Momofuku Bossam (or Bo ssam) is David Chang’s famous dish from his Momofuku restaurant in New York. It’s an epic centrepiece consisting of slow cooked pork roast with an insane caramelised crust, served with condiments for DIY fully loaded Korean lettuce wraps.
A showstopper made for sharing, astonishingly simple, fun to eat and eye-rollingly delicious. Momofuku charges US$250 for the privilege of eating it. This costs a fraction of that!
Momofuku Bossam (or Bo ssam)
Momofuku Bossum is Chef David Chang’s famous version of a traditional Korean pork dish called Bossam which consists of thinly sliced pork belly simmered in a seasoned broth that are then used to make lettuce wraps.
A signature dish at his New York restaurant Momofuku, he makes it using a pork shoulder that’s been dry cured overnight so it’s seasoned all the way through, slow roasted for 5 to 6 hours until fall apart tender then blasted at the end with a brown sugar rub which forms an epic caramelised crust.
It’s a formidable centrepiece made for sharing, an eating experience you’ll remember for years to come. If you have it at Momofuku, it will cost you a whopping US$250 (that’s A$350!!!). But it’s obscenely easy to make. You don’t even need to make a trip to the Asian store! (Yes, really)
The pork is dry cured overnight so it’s seasoned all the way through from end to end, then slow cooked for 5 – 6 hours until fall apart tender.
What is served with Bossam
Here are all the components that make up David Chang’s Momofuku Bossam:
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Slow roasted pork – dry cured overnight then slow roasted for 5 to 6 hours, the meat is seasoned all the way through and fall apart tender, and encased with an insane crispy brown sugar crust that everybody fights over;
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Ginger shallot sauce – made with a LOT of ginger, this seals the deal;
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Spicy Ssam sauce – the only part that calls for Asian grocery ingredients, but is not a critical part of the overall Bossam experience and is easily replaceable with any hot sauce or chilli paste;
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Rice and kimchi (spicy Korean pickled cabbage) – for stuffing into the lettuce wraps;
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Oysters – might sound strange but it works! Taken from the traditional way of serving Bossam in Korea, raw oysters are stuffed into the lettuce wraps. It’s like a little “surprise inside” when you get to it. Fabulous textural and flavour contrast; and
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Soft lettuce leaves – to stuff everything in, bundle up and devour.
What you need
Here’s what you need to make the slow cooked pork – 4 ingredients!
Boston Butt
Best cut is Pork Butt aka Boston Butt which the upper part of the pork shoulder. Butt is the ideal cut because:
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it’s BIG, as in 3.5 – 4kg / 7-8 lb, and it needs to be so it can sustain the long cook time required to achieve the signature thick caramelised crust without the meat inside become less juicy than ideal; and
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it’s an even rectangle shape so it cooks through evenly.
🇦🇺Australia – get this cut at butchers or Costco (it’s very good value).
How to make Momofuku Bossam
And here’s how to make it:
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Dry cure with just salt and sugar for 24 to 36 hours (ie rub with salt and sugar, refrigerate);
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Slow roast for 5 – 6 hours at 150°C/300°F or until fork tender;
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Cover with brown sugar and blast in hot oven for 10 minutes to create the brown sugar crust;
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Shred and serve with sauces and sides to make lettuce wraps – see below for sauces.
Sauces for Bossam
The two sauces served with Momofuku Bossam are:
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Ginger Shallot Sauce (aka Ginger Scallion Sauce) – this is actually a traditional sauce served with other dishes across Asia (eg Hainanese Chicken); and
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Ssam Sauce – a spicy red sauce made with Korean chilli pastes. Easy substitute with any chilli paste or hot sauce.
Ginger Shallot Sauce
Just a handful of ingredients – just mix and leave to soften for just 20 minutes or so.
Spicy Ssam Sauce
This is the spicy red chilli sauce made with Korean chilli pastes (Gochujang and Ssamjang) and will require a trip to a Korean grocery store or large Asian store to get them. Once you have them, it’s a simple mix job.
But do NOT fret if you can’t get these chilli pastes. You don’t use a lot of the Spicy Ssam Sauce so it’s absolutely not a big deal at all to just substitute it with a simple hot sauce, chilli paste or even Sriracha!
Do NOT worry if you can’t get Gochujang and Ssamjang. Just use your favourite chilli paste, Sriracha or a hot sauce instead – you just want some kind of spicy sauce for the wrap!
How to serve Bossam
Bossam is a DIY affair. Place the magnificent slow cooked pork on a large platter (or tray, as I have done) and surround it with all the sauces and sides that are used to make the lettuce wraps:
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Ginger Shallot Sauce (Scallion);
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Spicy Ssam Sauce – or Sriracha, hot sauce or chilli paste;
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Oysters – for the full Momofuku experience;
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Kimchi – just store bought for me, quite widely available nowadays;
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Rice (out of frame – oops! 😂); and
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Soft lettuce leaves – or crispy if you prefer.
Then let everyone tear into the meat and gear yourself up for a fight over that incredible crust (I’ll take anyone on to get my fair share)…
…and make your own fully loaded Korean Lettuce Wraps. The Momofuku way.
This iconic Bossam recipe is David Chang’s, from his cookbook Momofuku. It’s also been shared in various online publications, including the New York Times.
This recipe follows the published recipe, but with some helpful tips and adjustments we’ve made after making this multiple times over the years. For example, the Ssam sauce as written in NYT has way too much vinegar. There’s way too much salt in the dry rub (you end up throwing half out), and we’ve figured out how to get that brown sugar crust perfect – without setting off your smoke alarm!
That’s enough from me. Now it’s your turn to impress the pants off your family and friends! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Momofuku Bossam (Korean Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder Roast)
Ingredients
Slow Cooked Pork:
- 3.5-4 kg/ 7-8 lb pork butt / shoulder , bone in & skinless (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup (110g) white sugar
- 1/2 cup (115g) kosher or cooking salt (NOT table salt) (Note 2)
Brown Sugar Crust:
- 1 tbsp kosher or cooking salt (NOT table salt) (Note 2)
- 7 tbsp brown sugar , light or normal (not dark)
Ginger Shallot Sauce:
- 2.5 cups scallions , thinly sliced (both green and white parts, ~5-6 stems)
- 1/2 cup fresh ginger , peeled and finely grated (Note 3)
- 1/3 cup canola oil (Note 4)
- 1.5 tsp light soy sauce (or all purpose, not dark soy sauce Note 5)
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (Note 6)
- 1/2 tsp kosher or cooking salt , to taste (Note 2)
Spicy Ssam Sauce (Note 7):
- 2 tbsp ssamjang (Note 8)
- 1 tbsp gochujang (Note 8)
- 5 tsp sherry vinegar (Note 6)
- 2 tbsp canola oil (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp white sugar
Serving:
- 4 - 5 heads butter/bib lettuce (40 - 50+ leaves, Note 9)
- 3 cups cooked white rice
- 500g/1lb kimchi
- 12 + oysters , raw, in shell (optional, Note 10)
Instructions
Bossam Slow Cooked Pork:
- Mix sugar and salt together. Pat pork dry. Coat pork in sugar salt mixture, getting it into all the crevices. Rub/pat well to adhere as best you can - discard excess salt unused/falls off (usually ~ 2-3 tbsp).
- Place in a glass dish (Note 13), cover loosely with cling wrap and refrigerated 24 - 36 hours (Note 11).
- Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F (all oven types) with rack in the middle of oven.
- Remove pork from fridge - surface will be wet. Either transfer pork to clean pan (metal, ceramic or glass) or drain off excess liquid / scrape out salt/sugar in same glass pan. Do not rinse pork.
- Roast 5 hours (Note 12), uncovered, spooning over pan juices once each hour, until you can easily pull the meat apart with 2 forks (check on side).
- Remove from oven, rest for 10 minutes (up to 1 hour is fine, loosely cover in foil).
- Turn oven up to 260°C/500°F (all oven types).
Brown Sugar Crust:
- Mix brown sugar and salt.
- Spoon juices all over pork.
- Spoon sugar onto pork and use your hands to make it stick to the top and sides (not underneath). Make layer on top as even as you can (for even caramelisation).
- Place in oven for 10 minutes until surface is a deep golden crust, sugar is bubbling and caramelised (see VIDEO!). Keep a close eye on it from 5 minutes. If the highest points start getting black, cover with small piece of foil (just stick it on).
- Remove from oven and transfer to serving platter for serving. (Don't use pan juices, it will be salty from brine)
Sauces:
- Ginger Shallot Sauce: Mix ingredients in bowl and stand for 20 minutes to let it soften.
- Ssam Sauce: Mix ingredients together. Oil will naturally separate over time if sauce is left to stand, just mix again to reincorporate.
Serving:
- Place pork on serving platter with lettuce, oysters, kimchi, rice, Ginger Shallot Sauce and Ssam Sauce on the side.
- Attack the pork - it will shred easily. Shred as much or little as you want, let people do it themselves or you can do it for them. Prepare to fight over the epic crust.
- To eat, place lettuce in hand. Spoon in some rice, top with pulled pork, small piece of kimchi, oyster, some ginger shallot sauce then finally a little drizzle of spicy Ssam sauce.
- Bundle up, bite and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Volume - easily makes 50+ lettuce wraps. Just get as much lettuce as you want to serve, knowing there's enough pork for over 50 lettuce wraps (leftover pork is sensational) 10. Oysters - raw oysters are served with traditional bossam, it's part of the eating experience! It's like a "surprise inside" when you're munching through the lettuce wrap and come across the oyster, great textural contrast. Bit indulgent to have an oyster for every piece of lettuce so just provide as much as you're willing to indulge in. 11. Brining/curing time - minimum 6 hours, 12 hours ok, 24 - 36 hours optimum, 48 hours ok too (especially if using 4.5kg/9lb pork) DO NOT rinse pork after curing. You should only use enough sugar/salt rub so it sticks to the pork, don't layer it on thickly on the surface. Recipes that suggest rinsing are probably using the wrong salt/sugar amount published in NYT and other media publications which is way too much (see Note 13 for more info). 12. Internal temp of pork is irrelevant in slow roasting because the internal temp doesn't change once cooked beyond well done, but meat can still be tough. Need time not temperature for meat to become fall apart. Oven types - for slow roasting at low temps, I find the same temp is required for standard and fan forced/convection. Cook times - original recipe says 6 hours for 3.5 - 5kg / 7 - 10lb pork shoulder. That's a HUGE variation in pork size and the cook times vary - here is the cook times by weight:
- 3.5 - 4kg / 7 - 8lb = 5 hours (best weight for most juicy flesh)
- 4.5/9lb = 5.5 hrs
- 5kg/10lb = 6 hrs
- 2 kg / 4lb = 3 hrs 45 min
- 2.5kg / 5 lb = 4 hrs
- 3kg / 6lb = 4.5 hrs
- Original recipe calls for 1 cup each salt and sugar which is WAY too much. This amount will never stick to the pork so it's wasteful. Sprinkling excess over pork doesn't work either - makes it way too salty. 1/2 cup of each works perfectly - you won't throw out much, seasons the pork perfectly all the way through without being too salty;
- Ssam sauce had way too much vinegar (had 1/2 cup) - way to sour; and
- Cook time - original recipe says 6 hrs for 3.5-5kg/7-10lb pork. That range is too broad - 3.5kg/7lb pork for 6 hours = dry. Found that 3.5-4kg/7-8lb for 5 hrs is perfect, cook times for other weights in Note 12.
Nutrition Information:
The Spicy Side of Life: Korean recipes
Life of Dozer
There’s just no words to tell you how excited/hopeful Dozer was around such an enormous piece of meat.
Did he get some?🤔 Watch today’s recipe video to see!!!
There are no shallots in your shallot sauce. Perhaps name it to a scallion sauce or put some shallots in it.
Substituted rice wine vinegar for Sherry vinegar in the ssom sauce. Only used 3 tsp opposed to 5 tsp. Still not right. Added some minced garlic and green onion and a little honey. Balanced it out a bit better.
Followed all the instructions and it turned out great! What’s the best temperature and amount of time to reheat leftovers in the oven?
Hi Nagi, I’ve been searching your recipes to put together a menu for my dad’s 80th birthday party and came across this show stopper! I’d already flagged to make some salads (no mayo slaw, best potato salad, jp’s iceberg salads). Will these work? Otherwise I’d love to hear what GF options you’d pair this with as part of a banquet . Thanks!
I had been saving this recipe for a very long time, waiting for an occasion to make it and it finally came! Made this for 10 people yesterday and everyone absolutely loved it.
Had a 3.3kg (7.2 lbs) boneless pork butt and the plate was wiped clean.
We didn’t do the oysters this time around but will definitely try next time.
Info that others might find useful:
– I hesitated to adapt the cooking time to the fact that my meat was boneless, in the end opted not to. Cooked it the whole 5 hours and it was perfect, even though it had to rest over an hour between the first cook and the final browning
– Brining time was 36 hours. I am VERY sensitive to salt but trusted Nagi and used exactly the amount prescribed for the brine (I use Crystal Diamond Kosher Salt). I only skipped the additional salt in the brown sugar crust. Ended up being perfect and not too salty at all.
– I wish I had made at least 1.5 times the amount of scallion & ginger and ssam sauces. Those were gone before we finished the meat.
– This dish is incredibly good and impressive compared to the actual effort you have to put into it. If you want to blow people’s mind, this is THE recipe for you 🙂
So this meal. I’ve made it twice now. The first time I had my father in law in tears. He said he’d never eaten anything this delicious in his entire life!
The second time round I made it for a crowd of 12 people and my 4yo nephew just couldn’t get enough of it. He really got into rolling his little salad wraps and devoured so much meat. Thank you Nagi for a new family favourite! It’s easy and delicious!
This recipe is so delicious. It has become a staple in our meal rotation. I make it regularly for my family, friends and also large get togethers and each time gets rave reviews. The meat is tender and moist. Best of all, it is so easy to make. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This is worth the effort! Not really too hard just time consuming. And delicious 🤤 ❤️
WOW, made this for our elderly parents and another couple last night. followed instructions as written. Made rice, Korean spinach, pickled daikon and carrots, Korean cucumbers, and green papaya salad. The meal received rave reviews, a total hit, and not a single leftover!!! I was worried that the roast was going to be too salty after tasting a little piece off the bottom, but once mixed with all the interior meat it was perfect. I have shared this recipe with all my cooking friends 🙂 THANK YOU
Made this for the third time last weekend for a family get together. So easy to make and tastes sensational. Everyone loved it, leftovers are a special treat. Made wraps to go with the salads and the sauces are delicious.
I cooked this last night. I didn’t read the recipe thoroughly and bought a boneless pork shoulder from the supermarket. When I cut the fat off, it went from 3.3 to 2.3KG! So I cooked it on a low heat for 4 hours, as per Nagi’s instructions- 130 fan forced. By then it was fall apart amagingness. Put it back a while later at full blast for 5 mins with the sugar coating, checked it every min after that and took it out at 9 mins.
The ginger dressing is sooo good. Even the kids ate it.
This recipe is the best! Everyone was astounded by the flavours. And as Nagi says, it’s not actually that much effort. You can make the sauces in advance and have the pork in the oven when your guests arrive and talk to them instead of being busy in the kitchen.
This was perfectly divine Nagi! Very little prep and while it takes awhile to cook, it’s very low maintenance! Kids were hanging around the kitchen waiting.. lol Followed exactly as written, but didn’t have oysters this go around, but will try again next time! Thank you!!
I’ve made this a couple times now. One of the best tasting foods I’ve ever had! I’m not fond of oysters I leave those out. I love the complex flavors!
A huge success! I was time poor so cooked this in the pressure cooker for an hour and finished off in the oven. Perfectly moist pork! This dish was such a hit.
I’ve been reading on the internet that even amongst kosher salts, the brands can differ in weight per tblsp and salinity. Would you mind if I ask what brand of kosher salt you used?
So delicious! I followed the directions exactly and it came out great (48 hr brine). The sauces are essential. Everyone loved it and I’ll make it again for sure!
Thank you SO much for adapting this – all spot on! Fiiinally cooked this last night and was amazing despite many woopsies. I accidentally got a piece with skin so followed your Pork Roast with Crispy Crackling tips. Left sugar/salt on overnight in fridge uncovered and did not scrape off. Accidentally oven started waaaay too hot and the skin was already dark brown an hour in, so I think essentially I did the crackling at the start! Didn’t end up putting brown sugar on as it was so dark by the end, but look forward to trying again.
Many of my dinner guests mentioned how much they love your detailed recipe instructions and explanations. Friend brought your pineapple cake and it was stellar too! Sending all the kudos!
Made this twice now. Both times with boneless pork shoulder from Costco. First time, I definitely didn’t cook it long enough and my parents oven not so reliable, it was too tough. This time, I cooked it for 7 hrs and it was perfect. The one problem is that I was out of juice for the end part w the brown sugar and I had trouble getting that all to crisp, so I hit that with the broiler after the 10 minutes. My friends were blown away and my 2.5 year old was sitting on the counter ripping off hunks of pork. Thank you for a fun (and really pretty simple) recipe to impress.
I’ve been eyeing this off for months, but waited for a good occasion to justify the large quantity of meat. So made it for my parents and in-laws who had been working hard for days to help build a vegetable garden at our place. And what can I say. It was beyond perfect. So easy to make but the flavours were through the roof! Everyone absolutely loved it. The dogs went ballistic. My father’s eyes widened like saucers when he took his first bite. My mother couldn’t get over the juiciness of the flesh. And my father in law was literally moved to tears. He cried at the table. He has travelled and eaten extensively all around the world, (900EUR dinners in Paris, meals at the Kremlin and Bundestag) but this was among his all time top 3.
Nagi, you did it again, this was epic and simply unforgettable. Thank you for inspiring the best family dinner we’ve ever had!
I had a boneless 2.3kg pork shoulder. I realised the cut of meat wasn’t exactly what the recipe called for but wanted to try it anyway. It needed the full 5 hours in the oven. At the end it pulled apart perfectly and was moist with a crunchy crust as described. Thank you for this recipe, it was effortless and simple but a total “wow” meal!