Jokbal is the most hardcore Korean dish, and it’s damn delicious (2024)

It’s no secret that pork belly is one of the more celebrated cuts in Korean cuisine. Between dishes like samgyeopsal (slabs of uncured bacon that are a staple of Korean BBQ) and dwaeji bossam (boiled pork belly cabbage wraps), the specific cut of pork accounts for 59% of the approximately 100 grams of meat that people consume daily in South Korea. Though samgyeopsal and dwaeji bossam have established comfortable spots in the Angeleno’s dining repertoire in recent years, another dish of porcine goodness hasn’t quite made the translation Stateside: jokbal.

To uncover what jokbal is, and why it’s so popular in Korea, takes a bit of unpacking some of its conflations, paradoxes, and associated apocrypha. Jokbal is a dish of pig trotters that’s been boiled in a mixture of spices and seasonings, usually soy sauce, ginger, garlic and rice wine. The trotters are boiled, chilled, then broken down and sliced into slivers and served alongside a variety of ssam (vegetables intended for wrapping, usually lettuce, napa cabbage, and/or perilla leaves), saeujeot (a salty, briny sauce made from baby shrimp) kimchi, raw garlic slices and korean peppers. The dish strongly resembles dwaeji bossam in presentation.

As for why the dish isn’t nearly as popular as its pork belly-featuring cousin? It might have to do with jokbal’s texture, which ranges from gristly and muscular to gelatinous and fatty, depending on which leg (or portion of the leg) the restaurant uses. Though most internet sources tend to translate jokbal as being trotters, many restaurant preparations incorporate the hocks. So despite the dish’s name literally translating to “pig’s feet,” the meat one eats in a dish of jokbal is not actually so much the feet themselves as it is the meat surrounding the hocks. That misnomer is sometimes why uninitiated diners can be confused, or even avoid, the dish.

Wonho Frank Lee

As for the texture and taste of the meat, it’s important to distinguish the front and hind legs. For those who understand Korean, YouTube user (and AfreecaTV live streamer) Cooking Dragon does a wonderful job explaining the difference. To translate, the gentleman (who himself serves jokbal in his restaurant) cites a bit of old Korean logic where elder folks would say there’s more activity in the front legs and therefore a better taste — something that’s probably at least somewhat rooted in facts. Owing at least partially to functionally increased activity in the front legs, the meat in the front legs has a more familiar muscular structure. When prepared correctly, layers of fat and skin containing porcine collagen drape the muscular, tenderloin-like meat.

In Korean, the skin area on jokbal is referred to as, literally, the Korean cognate for “collagen.” This helps uncover one of the major reasons for jokbal’s massive popularity in Korea: The belief that porcine collagen is good for one’s skin and — more tenuously — that it reduces the effects of aging. In a country where facial skin care makes up half of the market share in a $13.1 billion beauty market, people will capitalize on any perceived benefit or advantage, all the way down to the food they eat.

Of course, there’s always some paradoxical irony to go along with any tenuous claim of miraculous anti-aging, and jokbal at least has a pretty good one: It’s considered fantastic as anju, or a dish to eat while drinking. Drinking alcohol is definitely not great for one’s skin. Does jokbal contradict itself? Sure, but jokbal is large. It contains multitudes. So here’s a rundown of some restaurants in Los Angeles and Orange County to get this quintessential Korean dish.

Wonho Frank Lee

Jang Choong Dong Wong Jokbal

Jang Choong-Dong is a neighborhood in Seoul’s Gangbuk (north of Han River) region with a famous alley of jokbal restaurants. Like gamjatang (pork-neck and potato stew) alley in Incheon, kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) alley in Myeong-Dong and dwaeji bossam alley in Donui-Dong, Jang Choong-Dong’s jokbal alley typifies the fierce competitiveness between restaurants all vying for hungry foot traffic in a single category. To call one’s restaurant literally “the king of jokbal in Jang Choong-Dong” is a healthy bit of s***-talking, and the surprisingly moist hind-leg meat that Jang Choong Dong Wong Jokbal offers thankfully lives up to its billing as one of the better renditions of the dish in LA.

425 S Western Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 386-3535

Euno Lee

So Moon Nan Wang Jok Bal

Helen Myeong-Ja Lee has been running this food court stand inside the Garden Grove H-Mart for more than 12 years and shows no signs of slowing down. The sweet group of halmunees (Korean for grandmother, or affectionate term for women of comparable age) work fastidiously in the back, preparing their jokbal the old fashioned way in an elixir that contains, among other ingredients, jujubes and ginger. For less than $30, the dish comes with both front-and-hind leg meat served chilled until the texture is more reminiscent of a terrine. It also comes with a fantastic ugeoji-tang, a beef-broth based spicy soup containing the leafy parts of napa cabbage and some glass noodles. As for why Lee chose to open a jokbal restaurant? “I just like jokbal, to be honest,” Lee says. “Oh, and of course, the ladies like that it’s good for the skin.”

8911 Garden Grove Blvd. Garden Grove, CA 92844. (714) 539-1010

Euno Lee

Jokbal 1030

Pronounced jok-bal il-gong-sam-gong, this sleek jokbal purveyor inside the 6th Street complex off Kenmore serves a more modern-style, warm helping of front-leg meat, which is a welcome entry-point for those not inclined to the more gelatinous texture of colder applications. Jokbal 1030 also puts out a nicely caramelized, evenly coated stir-fried maeun jokbal. Though the dish feels completely unrelated (it’s more reminiscent of a pork rib ganjung), it’s still jokbal meat that’s been briefly stir-fried in a sweet and spicy gochujang based sauce. For those looking to stay on-trend and off the diet, make sure to top it with the optional mozzarella cheese.

3465 W 6th St. Ste 65. Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 378-0033

Euno Lee

Jangmo Jip

This La Palma strip-mall seollungtang specialist puts out a proper refreshing beef broth as the base for most of its dishes (including a very satisfying dogani-tang, or ox knee cartilage soup), but the jokbal might be the star to watch. The cold, terrine-like texture of the thinly sliced jokbal hind-leg meat gives it a nice melting quality once it hits the tongue — and your mouth might have a little added heat from the fiery saeujeot. As traditional renditions go, it’s one of the best in both LA or Orange County.

4877 La Palma Ave. La Palma, CA 90623. (562) 402-72123

Euno Lee

Bul Bul E Jokbal

This relative newcomer (pronounced “boor-boor-EE” jokbal) is a specialist in the maeun jokbal format, and even its regular jokbal comes slightly heated and chopped (almost as if it’s being prepped for the spicy treatment and just removed halfway). The minuscule storefront might look empty but it does robust take-out business. Diners who stay in will quickly realize that the maeun jokbal combo at approximately $40 is one of the best deals on Korean food in town.

Though the meat portions might seem smaller than at most jokbal restaurants, an additional helping of meat (sold separately) might still be too much food for three, considering it comes with a full order of jaengban makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles with vegetables and spicy sauce), a bowl of rice with salmon roe and gim (dried laver), and all the usual suspects in terms of jokbal accoutrements.

379 N. Western Ave.. Los Angeles, CA 90004. (323) 380-5840

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