Know your Pork Cut!!

Know your Korean pork cut!! Pork is probably the most popular meat in Korea. Partly because it’s much more affordable than beef but also because the fatty flavor of pork really goes well with many Korean seasonings and condiments, especially Kimchi. Adding pork to Kimchi Jjigae really transforms it into a very hearty, flavorful stew.

When compared to beef, Pork cuts are simpler – 22 pork cuts vs 100+ beef cuts! 

BTW, if you are interested in learning more about Korean 100+ beef cuts vs US beef cuts, check out my Know your Beef Cut! post.

Back to pork..so as far as the primal cuts go, there is almost a one-to-one correlation between Korean pork cuts and US pork cuts. But again, Korean pork cuts are further divided into more detailed smaller cuts.

First, here’s the US pork cut diagram from www.clovergarden.com:

And below is a diagram that shows all the different Korean Pork cuts within each US primal pork cut. Believe it or not, I drew this by hand!!! I just could not find one that properly showed all the different cuts in the right location so after searching the internet for many hours, I decided I would spend even more hours to draw the Korean pork diagram myself…why I do these things, I don’t know.. 🙂

Now, let’s go over each of the 22 Korean cuts of pork along with applicable US cuts.

Primal Cut	Korean	US
Tenderloin (Ahnshim 안심)	1. Ahnshim sal(안심살)	Tenderloin
Loin (Deungshim 등심)	2. Deungshim sal(등심살)	Boneless loin
	3. Al deungshim sal (알등심살)	Boneless loin (center loin, closer to spine)
	4. Deungshim dut sal or Gabrit saal(등심덧살, 가브릿살)	Blade end loin (front top loin)
Butt/Boston Butt (Mokshim목심)	5. Mokshim sal (목심살)	Butt
Picnic, Shoulder (Apdari 앞다리)	6. Apdari sal (앞다리살)	Boneless picnic (shoulder)
	7. Apsahtae saal (앞사태살)	Boneless picnic (more leg than shoulder)
	8. Hangjeong sal (항정살)	Jowl/Neck (part picnic, part butt)
Leg, ham (Dwitdari뒷다리)	9. Bolggi sal (볼기살)	Butt end of ham
	10. Sulkit sal (설깃살)	Center part of ham (middle)
	11.Dogani sal(도가니살)	Center part of ham (near loin, belly)
	12. Hongdukkae sal(홍두깨살)	Center part of ham (near tail end)
	13. Boseop sal (보섭살)	Rump
	14. Dwitsahtae sal(뒷사태살)	Shank end of ham
Belly (Samgyeop sal 삼겹살)	15. Samgyeop sal(삼겹살)	Belly meat from rib #5,6 to end of side, ending before hind leg
	16. Galmaeggi sal(갈매기살)	Diaphragm
	17. Deung kalbi sal(등갈비살)	Baby back ribs (from rib #5 to end)
	18. Tosi sal(토시살)	End part of flap meat, near butt end
	19.  Ohdolsamgyeop sal(오돌삼겹살)	Rib tips (from rib #5 to end)
Ribs (Kalbi 갈비)	20. Kalbi (갈비)	Front ribs (#1-#5)
	21. Kalbi sal (갈비살)	Boneless rib meat (#1-#5)
	22. Maguri (마구리)	Rib tips (#1-#5)
Cheek (Bolsal 볼살)	23. Bolsal (볼살)	Cheek

Note that the cuts are not always an exact match.

• 24. Jok bal(족발) usually includes bottom part of the hock but not all. The upper part of the hock is also included in Sahtae(사태).

Here are some additional tid bits that’s worth mentioning:

• 16. Galmaeggi sal(갈매기살) – This is the diaphragm of the pig. Koreans consider this cut a delicacy and restaurants advertise this cut as their featured menu. Because this is the diaphragm, it can get exposed to the pig’s innards and can be contaminated. Careful cleaning and preparation is important when eating this cut.
• 18. Tosi sal(토시살) – This cut is separated from Galmaeggi sal and is so small (only about 3 oz per pig) that it’s often sold as part of Galmaeggi sal. Some people love the taste of Tosi sal because of it has more intense flavor and chewy texture than Galmaeggi sal.

Finally, here is a list of which cuts work best for each cooking method:

Soups(국 Guk or 탕 Tang)

• shoulder, picnic(apdari sal, apsahtae sal)
• center cut of ham(seolkit sal, dogani sal)
• rib tips(maguri)

Stew/Hotpot (찌게 Jjigae/전골 Jeongol)

• center cut of ham(dogani sal)
• butt(mokshim sal)

Grilling (구이 Gui)

Koreans are masters at grilling all kinds of tough, chewy meat by slicing them thinly against the grain.

• basically all cuts except the Loin area are popular for grilling. Most popular are slices from the Belly(samgyeop sal) and Tenderloin(ahnshim sal).

marinated bulgogi recommended:

• loin(deungshim sal)
• butt(mokshim sal)
• butt end of ham(bolggi sal)
• rump(boseop sal)
• leg of ham(dwitsahtae sal)

Braised (Jjim 찜, Jorim 조림)

• tenderloin(ahnshim sal)
• picnic(apdari sal)
• rump, leg, butt end of ham(boseop sal, dwitsahtae sal, bolggi sal)
• baby back ribs(deungkalbi sal)

Boiled Meat (Suyuk 수육, Pyeonyuk 편육)

• butt(mokshim sal)
• leg of ham(dwitsahtae sal)
• belly(samgyeop sal)
• rib tips(ohdolsamgyeop sal)

Sweet and Sour pork (Tangsuyuk 탕수육)

• tenderloin(ahnshim sal)
• loin(deungshim)
• center cut of ham(seolkit sal, dogani sal)

** Special appreciation to Mr.Grygus at www.clovegarden.com for granting me permission to use his chart and cut information. His site has some great information about the various cuts.

** AmazingRibs.com also was a great resource for understanding how exactly the ribs and belly parts were cut.

Hope this was helpful!!! Hope you will get to enjoy some great samgyeop sal BBQ very soon!