Bossam. It's my favorite Korean meat dish. Yes, even more than Korean BBQ! Today, I will show you how to make this delicious dish at home. It's very easy to make if you nail down the broth measurements. The only other tricky part is finding a (Korean) mart that sells thick cuts of pork belly. If you can get your hands on it, you're in for a treat!
So what exactly is Bossam?
Bossam is a thick cut of pork belly that is slowly cooked in a flavored broth. By boiling it over a long period of time, the meat is defatted. The oil and fat in the meat is melted into the broth, which we discard. And you're left with an ultra-tender piece of pork. It's then thinly sliced and eaten on top of a fresh piece of lettuce, along with a few pieces of Kimchi and Spicy Radish Salad.
The traditional topping sauce for bossam wraps is Ssamjang. (I admit, I like it the best!) But nowadays, bossam restaurants in Seoul also serve this honey-garlic topping sauce. It's delicious, but quite strong in flavor. If you like garlic, you'll dig it 🙂
Note: For the garlic topping, make sure to cook it on a medium-low heat. You want to make sure the minced garlic sizzles in the oil so it loses that strong garlic punch. But don't overcook it, or else it will burn and taste bitter. Just give it a taste before you spread it all over you hard-cooked bossam!
Enjoy life. Daniel out! 🕺
Bossam - Korean Boiled Pork Wraps
Ingredients
- Pork Belly - 600-800 grams
- Water - 6 cups
- Onion - 1 whole
- Apple - 1 whole
- Spring onion - 2 stalks forearm pieces
- Garlic - 5 cloves
- Ginger powder - ½ Tablespoon or use freshly grated
- Ground coffee - 1 Tablespoon
- Doenjang - 3 Tablespoons
Honey-Garlic Sauce
- Olive oil - 2 Tablespoons
- Minced garlic - 4 Tablespoons
- Honey - 3 Tablespoons
- Fresh lemon juice - 1 Tablespoon
Instructions
- Prep fresh ingredients: Cut apple into 4 pieces and cut out the seed portion. Split the onion in half. Cut the spring onion stalks in half. Set aside 5 pieces of garlic.
- Optional: Put frying pan on high heat. Then add a slight drizzle of oil. Once the frying pan is hot, place in the pork belly pieces. Char the meat on all sides - until they get a nice crisp!
- Take out a large pot. Place water in (6 cups). Turn it on a high heat. Then place in the apple, onion, spring onion and garlic pieces.
- Once the pot starts to boil, add in the ginger powder (½ Tablespoon) and ground coffee (1 Tablespoon). Then use a strainer down and mix in the doenjang (3 Tablespoons) into the broth.
- Place the pork belly into the boiling broth.
- First, cook on high heat - without the lid - for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, reduce it to a medium-low heat. Cook - with a lid-on - for 30 minutes.
- Optional: While you wait, consider making the garlic-topping sauce. Put frying pan on a medium-low heat. Place in olive oil (2T). Then add in the minced garlic (4T). Stir it around until the minced garlic starts to sizzle and dance in the oil. Then add in the honey (3T) and fresh lemon juice (1T). Turn off the heat and stir around in the residual heat. Set aside into a small plate and let it cool all the way down.
- After 45 minutes of boiling, turn the heat off. Take out the pork belly.
- Allow the meat to rest for 5-10 minutes. (I know, its hard!)
- Then cut it into very thin slices.
- Serve the pork slices with lettuce, kimchi, radish salad and/or Ssamjang on the side.
- Bon Appetit! Pour yourself some beer (or makgeolli) and enjoy life!
Notes
- Pork Belly is known as Samgyeopsal (삼겹살) in Korean. For this recipe, ask for Tong-Samgyeopsal (통삼겹살) which is a thick section of pork belly.
- See video below for more details
나탈리 says
Daniel, do I have to have coffee grounds for this recipe? I don't drink coffee and would prefer to use something else. Is it just got color? Could I use the paste for 짜장면?