Buchu-gui

Bundles of garlic chives grilled directly on the barbecue grill until wilted and fragrant, eaten as a palate-cleansing vegetable between meat courses.

Buchu-gui has no elaborate recipe or preparation — garlic chives are bundled and laid directly across the barbecue grill, where they wilt rapidly, release their pungent garlic-onion aroma, develop light char on the outer leaves, and transform from a sharp raw vegetable into something tender, sweet, and deeply savoury. The practice of grilling vegetables directly on the meat grill has a long tradition in Korean barbecue culture, where the leftover heat and rendered meat fat from cooking protein are used to cook vegetables that in turn absorb the smoky flavour of the charcoal and the residual seasoning. Garlic chives (buchu) are already a beloved ingredient in Korean cooking, appearing in jeon, kimchi, and soup garnishes, and in Gyeongsang Province they are considered a stamina food credited with strengthening the body and improving circulation. Health-oriented Korean diners often request extra buchu alongside their pork grill, believing the combination of pork fat and allium vegetables creates a nutritionally complete pairing. The grilled chives are typically eaten wrapped around a piece of meat in a ssam, or simply eaten straight off the grill as a palate reset between richer bites. Their bright green colour and sweet-savoury flavour provide visual and gustatory relief in the context of a heavily meated barbecue session.