Table-grilled pork belly (Samgyeopsal-gui)

1. Cut the skinless pork belly into long slices about 1 cm thick, and season lightly with salt and pepper just before cooking.

2. Wash the lettuce and perilla leaves, shake dry and pile them onto a platter; thinly slice the garlic and cut the chillies into rings.

3. Pour the sesame oil into small dishes and season with salt and pepper – this is gireumjang, the simple dip for the meat.

4. Heat a tabletop grill or a heavy cast-iron pan until very hot and cook the pork slices without oil for 3-4 minutes per side, until golden and crisp.

5. At the edge of the pan, fry the garlic slices and the kimchi in the rendered fat; cut the finished meat into bite-sized pieces with scissors.

6. Everyone wraps their own: a lettuce leaf, a perilla leaf, a piece of dipped pork, fried garlic, kimchi and chilli – eaten in a single bite.

Tip: Samgyeopsal is the favourite of Korean evenings with friends – cooking together at the table is the whole point. If you have ssamjang (soybean paste dip), add a small spoonful to every wrap – that's the real deal. If you can't find perilla, basil with a few mint leaves makes a good stand-in.