ZA Food Diaries

Taekongjjim (Steamed pork belly with bean sprouts) by zafooddiaries09

Lee Dong Sun

This dish is something I like to cook for my family, especially for my father because he likes spicy food. The preparation is more work than the actual cooking so get some help from the family – like I did!

This is my four year old niece, Yu-Jin. She is cute and she likes helping me to cook. Here we are preparing the bean sprouts by cutting the ends off.

The bean sprouts should look like this when you are done. Bean sprouts are good for detoxing so Korean people often eat them when they are hung over.

The next step is the sauce – the most important part. Mix red pepper paste, red pepper, soy sauce, sugar, crushed ginger and garlic and black pepper. The garlic and ginger deodorizes the smell of the pork belly.

Chop garlic, green and red chilli pepper and spring onion. Koreans like spicy food so these ingredients almost always feature in Korean food.

Cut the pork belly into large chunks. Pork is much cheaper than beef so Korean people eat it often. 600grams of meat is enough for four or five people.

Now you have to layer the ingredients into a big pan. Start with the bean sprouts, then the meat, onions and the sauce goes on top. You don’t need any oil so thisdish is also healthy.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook on medium heat for 8 minutes.

Add the garlic, peppers, spring onion and sesame leaf. Usually we wrap the meat in the sesame leaf but this time it must be cooked together with all the other ingredients.

Mix all the ingredients together while cooking for another 5 minutes on medium heat. Serve with rice and some Korean side dishes like kimchi.

Mani deusaeyeo!

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