TLC Boiled Pork Wraps aka Bo-ssam

korean boiled pork BOSSAM.jpg

bossam.

Eat with delicious kimchi.

Bo-SSam happens when you boil the fat off a juicier cut of pork, slice it, and eat it in a lettuce wrap (SSAM means wrap).

There are quite a variety of ways to eat it. You can upgrade the shit out of it and make it super fancy with expensive seafoods and expensive cuts of meat.

But you won’t find that here. Haha.

Here, I get to the point of the dish. You boil some pork, slice it thin and eat it surrounded by a leaf. In this case, kimchi- which is formerly cabbage, so it works.

What you need:

  • Pork (Only had chops in the freezer, it’s honestly too lean and I wouldn’t recommend it. Unless you like lean, or trying to reduce calories. Then I highly recommend.)

  • Whole peppercorns

  • Dwen-Jang (Korean soybean paste)

  • Onion

  • Apple

  • Garlic

  • Ginger

  • Bay Leaves

There are many, many variations to this as well, but these are the items in the pantry at the moment.

This is to simply to flavor the pork whilst boiling. If you don’t have anything at all, I’d suggest at least putting in DWEN-JANG. Be generous with it- the DWEN-JANG. And garlic. Because yummy.

What you do:

  • Put in all ingredients in a big stock pot.

  • Put in a whole lot of water.

  • Put in pork.

  • Bring to boil and continue on medium heat for 1 hour.

  • Slice thin and into bite-sized pieces.

  • Eat along with rice, hugged into a kimchi. Or if you’ve got lettuce leaves/perilla leaves/ any edible leaves, add some SSAM-JANG and you’re good to go.

  • Done. Eat. Be happy.

Notes:

  • This is traditionally done with fattier cuts of pork like the shoulder or belly. Boiling for a long period will melt away the fat, leaving a tender and juicy meat.

  • Fresh, whole ginger and garlic will taste much better. Did not have any in the house 😭.

  • Be generous with the DWEN-JANG.

  • You only need to briefly rinse the pork of fat or other whole ingredients that may be stuck on. Don’t go giving it a full-on shower.

  • Depending on the cut of meat you have, make sure you check for doneness in the thickest parts. Use a meat thermometer to make sure.

  • How to make SSAM-JANG at home? Mix DWEN-JANG with GOCHU-JANG with SUGAR/HONEY/SYRUP. Ratio = 2:1:1. Drizzle sesame oil to add pretty sheen.

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