Name: Bo ssäm
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 kg piece pork belly, skin scored; 2 tsp peanut oil; 2 red butter lettuces or red baby cos, leaves separated; Ssämjang; 2 tbsp doenjang (see note); 2 tbsp gochujang (see note); 40 gm onion (about 1/3 small), finely grated; 1 tbsp rice wine; 1½ tbsp honey; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; 5 gm ginger (about 1cm piece), finely grated; 1 small red chilli (optional), finely chopped; 1 spring onion, thinly sliced

Bo ssäm

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for bo ssäm, Korean pork belly and kimchi lettuce leaf wraps.

Serves 6

Prep

30M

Cook

Total

2H 30M

Ssäm means “wrapped”; a ssäm dish could be anything from this well-known version made with pork (though in Korea it’s more often steamed) to one made with beef. Lettuce, cabbage and even seaweed are common wrappings; ssämjang chilli paste and kimchi as condiments are constants.

Ingredients

1 kg piece pork belly, skin scored

2 tsp peanut oil

2 red butter lettuces or red baby cos, leaves separated

Ssämjang

2 tbsp doenjang (see note)

2 tbsp gochujang (see note)

40 gm onion (about 1/3 small), finely grated

1 tbsp rice wine

1½ tbsp honey

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

5 gm ginger (about 1cm piece), finely grated

1 small red chilli (optional), finely chopped

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

Method

Main

1.Preheat oven to 240C. Season pork generously with sea salt and place in a roasting pan. Rub with oil, roast until skin starts to crackle (20-30 minutes), reduce oven to 150C and roast, basting occasionally with pan juices, until cooked through (1-1½ hours). Stand for 10 minutes to rest, then thinly slice and arrange on a platter. Keep warm.

2.Meanwhile, for ssämjang, combine ingredients and ½ tsp freshly ground pepper in a bowl and serve with pork and lettuce leaves for wrapping.

Note Doenjang (fermented soybean paste) and gochujang (fermented Korean chilli paste) are available from Asian grocers.
Drink Suggestion: American-style pale ale. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
Notes