Momofuku"s Bo Ssam

I tried this recipe for the first time yesterday and it is absolutely delicious. Look at this sweet and salty pork which is crunchy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. Bo Ssam is a Korean dish that is served on lettuce leaves and eaten with kimchi and rice. I made this and served it like pulled pork on buns with an Asian slaw.

I made a mistake with this recipe but I will be sure to point that out as we go along.

Mix 1/2 cup of kosher salt with 1/2 cup of sugar.


Buy a 3 to 4 pound pork butt. Leave all the fat on the roast. Most will render off and any that is left will just pull away.


Rub the salt and sugar all over the butt until it is covered.


Place it in a container and cover it with plastic for 24 hours. When you are ready to cook it, remove it from the liquid which has accumulated in the pan. Lightly brush off the bulk of the remaining sugar and salt leaving a dusting. Bake at 300 degrees for 6 hours. Baste it several times with the juices while cooking. Mine was ready a bit earlier. It is done when the meat easily shreds.


Here it is out of the oven. I mistakenly shredded the meat at this point. Don't be stupid like me! Mix 7 tablespoons of light brown sugar with 1 tablespoon of salt. Rub it over the roast coating it entirely and use all of this mixture. Bring the oven temperature up to 500 degrees. Roast it for 15 minutes at this temperature. This will create crunchy crust.


I stupidly shredded mine and then sprinkled it with the brown sugar mixture.


This is it just out of the oven. Though it was delicious it was a bit drier than had I prepared it correctly. If you make this, shred it after the 15 minutes at 500 degrees.

All of the internal fat rendered during the first cooking phase. The external fat pulled off in a sheet. I will be making this again soon and serve it the authentic Korean way.