asian jewish deli

Next to pork belly buns, Momofuku is probably most famous for bo ssam. David Chang and his crew slow roast an entire pork shoulder and serve it along side lettuce, rice, raw oysters, kimchi, and ssam sauce. If this sounds like a lot of food.. it is. The recommended minimum party size is six!

Various Momofuku bo ssam recipes have been published in newspapers and magazines, so it was no surprise that one is also included in the Momofuku cookbook, although it is so simple that no recipe is really needed. A pork shoulder (bone-in recommended, but I used boneless) is rubbed in salt and sugar overnight, then slow roasted. Towards the end of cooking, you sprinkle on a brown sugar and salt mixture and let it caramelize. (“It’s like a shoulder encrusted in pig candy,” Chang notes.)

I will admit to skepticism when I put the shoulder in with just salt and sugar, but the end result shows complexity far beyond the humble ingredients. Lettuce with rice, kimchi puree, ssam sauce (sweet, sour, and savory), and ginger scallion sauce provided the perfect accompaniments to wrap the fatty pork in. I didn’t buy oysters this time, but I have in the past and they pair surprisingly well with the pork and kimchi.

The pork is one of the most versatile recipes in the book, if not only for the amount of food you end up with. The pork is good on almost everything: ramen, kimchi stew (upcoming post), on plain rice, with eggs.. the possibilities are endless!

The Fuji apple salad from the Momofuku cookbook is quite simple, but I will admit that I did not make my own napa cabbage kimchi, as I suspect most home chefs won’t. If I used it every day I would try making it (and I still may), but I imagine most people will not want to make the space (and funk) commitment in their refrigerators.

Whether you make your own or buy kimchi, the Fuji apple salad is no more than cubed or sliced apples tossed briefly in kimchi, plated with crispy bacon, greens, and a maple-labne (thickened yogurt) sauce. Perhaps I did not let my apples sit in the kimchi long enough, or maybe Washington apples are better than the New York ones David Chang uses, but the kimchi just wasn’t strong enough. Incidentally, Chang wrote this regarding regional apples:

I’ve always said that New York has the best apples…but Fuller did a version of our Fuji Apple Kimchi salad and I have to say that their version was so much better than ours I couldn’t believe it. The fucking apples were the best damn Fuji apples I’ve ever had—crisp, juicy, tart. I forgot that Washington State also grows apples, the fuckers.

Chang calls for cured and smoked jowl for this salad, whereas I used regular bacon, but the idea was similar. Overall the flavors were interesting together, but I did wish for a little more kimchi funk. Next time I’ll let the apples sit in the kimchi puree longer. The maple-labne sauce kept everything grounded with its slight earthy sweetness, and I’ll make it again just to eat on its own.

I’ll be back after the holiday with more from Momofuku!