Chinese-style bo ssam
I didn’t know what the hell a bo ssam was until my friends and I were discussing our hypothetical epic Secret Santa dinner (we share the same passion for mouth-watering deliciousness). Then I managed to flip through a copy of David Chang’s Momofuku book and realized that it’s originally a Korean invention. A bo ssam is basically slow roasted meat, like an Asian version of pulled pork, that is traditionally wrapped in lettuce along with other sauces and toppings, aka kimchi. David Chang shucked his own oysters and claimed it’s awesome with his pork. Okay, I’m not that baller and I can’t shuck oysters so that’s out. I really liked the Three Dog Kitchen version because the steam bun adds some carbby heaviness to an already heart-attack worthy meal. By heart attack I mean dying of how awesome it is. The green onion and ginger mixture adds a more Chinese kick to the ensemble.
Before starting, make sure you have at least 6 hrs to watch over the oven because that’s how long it takes for the meat to cook. Yup, I stayed home all day to make this for my work holiday party.
NIGHT BEFORE ROASTING
Marinate meat approx. according to this ratio: 1 cup granulated sugar + 1 cup sea salt per 9 lb. of a cut of pork butt (mine was about 9.5 lbs). Otherwise, the meat could get too salty, especially when not using coarse salt. Mix well and cover all parts of the meat, then place into the refrigerator overnight. Why pork butt? Because it’s fatty and delicious. Next.
DAY OF ROASTING
Place the meat in a deep, roasting pan as tight as you can get it (I suppose for more insulation?). If you’re more ghetto like me, you can definitely buy one of those 2-pack disposable foil roasting pans from Vons and it’ll work perfectly fine. I like exposing the fatty layer on top so that later, the brown sugar caramelizes over the fat. YUMMM
This is my slab of meat right after I took it out of the fridge. I left the sugar and salt where they were but dumped out the excess liquid, and re-rubbed the mixture all over the meat before popping it into the oven. Preheat oven to 300deg. Pop in the meat and let it go.
DURING ROASTING
The pork butt is going to inevitably drip fat all over the bottom of the pan — the original recipe says, basting as you cook. I had to google what “basting” is, but basically it’s re-drenching the meat with its own liquids every hour of cooking. It’s a whatever thing during the roast. I’ve realized that even after repouring the liquid over the meat, gravity pulls the liquid back to the bottom anyway. So during the roasting process, I’ve poured out some of the oils so my meat can be more crispy :)
AFTER 6 HOURS
Yeah, you’re not done yet. Last steps: crank up the oven to 500deg then rub 1/2 cup of brown sugar mixture on top of the meat. Cook for about 10 min or until you see the sugar bubbling and settling down. Open all windows and turn on all vents before taking out the meat or your dinner will be ruined by annoying smoke alarm sounds.
This is my nerdy timeline of the whole process:
THE EMSEMBLE
ingredients: * frozen steam buns from 99 Ranch that you can just microwave in 1-2 min * green onion and ginger mixture (see Three Dog Kitchen below) * or just green onion will do * kimchi (optional) * iceberg lettuce leaves (you can do lettuce wrap or add the leaves to the sandwich) * other sauces including a 1:1 korean hot paste/korean bbq sauce mixture that I tried. I drizzled it all over my meat and it was delicious. * honestly anything that strikes your fancy
*some notes*
– adding kimchi to the sandwich is a bit much in my opinion, especially after all the sauces. but just the meat in the bun with a leaf of cabbage should do the trick
– my 9.5 lb fed over 30 people at my work party (albeit it was a pot luck and people weren’t relying on my bo ssam to fill their stomachs) and STILL had leftovers. my friends made a 5 lb roast for the 8 of us (albeit we also had hot pot that night…) and we had a good 1/4 left. choose your meat wisely.
—— references ——
inspiration: three dog kitchen
the original master: momofuku
PHEW FIRST FOOD POST WOOHOO
La Belle Dame 