Bossam (Korean Pork Wraps)
Pork belly slices are served with salty shrimp sauce, spicy radish salad, and wrapped in tender quick pickled napa cabbage leaves for a delicious bite. This recipe has many steps, and is great for a special occasion or at a party. This recipe is adapted from Maangchi's Bo-ssam recipe.
Servings: 5 people
Ingredients
Pork
- 3 lb Pork belly, boneless
- 2 Onions(medium-sized), peeled and quartered
- 20 Garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
- 2 inch Ginger, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp Instant coffee powder
- 3 tbsp Brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Fermented soybean paste (doenjang)
Pickled Cabbage
- 1 lb Baby Napa Cabbage or the inner leaves of a regular sized napa cabbage
- 1/4 cup White distilled vinegar
- 1/4 cup White sugar
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 cup Water
Radish Kimchi
- 1 lb Daikon Radish, peeled and washed
- 1/2 tbsp Non-iodized salt
- 1 tbsp Fish sauce
- 1 inch Ginger, minced ginger
- 1 Onion (medium), minced finely
- 6 Garlic cloves, minced finely
- 2 Green onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp Korean red pepper flakes Gochugaru
- 1 tbsp White sugar
- 1 tbsp Roasted sesame seeds
- 8 oz Oysters, raw Baby oysters are best
Salted Shrimp Sauce
- 1 tbsp Korean salted shrimp Saeujeot
- 1 Garlic clove, minced finely
- 1 Green onion, sliced finely
- 3 tbsp Water
- 1/2 tbsp Roasted Sesame seeds, crushed
- 1 tbsp Sugar
Other Ingredients that go well with Bossam
- 1 bunch Perilla leaves
- 5 Garlic Cloves, sliced
Instructions
Pork
- If needed, cut the pork belly in strips, about 2.5-3 inches wide. Place in a large cooking pot. Add in the 2 quartered onions, 20 peeled garlic cloves, 4 tbsp of brown sugar and 4 tbsp of instant coffee powder. Fill pot with cold water to cover the pork belly by 2 inches.
- Cover and bring to a vigorous boil. Cook for 1 hour over medium high heat. Use tongs to turn the pork belly once during cooking.
- After 1 hour of boiling, turn the heat down to low and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
- Take out the cooked pork pieces and leave to cool down until ready to serve.
Pickled Napa Cabbage
- Add the sugar, vinegar, salt, and 1/4 cup hot water in a large bowl. Mix well until everything is dissolved. Add an additional 3/4 cup of cold water to the mixture.
- Place the napa cabbage leaves into the pickle brine and mix well by hand. Allow to sit for 20 minutes and then mix again. Repeat this step every 15-20 minutes for 1-2 hours until the cabbage leaves are nice and soft.
- Squeeze out the excess water from the cabbage leaves and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Radish Salad
- Cut the radish into matchsticks and put them into a bowl. Mix with salt and let sit for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and put it back in the bowl.
- Add in the minced ginger, minced garlic, minced onion, chopped green onion, korean red pepper flakes, fish sauce, and sugar. Gently mix by hand.
- If using, rinse the raw oysters under cold water and drain. Gently mix the oysters into the radish salad to combine. Add the sesame seeds.
Salted Shrimp Sauce
- Combine the fermented salted shrimp sugar, hot pepper flakes, green onion, garlic, and water in a small bowl. Mix well. Crush the roasted sesame seeds in your hands to bring out their aroma and mix into the sauce.
Serving the Bossam
- Slice the pork belly into 1/8 inch pieces. It is important to slice the belly thinly, as cutting them too thick makes the wraps too fatty and heavy tasting. Place on a large platter.
- Arrange the cabbage leaves, radish salad, and shrimp sauce on the platter alongside the pork slices. If using, arrange the perilla leaves and garlic slices on the platter as well.
- To eat, take a napa cabbage leave and place a piece of pork belly, some radish salad, and a bit of the salted shrimp sauce on top. Wrap up and eat in one big bite! Enjoy mixing and matching the ingredients to your taste.