Best Momofuku Pork Belly Recipes

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MOMOFUKU'S BO SSAM



Momofuku's Bo Ssam image

This is a recipe to win the dinner party sweepstakes, and at very low stakes: slow-roasted pork shoulder served with lettuce, rice and a raft of condiments. The chef David Chang serves the dish, known by its Korean name, bo ssam, at his Momofuku restaurant in the East Village and elsewhere. He shared the recipe with The Times in 2012. Mr. Chang is known as a kitchen innovator, but his bo ssam is a remarkably straightforward way to achieve high-level excellence with little more than ingredients and time. Simply cure the pork overnight beneath a shower of salt and some sugar, then roast it in a low oven until it collapses. Apply some brown sugar and a little more salt, then roast the skin a while longer until it takes on the quality of glistening bark. Meanwhile, make condiments - hot sauces and kimchi, rice, some oysters if you wish. Then tear meat off the bone and wrap it in lettuce, and keep at that until everything's gone.

Provided by Sam Sifton

Categories     dinner, roasts, main course

Time 13h

Yield 6 to 10 servings

Number Of Ingredients 18

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
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts
1/2 cup peeled, minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)
1 1/2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
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)
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
1/2 cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)
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)

Steps:

  • 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. 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 the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.
  • When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. 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.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 1115, UnsaturatedFat 45 grams, Carbohydrate 50 grams, Fat 69 grams, Fiber 2 grams, Protein 71 grams, SaturatedFat 18 grams, Sodium 1684 milligrams, Sugar 34 grams, TransFat 1 gram

MOMOFUKU PORK BELLY



MOMOFUKU PORK BELLY image

Categories     Pork

Yield 6-12 servings

Number Of Ingredients 3

One 3-pound slab skinless pork belly
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar

Steps:

  • 1. Nestle the belly in a roasting pan or other oven-safe vessel that holds it snugly. Mix together the salt and sugar in a small bowl and rub the mix all over the meat; discard any excess salt-and-sugar mixture. Cover the container with plastic wrap and keep in fridge for at least 6 hours but no longer than 24 hours. 2. Heat the oven to 450F. Discard any liquid that accumulated in the container. Put the belly in the oven, fat side up, and cook for 1 hour, basting it with the rendered fat at the halfway point, until it's an appetizing golden brown. 3. Turn the oven temperature down to 250F and cook for another 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until the belly is tender - it shouldn't be falling apart, but it should have a a down pillow-like yield to firm finger poke. Remove the the pan from the oven and transfer the belly to a plate. Decant the fat and the meat juices from the pan and reserve for other uses. (for example saute vegetables). Allow the belly to cool slightly. 4. When it is cool enough to handle, wrap the belly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and put in fridge until it's thoroughly chilled and firm. (You can skip this step if you are pressed for time, but the only way to get neat, nice-looking slices is to chill the belly thoroughly before slicing it.) 5. Cut the pork belly into 1/2-inch thick slices that are about 2 inches long. Warm them for serving in a pan over medium heat, just for a minute or two, until jiggly soft and heated through. Use at once.

MOMOFUKU'S BO SSäM RECIPE



Momofuku's Bo Ssäm Recipe image

Our bo ssäm was a long time in the making before it showed up on the menu. I'd had an inkling for years it would be a good idea-bo ssäm is a supercommon dish in Korean restaurants, though the ingredients and cooking that go into it are frequently an afterthought. The oysters are usually Gulf oysters from a bucket, the kind that are really only suited to frying; the pork is belly that's been boiled into submission. Almost every time I ate it at a restaurant, I'd think about how much better it would be if all the ingredients were awesome. The first time we made one was for family meal back when we'd just started serving kimchi puree on our oysters at Noodle Bar. One of the new cooks was fucking up oysters left and right, so I made him shuck a few dozen perfectly, and then we ate them ssäm-style: wrapped up in lettuce with rice, kimchi, and some shredded pork shoulder that was otherwise destined for the ramen bowl. (The shoulder in our bo ssäm is, essentially, the same shoulder we put in the soup at Noodle Bar, except that we add more sugar in the last step to make the crust even more delicious-it's like a shoulder encrusted in pig candy.) So there, in the cramped, dark subterranean kitchen of Noodle Bar, I ate the best bo ssäm of my life. I think that experience and our take on the bo ssäm are typical of the way we approach "traditional" dishes: with one foot rooted in tradition and the other foot kicking it forward. There is a great line from Emerson that sums up my perspective perfectly: "Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books."

Provided by David Chang

Yield 6-8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 11

1 whole 8- to 10-pound bone-in Boston pork butt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 dozen oysters, shucked
1 cup Napa Cabbage Kimchi, plus 1 cup puréed
1 cup Ginger Scallion Sauce
Ssäm Sauce
2 cups Short-Grain Rice
3 to 4 heads Bibb lettuce, leaves separated, well washed, and spun dry
Maldon or other high-quality coarse sea salt

Steps:

  • 1. Put the pork in a roasting pan, ideally one that holds it snugly. Mix together the granulated sugar and 1 cup of the salt in a bowl, then rub the mixture into the meat; discard any excess salt-and-sugar mixture. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
  • 2. Heat the oven to 300°F. Remove the pork from the refrigerator and discard any juices that have accumulated. Put the pork in the oven and cook for 6 hours, basting with the rendered fat and pan juices every hour. The pork should be tender and yielding at this point-it should offer almost no resistance to the blade of a knife and you should be able to easily pull meat off the shoulder with a fork. Depending on your schedule, you can serve the pork right away or let it rest and mellow out at room temperature for up to an hour.
  • 3. When ready to serve-sauces are made, oysters are ready to be shucked, lettuce is washed, etc.-turn the oven to 500°F.
  • 4. Stir together the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and the brown sugar and rub the mixture all over the pork. Put it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sugar has melted into a crisp, sweet crust.
  • 5. Serve bo ssäm whole and hot, surrounded by the accompaniments.

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