Someone at Bucheon Jayu Market once handed me a paper plate of something red, glossy, and screaming hot, calling it "half sea, half land." That was osam bulgogi — squid and pork belly fried together in gochujang until the edges catch a little char. I didn't really get the name until I stood in the wind at Daegwallyeong years later, watching a restaurant owner in Hoenggye toss the same dish onto a foil-lined griddle with a hiss loud enough to hear down the block.
Table of Contents
- What Exactly Is Osam Bulgogi?
- Where This Dish Actually Came From
- Insider's Insight: Why It Took Off
- The Real Recipe (2 Servings)
- Honestly? Squid Got Expensive Fast
- Where to Eat the Real Thing
- FAQ
- Explore More
What Exactly Is Osam Bulgogi?
The name mashes together 오징어 (squid) and 삼겹살 (pork belly). Unlike standard bulgogi, which usually means thin beef in a sweet soy marinade, this version runs on a gochujang base and mixes two very different proteins in one pan. It's chewy, fatty, spicy enough to make your nose run — and somehow it works.
Where This Dish Actually Came From
No single founder claims this one. The most repeated origin traces to Gangwon-do, near Gangneung's squid trade, where cooks stretched pricier pork belly with cheap, plentiful squid — a thrift trick that became a regional favorite. The version people actually travel for comes from Hoenggye, in Pyeongchang's Daegwallyeong-myeon, where locals say they've sold it for roughly 40 to 50 years. When PyeongChang hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics, the town organized its cluster of restaurants into the now-signposted Hoenggye Osam Bulgogi Street.
Insider's Insight: Why It Took Off
The cold explains a lot. Daegwallyeong's winters are brutal, and there's a local belief that spice fights cold — the same logic behind the area's other specialty, dried pollock stew. Cheap highland vegetables, coastal squid, and local pork belly meant the dish was built from whatever was already on hand.
Honestly, my first attempt at home ruined the squid completely — tender to rubbery in about ninety seconds, because I left it in the pan too long after adding the sauce. That's the one mistake nearly every home cook makes on the first try.
The Real Recipe (2 Servings)
Main: pork belly (300g), one whole squid, one onion, one green onion, a handful of cabbage, one to two cheongyang chilies, one tablespoon minced garlic
Sauce: gochujang (2 tbsp), gochugaru (1.5 tbsp), soy sauce (2 tbsp), sugar (1 tbsp), oligo syrup (1 tbsp), mirin (2 tbsp), sesame oil (1 tbsp), pinch of pepper
- Clean the squid and score the body in a shallow crosshatch before slicing into strips, so the sauce soaks in and the squid curls instead of going flat.
- Slice pork belly a bit thicker than usual samgyeopsal, about 0.5cm, so it holds up once it shrinks.
- Mix the sauce and set aside.
- Sear the pork belly first over high heat until golden at the edges.
- Add onion, cabbage, and chili, stir for a minute, then add the sauce.
- Add squid last and toss no more than 60–90 seconds — it firms up almost instantly once heat hits the sauce.
- Finish with green onion and sesame oil; serve with lettuce or perilla leaves for wrapping.
Honestly? Squid Got Expensive Fast
This would've sounded absurd a decade ago. Korea's coastal squid catch fell roughly 42% in a single year, and nationwide seafood catch overall hit its lowest level since 1971. Frozen squid prices climbed from about 15,260 won per kilogram in 2021 to over 20,100 won last year, up nearly 32%, and a single fresh squid in Seoul now often crosses 11,000 won. People half-jokingly call it "geum-jing-eo" — gold squid.
Unlike most price spikes, this traces to warming water, not demand. The East Sea's surface temperature has risen 2.03°C over 57 years, more than 2.7 times the global ocean average over the same stretch, with 2024 marking the warmest reading since monitoring began. The squid that used to swarm off Gangwon's coast have largely moved on — a strange twist for a dish invented because squid used to be the cheap ingredient.
Where to Eat the Real Thing
Hoenggye Osam Bulgogi Street in Pyeongchang's Daegwallyeong-myeon is the obvious pilgrimage. Each restaurant claims its own "original" recipe, and honestly, most have earned it — sauce ratios and grilling style vary just enough to make trying two or three places in one trip worthwhile. Doam-sikdang is one of the better-known names for the dish specifically, while Busan Sigyuk-sikdang, open since 1966, is worth a stop nearby for charcoal-grilled pork and beef. Most spots also sell the area's dried pollock dishes alongside osam bulgogi.
FAQ
Is osam bulgogi very spicy? Moderately — sugar and syrup balance the gochujang base, making it milder than dishes built purely on gochugaru.
How long has it been sold in Hoenggye? Roughly 40 to 50 years, well before the area was branded as a food street.
Can I skip pork belly? Pork shoulder works, though belly's fat keeps the dish from drying out during the fast stir-fry.
Why did squid prices rise so much? Korea's coastal catch dropped about 42% in a year from warming seas, pushing prices up over 30% since 2021.
Is it good for meal prep? Not really — squid toughens fast once reheated, so cook it fresh.
How is it different from jjukkumi-samgyeopsal? That version swaps in baby octopus and reads as a slightly more upscale cousin.
So — would you go for the squid, the pork belly, or insist on both in the same bite?
Explore More
- Gangneung Travel Guide: Coffee Streets and the BTS Bus Stop
- The Science Behind Korea's Spicy Food Obsession
- Korean Drinking Culture Guide: Soju, Makgeolli, and Anju
- Korean Banchan: The History Behind Free Refills
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