Korean Meat Vocabulary: 30 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Meat Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 30 words in five groups. It belongs to Ingredients. The first three groups follow the animal: cow, pig and bird. The last two are the words for cuts and organs, and the nouns for how the meat is cooked. Most are native or Sino-Korean words, and only 베이컨 is a loanword.

The key to the whole list is 고기. Once you know that 고기 is meat and that the animal word sits in front of it, you can build the word for any meat: 양고기 (lamb) and 말고기 (horse meat) follow the same pattern.

Which Meat Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 고기, 소고기, 돼지고기, 닭고기 and 삼겹살 first. They give you the general word, the three main meats and the best-known grilled cut. A sentence such as 삼겹살 이 인분 주세요 (two servings of pork belly, please) uses the last of them with a serving counter.

• Words to say. 소고기, 돼지고기, 닭고기, 삼겹살, 갈비. Use these at a table or in a shop.
• Words to recognise. 등심, 안심, 목살, 곱창, 막창. You read these on menus and meat-counter labels.
• Words for how it is cooked. 구이, 수육, 찜, 튀김. They appear after the name of the dish.

A grilled-meat restaurant counts portions with 인분. The scene below shows a restaurant table with numbered objects that match the list.

Word · 24

1. 1

   고기

   Play

   gogi

   meat

2. 2

   소고기

   Play

   sogogi

   beef

3. 3

   쇠고기

   Play

   soegogi

   beef (older standard form)

4. 4

   한우

   Play

   hanu

   Korean native beef

5. 5

   등심

   Play

   deungsim

   sirloin; loin

6. 6

   안심

   Play

   ansim

   tenderloin

7. 7

   갈비

   Play

   galbi

   ribs

8. 8

   돼지고기

   Play

   dwaejigogi

   pork

9. 9

   삼겹살

   Play

   samgyeopsal

   pork belly

10. 10

    목살

    Play

    moksal

    pork neck

11. 11

    항정살

    Play

    hangjeongsal

    pork jowl

12. 12

    족발

    Play

    jokbal

    pig trotters

13. 13

    베이컨

    Play

    beikeon

    bacon

14. 14

    닭고기

    Play

    dakgogi

    chicken (meat)

15. 15

    닭

    Play

    dak

    chicken (bird)

16. 16

    닭가슴살

    Play

    dakgaseumsal

    chicken breast

17. 17

    닭다리

    Play

    dakdari

    chicken leg; drumstick

18. 18

    오리고기

    Play

    origogi

    duck meat

19. 19

    곱창

    Play

    gopchang

    small intestine

20. 20

    막창

    Play

    makchang

    abomasum (last stomach)

21. 21

    대창

    Play

    daechang

    large intestine

22. 22

    내장

    Play

    naejang

    internal organs

23. 23

    사골

    Play

    sagol

    leg bone (for broth)

24. 24

    살코기

    Play

    salkogi

    lean meat

Beef

Beef is the prestige meat in Korean cooking. The base noun is 고기 (meat), and the animal word goes in front of it: 소 (cow) gives 소고기 (beef). Every other meat word on this page follows the same pattern, so learn 고기 well. A shop sells beef by cut, and 등심 and 안심 are the two cuts you see most on a menu.

쇠고기 and 소고기 are both found. 쇠고기 is the older form of the word and 소고기 is the form most people write today. The word 한우 appears on shop signs and menus as a mark of the native Korean cattle breed. Labels beside it often show a quality grade such as 1++ or 1+; ask the butcher if you need the details. For grilled-beef dishes, see Korean BBQ vocabulary.

Example Sentences

Three frames carry most of the examples. The first is meat + 을/를 + cooking verb, as in 등심을 구워요 (I grill the sirloin). The second is meat + 은/는 + describing word, as in 안심은 부드러워요 (tenderloin is tender). The third is meat + 이 인분 + 주세요, as in 돼지고기 이 인분 주세요. Say each aloud after the audio and swap in another meat. Use 을 after a consonant (등심을) and 를 after a vowel (소고기를).

How Do You Say Pork in Korean?

Pork is the everyday meat. 돼지 is the pig, and 돼지고기 is pork. The cut names end in 살, which means flesh or meat from a part of the body, so 삼겹살 is the three-layer belly and 목살 is the neck. Grilling pork at the table is a very common meal out in Korea.

Look at the 살 ending. 삼겹살, 목살 and 항정살 all end in 살, and in speech its ㅅ is tense. After a stop such as ㅂ or ㄱ the change is automatic, so 삼겹살 sounds like [삼겹쌀] and 목살 like [목쌀]. After ㅇ, as in 항정살 [항정쌀], the tense sound is a habit of compound cut names rather than an automatic rule.

Chicken and Duck

Poultry words use 닭 (chicken, the bird) and 오리 (duck). The meat adds 고기, so 닭고기 is chicken meat and 오리고기 is duck meat. The final consonant cluster in 닭 makes the word look hard, but you say only one of its two final letters.

Fried chicken is a dish word more than a meat word. It has its own page at fried chicken in Korean. For the animal itself, 닭 appears again in chicken (animal) in Korean.

How Do You Say Cuts and Parts in Korean?

Cuts and parts words matter when you read a barbecue menu. Korean restaurants serve organ cuts that are rarely on English menus: 곱창 (small intestine), 막창 (a cow's fourth stomach, or the last part of a pig's large intestine) and 대창 (large intestine). Bones and fat have their own words, which also appear on supermarket labels.

Organ meats are not for every visitor, but the words help you avoid or choose them. If you have a dietary need, do not rely on one word. Use the longer requests on the restaurant phrases page.

Cooking Styles for Meat

Cooking-style nouns tell you how the meat arrives. A noun such as 구이 (grilled) or 찜 (braised, steamed) usually follows the meat: 갈비찜 is braised ribs. Learn these five and a menu line becomes readable.

These nouns are also dish words. 구이 and 찜 attach to meat and fish names alike, so you will meet them again in the Korean Seafood Vocabulary list.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Meat words contain several tense sounds and consonant-cluster endings. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which writes the sound you hear in some cases and the spelling in others.

The cluster ㄺ in 닭 has two letters but one sound. In 닭고기 only the ㄱ is said, because the word ends a syllable before another consonant. In 닭이 (the chicken, as subject) the second letter returns and the word is said [달기].

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and sentence has its own clip. The five clips below replay the hardest words slowly. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Meat Words?

Five mistakes appear often.

1. Assuming 고기 never means fish. 고기 usually means meat, but in phrases such as 고기를 잡다 (to catch fish) it means fish. A live fish is 물고기, and fish as food is 생선.
2. Writing 닭고기 as it sounds. The sound is [닥꼬기], but the spelling keeps ㄺ. Write 닭고기, not 닥고기.
3. Mixing 갈비 and 등심. 갈비 is ribs, usually marinated. 등심 is sirloin, usually unseasoned. Look for the 양념 label on a marinated cut.
4. Ordering 막창 without knowing what it is. 막창, 곱창 and 대창 are organ cuts. If unsure, ask staff or choose 삼겹살 or 갈비.
5. Using 소고기 and 쇠고기 as two meats. They are the same meat. Both spellings are standard.

Knowing the animal + 고기 pattern prevents most of these errors. For the single query on its own, see meat in Korean.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you recognise all 30 words. Second, switch to listening mode. Third, take the quiz. The deck holds all 30 words with audio, and your progress stays in your browser. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the other decks.

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, build the word for three other meats with the animal + 고기 pattern.

Where to Go Next

Once this Korean meat vocabulary feels familiar, add the other ingredient lists. After this page, continue with Korean Seafood Vocabulary and Korean Spices and Sauces Vocabulary. For ordering, see restaurant phrases. To move up a level, return to Ingredients.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Meat in Korean?

Meat is 고기 (gogi). Say go-gi in two beats, with both vowels short. Put the animal word first for a specific meat: 소고기 is beef, 돼지고기 is pork and 닭고기 is chicken. The single-word page on meat in Korean has more detail.

How Do You Say Beef, Pork and Chicken in Korean?

Beef is 소고기 (sogogi), pork is 돼지고기 (dwaejigogi) and chicken is 닭고기 (dakgogi). All three use 고기 (meat) after the animal: 소 (cow), 돼지 (pig) and 닭 (chicken). Press the audio buttons to hear each. Note that 닭고기 is said [닥꼬기], with a tense second ㄱ.

What Is the Difference between 소고기 and 쇠고기?

They mean the same thing: beef. 쇠고기 is the older form, and 소고기 is the form most people write and say today. Both are standard, so you may see either on a menu or a label. Some older signs and official documents still use 쇠고기.

What Does the 살 in 삼겹살 Mean?

살 means flesh or meat from a body part. 삼겹살 is pork belly, from 삼 (three) and 겹 (layer). 목살 is pork neck and 항정살 is pork jowl. The same ending appears in many cut names, and its ㅅ is usually said tense, as in [삼겹쌀].

What Are 곱창, 막창 and 대창?

They are organ cuts of beef or pork. 곱창 is the small intestine and 대창 the large intestine. 막창 is a cow's fourth stomach or, at pork restaurants, the end of the large intestine. All three are grilled at barbecue restaurants, so ask staff if unsure.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea adopted on 7 July 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

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