until it’s firm, but still sliceable. With a sharp knife, slice the meat as thin as you can.
