Bo Ssam is a Korean restaurant dish you can master at home

March has been pretty indecisive about its weather so far, but one thing’s for sure: As spring gets closer, it’s time to say goodbye to heavier foods and hello to fresh, lighter fare. This week’s recipe is for Bo Ssam, a Korean dish.

My dear friend Julie recently gushed about this delicious dish. It’s from the famed Momofuku family of restaurants in New York City. There’s even a restaurant dedicated to the dish called Ssam Bar. I’m not sure about your travel plans, but mine don’t include New York City for a bit. So instead, let’s venture there through our taste buds.

What makes this dish irresistible? the slow-cooked pork butt, which is salty and sweet and wrapped in lettuce then topped with a delicious ginger-scallion sauce.

This dish is perfect to serve to a small gathering of friends enjoying a lovely dinner in. It seems that everyone’s focus has shifted a bit since the pandemic, and I think we’ll see a trend toward more frequent but less formal gatherings. At least that’s what I hope for – making time for gathering people around my table in a more relaxed way.

This dish is just perfect for that. You eat it as a lettuce wrap, and there’s something playful about eating with your hands. There’s also something so gratifying about slow cooking because there’s not a lot of prep right before your guests arrive at your home. Enjoy.

Momofuku’s Bo Ssam

1 whole bone-in pork butt or picnic ham (8 to 10 pounds)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt

7 tablespoons brown sugar

Ginger-Scallion Sauce

2½ cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts

½ cups peeled minced fresh ginger

¼ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

1½ teaspoons light soy sauce

1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Ssam Sauce

2 tablespoons fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets and online)

1 tablespoon chili paste (kochujang, available in many Asian markets and online)

½ cup sherry vinegar

½ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

Accompaniments

2 cups plain white rice, cooked

3 heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

1 dozen or more fresh oysters (optional)

Kimchi (available in many Asian markets and online)

Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, heat oven to 300 degrees. Remove pork from refrigerator, brush any excess sugar mixture off the fat cap and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.

Meanwhile, make the ginger scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.

Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.

Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.

When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn the oven to 500 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot with the accompaniments.

Recipe from David Chang and Peter Meehan, NY Times Cooking

This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 10:01 AM.