Bo Ssam (Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder) Recipe

Momofuku Ssam Bar's bo ssam dinner is one of my favorite large group dining spots.  The food is amazing, the atmosphere is casual and fun, and it's actually very reasonably priced.  I've gone for work celebration dinners, birthdays, and family gatherings, but I never thought to attempt to make it until one of my friends invited a group of us over for a homemade bo ssam dinner.  I found the recipe online afterwards here and decided to try my hand at it as well.  It's actually not that difficult and a great crowd pleaser, so I thought this would be a good recipe to share.  (Recipe below is the same as the link shared above, but I've included my notes in blue for reference.)

Ingredients

Pork Butt:

1 whole bone-in pork butt (8 to 10 pounds)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup + 1 tablespoon kosher salt

7 tablespoons brown sugar

Ginger-Scallion Sauce:

2 ½ cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts

½ cup peeled, minced fresh ginger

¼ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

1 ½ teaspoons light soy sauce

1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Ssam Sauce:
2 tablespoons fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets & online)
1 tablespoon chili past (kochujang, available in many Asian markets & online)
½ cup sherry vinegar
½ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

*Momofuku also sells bottles of their Ssam sauce; I found it at Whole Foods and decided to skip this step and just buy this off the shelf

Accompaniments:

2 cups plain white rice, cooked

2-3 heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

Kimchi

1 dozen or more fresh oysters (optional)

Instructions

Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

*I bought a ~9 pound pork butt and very generously covered it with the sugar-salt rub, but was still left with at least 1/3 of the mixture unused.

When you're ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.

*There wasn't really enough juice to baste until after ~3 hours.

Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.

Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.

Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.

When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.

*I also very liberally applied the brown sugar-salt rub but had plenty of leftovers.  10 minutes at 500F is probably enough; I set off the smoke alarm at 15 minutes...oops.