Simple oven-baked Korean spicy pork is made with just 4 seasoning ingredients but is absolutely delicious with a similar flavor profile as Korean Pork Bulgogi. And it’s freezer friendly and baked in the oven so it comes out perfect every time!
Simple Oven Baked Korean Spicy Pork is the only way I can name this dish as it has no traditional Korean name to it. Because a traditional Korean kitchen doesn’t have an oven and there are no ‘authentic’ Korean dishes that is cooked in the oven.
But after having lived in the US for so long and having gone through the pandemic of having to cook meals at home all the time. I have to be honest and say that I have really been wanting to develop Korean recipes that can be cooked in the oven because that just makes things a little bit simpler. Also, I know many people may prefer this oven recipe as the oven usually means more consistent results without having to hover over the stovetop all the time.
A few weeks ago, my nephew’s family came to visit and stayed with us for a week. They have two young kids who they are homeschooling and so my nephew’s wife Eunhyang was telling me how she always needs recipes that are very simple to cook and doesn’t require a lot of prep. So I asked her what are some of her favorite dishes to make and she told me that she has 2 awesome pork dishes that they make all the time and the kids love them.
So I told her that I would love to learn more about it and she offered to make them with me! And boy, yes, they were soo simple and easy to make but oh so delicious!! THANK YOU Eunhyang for sharing this dish with me!
Now, as it usually goes, when I asked her for the recipe for this Oven Baked Korean Spicy Pork, she told me that there’s actually no recipe. That she cooks very much by feel and said the only way she can share the recipe is by just showing me what she does and we could measure along the way. But because even the meat amount was by feel, it took me a couple of tries to actually make it into an accurate recipe.
Well, here it is folks, the one I share here tastes similar to pork bulgogi but with no ginger and also with less sweetness. Feel free to increase the sweetness or add ginger if you’d like, I think it will still be delicious. But I do hope you will try these very simple yet perfectly balanced flavors before you start adding a lot of other seasonings.
What I love about this oven-baked Korean spicy pork
Limited Seasoning Ingredients
This recipe only needs 4 ingredients besides pork – soy sauce, Korean red chili powder (gochukaru), garlic, green plum extract (maesil cheong). I know not everyone can get the green plum extract (btw, if you can buy it or make your own, I highly recommend it) so if you can’t, you can use my substitute recipe which is water, apple cider vinegar and sugar. Here’s my maesil cheong recipe if you want to make your own at home.
FREEZER FRIENDLY
Being able to freeze ahead of time in portions and then just cook it when you are ready to eat is a great way to save time and is a great comfort for busy people. You can freeze the marinated pork in portions then just defrost, season a bit more then bake in the oven.
Korean Spicy Pork works with DIFFERENT PORK CUTS
I used Samgyeopsal (삼겹살 pork belly) for this recipe but you can also make this using pork shoulder (앞다리살 apdarisal) or butt (목심살 mokshimsal). See my Know Your Pork Cut post for more info and a diagram.
When my nephew’s wife Eunhyang made it, she just bought a big pork shoulder piece from whole foods and sliced it at home. Just note, when buying cuts other than pork belly, make sure you get one that has some fat. If you are going to use a very lean cut of pork, I would recommend adding some sesame oil when baking so it doesn’t become too dry.
Key Ingredients
- Soy Sauce – I like to use Korean Jin Ganjang 진간장 but you can use Kikomman or Tamari for GF option. Read more about Korean soy sauce HERE.
- Korean Red Chili Powder (Gochukaru 고추가루) – Korean red chili powder is different so please use the Korean one if you can. You can choose to use a more spicy one called Cheongyang Gochukaru 청양고추가루 if you’d like.
- Green Plum Extract (매실청 Maesil Cheong Syrup) – this is one of my favorite sweetening syrups to use in Korean recipes, especially for marinades and dressings. If you can buy the fresh plums, use my RECIPE to make it at home. You will need to let it ferment for 3 months. If not, you can also buy them online. If you want to substitute, here’s my Green Plum Extract substitute – for 4 tsp extract, mix 1 Tbsp water + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (사과식초 Sahgwa Shikcho) + 1/2 tsp sugar.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a bowl, mix soy sauce and chili powder. Let it sit for a few min or longer while you cut the pork. You can also make this ahead and keep in fridge until ready to use.
- Slice pork belly or pork shoulder, against the grain in 1/4 to 1/3rd inch thickness.
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Coat the sliced pork slices with the chili powder soy sauce mix. The soy sauce mixture should be pretty thick and pasty – so you will need to spend a couple of minutes to evenly coat all the pork with the mix.
- At this point, you can STOP and store the marinated Korean spicy pork in the fridge for a day or so to cook later OR you can even FREEZE in portions wrapped in parchment paper. (this is a great trick I learned from Eunhyang and I love it! because it doesn’t stick all together in the freezer like it happens when wrapped in plastic). Then whenever you are ready to cook, just defrost the Korean spicy pork and continue the next steps right before putting in the oven. The reason for not adding the garlic and maesil before freezing is that sometimes the flavors of the garlic get muted or even a little bitter when frozen. Eunhyang says she found it best to add the garlic and maesil right before putting in the oven.
- When you are ready to cook, add chopped garlic and Maesil cheong (green plum extract) to the chili powder soy sauce coated pork. Mix and massage everything well by hand.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (or tin foil but parchment paper works well), spread all the pork pieces out in one layer. This is so they are cooked evenly.
- When oven is ready, put in the pork and cook at 375℉ for 10 min. After 10min, take out the pan and turn over each piece. With pork pieces turned over, put the pan back in the oven and increase oven temp to 400℉ and cook for another 10 min. Note, if you are using a smaller toaster oven, the meat may be done before the 10 min. So check after 5 min or so to see if it’s starting to burn at the edges – in which case you should take them out from the oven.
- Now, you are ready to EAT!
Then whenever you are ready to cook, just defrost the Korean spicy pork and continue the next steps right before putting in the oven. The reason for not adding the garlic and maesil before freezing is that sometimes the flavors of the garlic get muted or even a little bitter when frozen. Eunhyang says she found it best to add the garlic and maesil right before putting in the oven. 
Here’s a close-up of how it comes out when it’s all baked and done. Isn’t it just simply gorgeous?
And how I love to enjoy this oven-baked Korean spicy pork is with some green onion salad – Pa Muchim – like so!
FROM JINJOO!
Chef’s Tips for Oven Baked Korean Spicy Pork
- FREEZE for later – After step 5, divide the meat into portions (I do 1 lb each) and wrap the meat in parchment paper and then put them in a plastic bag to freeze. You can defrost later and go on to next step. See video to see how I do it.
- Optional Veggies – bake some sliced onions or bell peppers with your pork
- Adjust the amount of Maesil – use 4 to 5 tsp maesil cheong for 1 lb of pork. It’s not going to taste sweet but just have a hint of sweetness at this level.
- No oven? If you don’t have an oven, you can easily just pan fry the pork.
Serving Suggestions
- Make a quick Korean style Green Onion Salad (Pa Muchim) with some sliced green onions (soaked in water), lettuce mix, and purple onion slices. I usually toss it with a swirl of Maesil Cheong, few sprinklings of rice vinegar, salt, pepper and gochukaru. Soo delicious with the pork!
- And of course, serve with RICE!
Here’s my fully narrated Youtube Video on How I make this very simple Korean Spicy Pork in the Oven!
Oven Baked Korean Spicy Pork
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork belly or pork shoulder, butt if using shoulder/butt, choose a fatty cut
seasoning
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce Jin Ganjang (Korean)
- 2 Tbsp Korean chili powder (Gochukaru)
- 4 tsp chopped garlic
- 4 tsp Maesil syrup (Maesil Cheong) aka green plum extract, green plum syrup
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix soy sauce and chili powder. Let it sit for few min or longer while you cut the pork. You can also make this ahead and keep in fridge until ready to use.
- Slice pork belly or pork shoulder, against the grain in 1/4 to 1/3rd inch thickness.
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Coat the sliced pork slices with the chili powder soy sauce mix. The soy sauce mixture should be pretty thick and pasty – so you will need to spend a couple of minutes to evenly coat all the pork with the mix.
- To the chili powder soy sauce coated pork, add chopped garlic and measil cheong (green plum extract). Mix and massage everything well by hand.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (or tin foil but parchment paper works well), spread all the pork pieces out in one layer. This is so they are cooked evenly.
- When oven is ready, put in the pork and cook at 375℉ for 10 min. After 10min, take out the pan and turn over each of the pieces. Put the pan back in the oven and increase oven temp to 400℉ and cook for another 10 min. Note, if you are using a smaller toaster oven, the meat may be done before the 10 min. So check after 5 min or so to see if it’s starting to burn at the edges – in which case you should take them out from the oven.
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan
- 1 parchment paper or tin foil
So simple and so delicious! I loved it! I will have to make a larger batch next time so I have leftovers.
It’s hard to believe something this simple could be so good, right?? Soo happy that you tried it and liked it. Thank you!!
Just a quick question can I use Korean red chilli paste instead of powder?
Yes you can but the meat may burn a little more easily in the oven when you add gochujang. And the flavor will be a bit more heavy but should still be good. Good luck!Also, you should reduce the amount of soy sauce since gochujang is a bit salty while gochugaru is not. Good luck!
Easy and delish. I make it in small portion in my toaster over. It is just perfect. Growing our own pork and lettuce makes this recipe special.
Yes, small portion works too. And I’m sure growing your own mea and lettuce will make it even better! Thanks for the comment.
Sorry to ask but if you have a sensitive stomach from spicy sauce can i use something else with the soy sauce instead?
Just omit the red chili powder and you can try adding some paprika instead. Hope that helps! Enjoy!
Question regarding the pork belly. The pork belly that I was able to find in my area has the skin on it. Should I remove it? Thank you. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
No need to remove the skin unless you want to. If you see my recipe, I have pictures where I cooked with skin on it. Enjoy!