Martha Stewart Bo Ssam

Martha Stewart Bo Ssam turns a sugar-and-salt cured pork shoulder into a fall-apart tender, crackly-crusted Korean feast in 7 hours 30 minutes. It's an easy make-ahead pork dinner for game day, potluck night or a big weekend cookout, and it's a great weeknight dinner plan when the pork cures the day before.

Cure the pork shoulder in the sugar and salt rub for at least 6 hours, because that is what seasons the meat all the way through. Skip it and the pork roasts up bland, with a crust that never turns crisp.

Martha's version, from Momofuku chef David Chang, rubs the pork with a second sugar and salt mixture and blasts it at 500°F at the end. That melts the sugar into a crisp, caramelized crust, and the pork then gets wrapped in lettuce with oysters, kimchi and two sauces.

Martha Stewart Bo Ssam

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Course: DinnerCuisine: American, KoreanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

6

hours 

40

minutes

Calories

520

kcal

A long, slow roast makes the pork so tender it shreds with a fork, and a final blast of heat turns the sugar rub into a crackly crust. Everything gets piled into crisp lettuce leaves with rice, oysters and sharp, tangy sauces.

Ingredients

• 1 (8- to 10-pound) bone-in pork shoulder or pork butt
  

• 1 cup granulated sugar
  

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  

• 7 tablespoons light-brown sugar
  

• 12 oysters, shucked, for serving
  

• 1 cup Napa Cabbage Kimchi , for serving
  

• 1 cup Napa Cabbage Kimchi , pureed, for serving
  

• 1 cup Ginger-Scallion Sauce , for serving
  

• 1 cup Ssam Sauce , for serving
  

• 2 cups steamed short-grain white rice, for serving
  

• 3 to 4 heads Bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed well, and spun dry
  

• Sea salt
  

Directions

• Cure the pork: Place the 8- to 10-pound pork shoulder in a large bowl or roasting pan, then mix 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 cup coarse salt in a medium bowl. Rub it all over the pork, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven: Heat the oven to 300°F. Then move on to the pork while it comes up to temperature.
• Slow roast: Transfer the pork to a large roasting pan, discarding any juices that collected during the cure. Roast it for about 6 hours, basting every hour with the rendered fat, until the meat is tender and shreds easily with a fork.
• Make the second rub: While the pork roasts, mix the remaining 1 tablespoon coarse salt with the 7 tablespoons light-brown sugar in a small bowl. Once the pork is tender, rub this mixture all over it.
• Crisp the crust: Turn the oven up to 500°F and return the pork to it for 10 to 15 minutes. It's ready when the sugar has melted into a crisp crust.
• Set out the spread: Put the shucked oysters, the Napa cabbage kimchi, the pureed kimchi, the ginger-scallion sauce and the ssam sauce in small bowls. Add the steamed short-grain white rice, the Bibb lettuce leaves and a dish of sea salt.
• Serve and wrap: Serve the pork hot, shredded at the table. Everyone spoons pork, rice, oysters, kimchi and sauce into a lettuce leaf and finishes it with a pinch of sea salt.

Tools for this recipe

• Cuisinart 16-inch roasting pan with rack, ThermoPro instant-read thermometer, Pyrex 3-piece glass mixing bowl set. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

FAQs

Can I use a boneless pork shoulder for bo ssam?

Yes, a boneless shoulder works, but the bone-in cut in the recipe stays juicier over 6 hours. If you go boneless, start checking for fork-tenderness about 30 minutes early, since it cooks a little faster.

How far ahead can I make bo ssam?

Start the cure the night before, which is already built into the recipe. You can also roast the pork a day ahead, then reheat it and do the 500°F crust blast just before serving.

How do I store leftover bo ssam pork?

Keep the pork in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat it in a 350°F oven so the edges crisp up again, because the microwave will make the crust soft.

Can I skip the oysters?

Really, the oysters are served alongside rather than cooked into the pork. The pork, rice, kimchi and sauces still make a full lettuce wrap on their own.

What's the most common mistake with bo ssam?

Pulling the pork too early is the big one, since the shoulder needs the full 6 hours to turn fork-tender. Cutting it short leaves the meat tough and hard to shred.