Bossam – aka boiled pork – sounds not that good honestly. We Americans love our charred, crusted meat and the low-and-slow roasted pork. But bossam isn’t just boiled in water and tada it’s done. It is boiled on low heat with a bunch of vegetables and saucy goodness that seeps into the meat.
Bossam is a Korean staple – especially a night time staple. We have our own term for late night snack: “yasik”. Once it hits around 10 PM, we want something to eat while drinking or watching tv. And Korea is such a small country that we have the best food delivery system in the world probably. And no one steals your food like the classic Doordash horror stories.
So anyway, we all go on our phones to order our late night food. The most common ones are fried chicken, spicy rice cakes, chicken feet, and bossam! I don’t really like super heavy foods so I always go for the bossam.
But guess what? Homemade bossam is way better so I’m about to teach you how to make it! I like to make it a little differently from tradition though – I like to rub the saucy goodness onto the meat, and steam it on top of vegetables so that the fat drip downs and the clean tastiness is concentrated in the pork! Alright enough talking, let’s get cooking!
- Bossam Ingredients:
- 1/2 daikon radish
- 1/2 onion
- 1 tomato (optional)
- 1 apple (optional)
- 2 green onions
- 2 pounds of pork belly or pork shoulder
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon soybean paste
- 4 Tablespoons cooking wine
- Radish Kimchi Ingredients:
- 1/2 daikon radish
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 3 Tablespoons red chili powder (gochugaru)
- 1 Tablespoon plum syrup
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon tuna extract
- 1 Tablespoon salted, fermented shrimp
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- sesame seeds
- Bossam Recipe:
- chop the radish, onion, tomato, apple, and green onion into big chunks
- grab a big pot and spread the chopped radish inside the bottom of the pot
- spread out the onion, tomato, and apple on top of the radish
- mix the garlic, soybean paste, and cooking wine together
- rub the pork all over with the mixture
- put the meat on top of the vegetables in the pot
- spread chopped leek on top of the meat
- add a splash of water – about 1/4 cup – to the bottom of the pot
- cover the pot with a lid and cook on low heat for an hour
- take out the meat and slice thinly just before serving
- Radish Kimchi
- slice the radish into thick strips
- mix with salt and 3 Tablespoons of sugar
- let it rest for about 15 minutes until the radish is bendy
- use a cheesecloth (or your hand if you don’t have a cloth) to squeeze out excess water from the radish
- mix the rest of the ingredients – gochugaru, plum syrup, sugar, tuna extract, shrimp, and garlic – together with the radish
- sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with bossam!
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