Pork (dwaeji-gogi)

Pigs have been raised on the Korean Peninsula for at least two thousand years. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture points to the Chinese Sanguozhi (Records of the Three Kingdoms), whose account of the Eastern peoples records pig-keeping among the Buyeo, who named an official rank after the pig, and among the Yilou, who ate the meat, wore the hides and rubbed pork fat on their skin against the winter cold. The native Korean pig was small, black-haired and slow-growing, kept near the house and fed on grass, dishwater and farm scraps. Improved Western breeds arrived in the 20th century (Berkshire via Japan in 1905, Duroc in 1951, Landrace in 1962), and most commercial pork today comes from crosses of Landrace, Yorkshire and Duroc. The old black pig was later restored by the Rural Development Administration and registered as a native breed in 2008.

Korea's taste for particular cuts is surprisingly old. A 1931 edition of the cookbook Joseon yori jebeop already named belly, then called segyeopsal ("three-layer meat"), as the tastiest part of the pig, and a 1934 Dong-A Ilbo article ranked belly first and the neck second. Belly was long boiled, braised or sliced as pressed pyeonyuk; grilled belly restaurants seem to have appeared in the late 1970s, portable gas burners spread the habit in the 1980s, and by the late 1990s samgyeopsal with soju had become a national institution. Under the Korean standard, pork is divided into seven primary cuts (front leg apdari, neck moksim, ribs galbi, loin deungsim, tenderloin ansim, belly samgyeopsal and hind leg dwitdari). The Rural Development Administration suggests the leaner leg cuts for grilled dishes and minced fillings such as donggeurang-ttaeng, loin and tenderloin for jeon, and ribs for braises such as galbi-jjim.

On Jeju Island, where the native black pig is now protected as a natural monument, pork was the indispensable meat of weddings and funerals. Pigs were slaughtered and shared among neighbors and relatives, and the island developed its own dishes: dombe-gogi, boiled pork served on a wooden cutting board; gogi-guksu, noodles in pork broth; blood sausage; and momguk, a pork-broth soup thickened with mojaban seaweed. On the mainland, boiled pork appears as bossam wrapped in cabbage with kimchi, trotters become jokbal, and pork broth fills bowls of dwaeji-gukbap.

• Protein and B vitamins: The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture puts lean pork at about 20 percent protein and calls it a good source of B vitamins; the Korean Food Composition Table lists notable thiamin in both belly and neck.
• Cut matters: Raw belly in the Korean table carries almost 36 g of fat per 100 g, more than twice the fat of neck. The Rural Development Administration points to front and hind leg as low-fat, high-protein alternatives.
• Cook to a safe temperature: The FDA lists 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest for whole pork chops and roasts, and 160°F (71°C) for ground pork, as in minced fillings for jeon and dumplings.
• Watch the seasoning: Grilled pork is usually eaten with salty dips such as ssamjang and salted shrimp, and marinated dishes like jeyuk-bokkeum add soy and chili paste; the sodium comes mostly from these, not the meat.