Beyond Pork Belly: The Korean BBQ Cuts Worth Knowing About

Everyone has their first Korean BBQ experience. The sizzle, the smoke, the little plates arriving in waves. And inevitably, someone points at the menu and orders samgyeopsal and bulgogi, because those are the ones they know. No shame in that. They’re classics for a reason.

But once you’ve been to the same spot a few times, you start noticing what the table next to yours is ordering. Things you can’t immediately identify. Cuts that look different, smell different, and clearly have regulars who swear by them. Here’s a quick guide to five of those cuts: not must-tries, but worth a curious glance the next time you’re scanning the menu. Fair warning: the further down this list you go, the harder these get to find outside Korea, so availability will depend a lot on where you are and how well-stocked your local spot is.

The Familiar-ish

주물럭 (jumuteok) looks like bulgogi at first: thinly sliced beef, reddish marinade, the works. But jumuteok gets its name from the Korean verb meaning “to knead and massage,” which describes how the meat is worked by hand into a soy and sesame-based marinade. The result is beefier and a little less sweet than bulgogi, with a slightly more robust chew. If you like bulgogi but want something that feels a bit more grown-up, this is an easy next step.

갈매기살 (galmaegisaI) is where things get interesting. Despite the name (갈매기 means “seagull”), no birds are involved. The cut is actually pork skirt muscle, the diaphragm area, which is lean and dense with a pronounced, almost beefy flavor that surprises people expecting standard pork. It grills quickly and holds up well to wrapping in perilla leaf with a dab of doenjang paste. It’s quietly one of the more beloved cuts among regulars who find pork belly a bit too fatty.

The Ones That Make You Ask Questions

항정살 (hangjeongsal) is Iberico-level niche in Korea: pork jowl, the small muscle that runs along the neck. A single pig yields only a small amount, which is why it can run pricier than the standard cuts. The texture is the thing here: a satisfying bounce and marbling that makes each bite feel deliberate. It doesn’t need much. Salt, sesame oil, maybe a slice of raw garlic. If you’ve been to a spot that takes its meat seriously, this is probably on the menu.

Regulars don’t always order the famous cuts. Sometimes the best thing at a Korean BBQ restaurant is the one with the fewest English words in its description.

껍대기 (kkeopdaegi), or pork skin, is where the menu starts to divide people. The exterior gets blistered and crispy on the grill while the interior stays chewy, almost gelatinous. The contrast is either exactly what you want or completely not your thing, and there’s no predicting which camp you’ll fall into. It’s popular as a late-night order, often eaten alongside cold beer. Consider it an adventure, not a given.

The One That Comes With a Caveat

막창 (makchang) is pork large intestine, and yes, you should know that going in. It’s deeply savory, slightly funky in the best possible way, and has a chew that’s unlike anything else on a Korean BBQ menu. Grilled over charcoal, the edges get slightly crispy while the inside stays rich and yielding. In Daegu, it’s practically a civic institution, eaten with green onion salad and soju at late-night spots that have been doing exactly this for decades.

This is not the cut to order if you’re on the fence about offal. But if you’ve made it through beef tripe at a dim sum cart or eaten menudo without issue, makchang is a natural next step. Worth trying at least once, with people who can talk you through it.