Easily one of the most-loved dishes in Korea, thin slices of pork belly grilled at the centre of the table, dipped in seasoned sesame oil and then wrapped up in little lettuce leaf parcels with onion and garlic. Such a simple dish, but a fantastic way to get everyone involved at a barbecue, or if indoors, a portable gas ring can be used or a good grill pan.

Samgyeopsal literally means three layers of flesh, and Koreans treasure the fatty layers, as when cooked it adds flavour and provides a melt-in-the-mouth texture, not to mention a good source of gelatin which they believe is good for the skin.

If you are vegetarian, you can use large slices of mushroom. The ssamjang sauce is like the coming together of Korea’s two most famous stars of the sauce world: gochujang, Korean chilli paste, and doen-jang, Korea’s version of Japanese miso paste. The result is ridiculously good.

In a small bowl, combine the sesame seed oil, salt and pepper and set aside. In another bowl, mix together all of the ssamjang sauce ingredients and keep to one side.

Heat a heavy grill pan over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the pork belly, onion and garlic in batches. Grill the pork for about 6 minutes, turning once and the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes on each side. Use a pair of scissors to cut up the pork into smaller bite-size pieces. If you have a portable stove, this can be done at the table, and is a really nice way of eating it with friends.

To eat, dip a piece of pork belly into the seasoned sesame seed oil, then place on a lettuce leaf with some rice, a slice of garlic, onion and a little of the ssamjang sauce. Wrap the lettuce up into a parcel and demolish.