Bo ssam

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
41

Damn. I had some skeptics in the house & everybody was RAVING about the meal. The best news is there are plenty of leftovers…

42

Dennis, I like the idea of cooking the pork in a smoker instead. Do you use any particular wood, or just charcoal? I’m tempted to try this with a little smoke and a more complicated rub, but perhaps simple is the way to go so that the sauce is the star. Does anyone have any experience here?

Rich

43

It was nice as a variant on the theme, fun to do with a group, but I was not “wowed” by the ginger-scallion sauce. I think I like it better with a ginger-peach or sour cherry sauce. St. Francis 2009 Viognier was a nice match. Wish I would have thought of charging $20+/head for letting the pig and the oven do the work. [wow.gif] (I guess the oysters do counter that a little)

But for many of us, Rich, low and slow in the smoker is the next level up. Hickory or fruit wood is a must. But you will have to start a new thread if you want to revive long-fought battles over smoke, rubs, and sauces. [basic-smile.gif]

44

Using a boneless 4# shoulder and I’m a bit worried that 6 hrs at 300 might leave it a bit overcooked…thoughts?

45

I just did a 3lb boneless shoulder and 6 hours was barely enough.

The question I have is what are you folks doing about the smoke factor with the brown sugar at 500 degrees?
Back when we lived in San Fran we had a nearly restaurant quality exhaust fan, but in this house it is much more pedestrian.
Opened all the doors and windows and brought down a box fan and managed not to have the smoke alarms go off.
Fortunately it was not icy cold here tonight.
But seriously, how are you coping w/ the smoke from the sugar caramelization?
Otherwise it turned out great…

46

Rich,
I just use the Weekend Warrior lump charcoal and throw some soaked smoking chips (choose your flavor) pocketed loosely in foil on the coals. Works great.

47

I was afraid of this happening from all of the caramelized drippings in the pan, so when I took the roast out after the 6 hours, I put it on a plate and de-glazed the pan with white wine, mixed the drippings with the brown sugar, and used the thick liquid as the coating for the crust. Very little dripped back into the pan off the pork, and consequently no smoke— which was a very good thing, with the recirculating charcoal filter hood in my condo.

48

A lot is made of that final step, but I don’t think I’ll even bother doing it again. It’s not worth the smoke alarms and having to throw the roasting pan away. :slight_smile: I think it was in the article that he mentions a “souffle effect?” I see what he means, the fat bubbles up. You wind up with some extra candy on the outside that you really don’t need. Is it tasty? Yah. But it’s not making or breaking the dish.

YOU DIDN"T LIKE THE SCALLION GINGER THING? REALLY?!!

49

I cooked my first bo ssam yesterday and it was KILLER. It blew away the people I had over for dinner.

50

We talked about using a hand torch next time - seriously. Anyone tried that yet?
I don’t think i’d skip it, but I will go with a lot less next time.

And i’m with you on the Scallions & Ginger - great, though I doubt the sherry vinegar is very traditional.

51

You got that right. I"ve been making pulled pork for years now, and that’s what motivated my post. The recipe calls for a simple salt & sugar rub, then 6 hrs in a 300 oven until fork tender. That is one weak pulled pork recipe, yet everyone raves about this recipe. It has to be the sauce that makes it so good.

I suspect that there’s room for improvement in both the cooking technique and rub. I mean if it’s that good with ovencooked pulled pork, how good could it be with awesome pulled pork? It sounds like Dennis has taken a big step forward by making this with his BGE. I wonder if a busier rub would help. Maybe garlic powder, citrus zest, or ginger powder? I’ll have to give it a try.

Come to think of it, I have some leftovers of “The Renown Mister Brown” in the fridge. Maybe I’ll see how those sauces go with it.

Rich

PS I asked a native Korean guy at work about Bo Ssam. He called it “an acquired taste”, very salty, and usually served with a spicy bean paste or salted shrimp rolled up in lettuce. Looks like it’s undergoing a Cantonese-Western fusion, with the ginger-scallion sauce as Charlie Fu mentioned, and sherry vinegar as Jim Driven mentioned,

52

Rich, ginger scallion is one of two sauce choices. The other is a Korean spicy bean paste sauce. Shrimp would work as well for the texture contrast instead of oysters. I preferred the dish with the ginger scallion sauce. I’ve eaten a lot of pulled pork which is usually served with a barbecue sauce and/or spice rubs and smoking that overwhelm the raw deliciousness of the pork. What makes this dish so fun is it provides a fresh perspective on pulled pork and make the pork the star of the dish, we couldn’t keep our hands off it without sauce. We’re in danger of making this a religious conversation like Burgs vs. new world Pinot. :neener:

53

Understood about the 2 sauces, and understood about traditional BBQ pulled pork. Maybe that’s my problem, for me pulled pork is all about the smoke perfume & rub. I’ll try the original recipe. Gotta be something to it, everybody’s giving it high praise.

54

I love bbq, but I have no desire to have smoke and paprika in my bo ssam.

55

Who ever said paprika? I want to augment those sauces, not clash with them.

56

I’ve made this version of Bo Ssam at least 20 times now and can do it in my sleep. The only accompaniments needed are rice (I usually make sticky rice), and the roasted Cauliflower/Brussels Sprouts recipe in the Momofuku cookbook provide great sides. A couple things learned along the way:

  • I like to use skin on shoulders, though Chang uses no skin. I score the skin, and to make it super crispy, I’ll put it on a rack in the sink and scald it. You can use just boiling water or add 2 Tablespoons Baking Soda to 6 cups boiling water (careful, it’ll bubble). Pour the mixture over the skin only, trying to avoid the exposed meat. Pat dry before rubbing on the brine.

I put the whole shoulder into an XL ziploc bag and then apply the brine while it’s in the bag. Squeeze out the air, seal, and place in a pan to catch the leaks. This way, it’s easier to turn the shoulder once or twice to distribute the brine.

Take the meat out of the fridge at least an hour before roasting so it warms up a bit before going into the oven. Make sure to wipe off any lingering brine off the meat or it could end up being really, really, really, really salty.

After about an hour in the oven, add a cup of hot water to the bottom of the pan to add moisture to the oven and to keep the juices from drying and scorching. I’ll add a little more every few hours.

For the Ginger Scallion sauce, I substitute 2 Tablespoons of Tasted Sesame Oil for some of the grape seed oil as I like the flavor and it’s in the Chinese version of the sauce. A little goes a long way.

I don’t really use the pan juices as it’s too salty. I’ll keep just a bit of it on hand in case someone wants some, but it’s really not needed.

57

Just made it and…For me it was pretty okay. Nothing to write home about. I guess I’m a sucker for smoke, cuz I thought the meat needed something. Maybe my sauce wasn’t up to snuff (never really became an emulsion). I did really enjoy the lettuce as a wrap to the pulled pork and I have to say the ginger scallion topping was very good.

It was more of a fun activity (a la fondue) than a can’t miss culinary item. I wouldn’t mind trying it somewhere that had perfected it.

58

Oh, I almost forgot, the Koren guy at work said Bo ssam is a steamed pork dish. That reminded me of a rice-flour-coated, steamed pork shoulder we had in Xian. Pretty great stuff, and your comment of a fresh perspective rings true here.

I’m not trying to start any sort of pulled pork jihad here. For me, the fun thing about food is the interplay between cultures. Good things happen at the cultural crossroads, Marco Polo going to China or Frenchmen going to the bayou. I just think it’s way cool that Momofuku is adapting this dish (oven cooked pork, not steamed, Cantonese sauce, sherry vinegar) and I want to have a little fun taking the pulled pork notion a little further. When Koreans and good ole boys meet at the bbq, good things are going to happen.

Enjoy, and thanks for the discussion here.

59

Interesting juxtaposition.

60

Utterly intentional, thanks for noticing.