Pork Bo Ssam - The real deal

I am a huge fan of barbeque and (although not originally) being from the south that means pork barbeque. In fact in the PreKids era, I was a member of a rag tag competitive BBQ cooking team. I even have a trophy from our one and only first place for whole hog (Jamacian Jerk rubbed whole hog - more on that another time).

While I appreciate slow cooked pork on the smoker, my taste for pork and asian food came together when I read David Chang’s Pork Bo Ssam recipe in Momofuku.

My family appreciates slow cooked pork and I routinely subject them to my asian cooking experiments so I knew they would love this as well.

The magic in this recipe is the finish. After baking for 5-6 hours, I top the pork with a brown sugar and salt rub and bring the oven up to 500 degrees. Stay close and witness the carmelization as the sugar and pork fat cook together. My friend Adam calls this the ‘baconification’ process. Indeed, the crust on the pork is now a salty bark with a touch of sweetness. When this bark is mixed in with the tender interior of the butt, it adds depth and complexity to the finished plate.

My measure of doneness for a pork butt or shoulder is 192 degrees. This is the inflection point where the fat has largely rendered and the remaining collagen dissolves - resulting in a spoon shredable hunk of still moist meat.

For the Momofuku experience, eat this with lettuce, a shared bowl of rice and the sauces. We have begun to forgo the lettuce treatment and layout the rice, topped with shredded pork, a healthy dose of the scallion sauce with the Ssam drizzled all over. I like to add a few forkfuls of kimchee for some extra crunch and kick.