Korean Grilled Pork Neck (Salt-Seasoned Fatty Neck Cut BBQ)
Quick answer
Dwaeji-moksal-gui is Korean salt-grilled pork neck sliced one centimeter thick and seasoned with nothing more than coarse salt and black pepper before being laid on a blazing grill.
What makes this special
- Dwaeji Moksal Gui is a salt-seasoned pork neck BBQ with rich intramuscular fat.
- 70:30 fat-to-lean ratio renders rich natural juices
- Salt and pepper only; each side seared under 2 minutes
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Spread 450 g pork neck in 1 cm slices and pat both sides very dry with paper towels.
- 2 Leave the seasoned pork in a single layer at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- 3 Heat the pan over high heat for at least 2 minutes, stopping just before it begins to smoke heavily.
Dwaeji-moksal-gui is Korean salt-grilled pork neck sliced one centimeter thick and seasoned with nothing more than coarse salt and black pepper before being laid on a blazing grill. The neck cut is laced with fine intramuscular fat that renders quickly over high heat, basting the meat from within and producing a rich, clean pork flavor that needs no marinade to taste complete. Cuts with roughly a seven-to-three fat-to-lean ratio give the best results, where fat and juice remain in balance through the cooking. Each side must sear for under two minutes over maximum heat to build a dark, caramelized crust while the center stays moist. Flipping repeatedly drops the surface temperature and produces a gray, steamed result rather than the charred exterior that defines the dish. The standard way to eat moksal-gui is in a ssam: a leaf of lettuce loaded with a roasted garlic clove, a smear of ssamjang, and a slice of the grilled meat, folded and eaten in a single bite.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Season
Spread 450 g pork neck in 1 cm slices and pat both sides very dry with paper towels.
Season evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and 0.5 teaspoon black pepper so the surface can sear instead of steaming.
- 2Control
Leave the seasoned pork in a single layer at room temperature for 10 minutes.
This brief tempering reduces the chill, helping the center cook before the outside overbrowns or tightens too quickly.
- 3Control
Heat the pan over high heat for at least 2 minutes, stopping just before it begins to smoke heavily.
The pork should make a loud sizzle the moment it touches the surface.
- 4Control
Lay the pork in one layer and sear over high heat for 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Do not move it until the edges brown and beads of juice appear on top.
- 5Heat
Flip the pork only once and sear the second side for another 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Add 25 g garlic at the pan edge and cook until the cut sides turn golden.
- 6Finish
Turn off the heat and drizzle 1 tablespoon sesame oil lightly over the pork for aroma.
Cut the meat into bite-size pieces, then serve with 80 g lettuce and the roasted garlic while hot.
After the steps
Pick a recipe that fits this dish.
Continue with shared ingredients, meal pairings, or a similar method.
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Maekjeok-gui is a traditional Korean grilled pork dish that is traced back to the Goguryeo period, prepared by marinating thick-cut pork neck in a paste of doenjang, soy sauce, rice syrup, minced garlic, ginger powder, sesame oil, and black pepper before grilling. Unlike most contemporary Korean marinades, which center on gochujang or sugar, maekjeok uses doenjang as its primary seasoning, which means the dominant flavor is a deep, fermented umami rather than sweetness or heat. The soybean paste bonds with the abundant intramuscular fat in pork neck during grilling, producing an intense savory quality that develops layer by layer over the heat, while the viscous rice syrup reduces into a shiny lacquer-like glaze on the surface. Shallow scoring on both faces of each thick pork slice allows the marinade to penetrate beyond the surface and reach the interior, and at least thirty minutes of marinating time is recommended for this effect. Doenjang scorches significantly faster than sugar, so the correct technique is to sear both sides first and then apply any final glaze only after reducing the heat or briefly pulling the meat from direct flame, which preserves the gloss without introducing bitterness. After removing from the grill, letting the meat rest for two minutes under a scattering of sliced green onion allows the juices to redistribute, so the pork stays moist and does not run when cut.
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