The Bo Ssam!

Ever have a hankering to just sit down and pig out on a big, fatty, salty hunk of pork butt? Come on…who hasn’t? Friday I was able to fulfill my dreams of utter pork deliciousness by getting the Bo Ssam at Momofuku Ssam bar.

The Bo Ssam is not for the faint of heart. This truly is one enormous hunk of meat that needs to be ordered well in advance and serves anywhere from 6 to 10 people. We had the minimum six and I think we did pretty well (we ate the shit out of that butt!), but let’s start at the beginning.  We got to Momofuku right around 5:45 and started out with a couple of beers. I went for the Korean classic OB.



I’m not gonna lie- this is not a very good beer. It doesn’t have much taste and the carbonation is kind of flat. Hover I didn’t want anything to detract from the glorious porky goodness I was about to inhale so it was just fine with me. Before the butt arrived we had started out with the one dish you must always have at Momofuku the pork buns.



These little guys are what made David Chang and his empire famous. Fluffy white buns encasing a thick slab of fatty pork belly, pickled cucumbers and a sweet hosin sauce make these little buns one of the most delicious things you will ever eat. I swear I could probably eat about ten of these if I had the chance. Unfortunately at about $9 a pop I would have a very expensive food tab. So I just ate one and saved myself for the main event.  The Bo Ssam encompasses a couple of dishes. First they brought out a bunch of briny west coast oysters.



Then they brought out the additional components of Bibb Lettuce, two kinds of kimchi, a red bean paste, rice and a ginger scallion sauce for dipping.



Then the massive glorious hunk of meaty goodness was placed before us. I was prepared for a big piece of meat but seeing it in the flesh really astounded me nonetheless.



I only had about one second to snap this shot before the tongs came out and this meaty butt was ripped to shreds. The assembly is simple. Take one piece of lettuce and place inside a nice chunk of pork, rice, some dipping sauce and throw an oyster on top before rolling it up into a nice little vessel for eating. I’m not a big fan of kimchi so I skipped that condiment but the red bean paste was absolutely amazing. I could put that stuff on everything.



Here’s a close up of the pork. Each bite was different than the last. The top of the butt was somewhat lean with the crispy crackling skin contributing to the most flavor. The bottom of the butt was much more succulent and moist. Apparently all of the fat is on the bottom because those pieces were literally dripping with glorious meat juices.

So we ate, and ate and ate! I think I probably had about 5 or 6 of those roll ups before I felt like my stomach was going to explode. I think we did a pretty good job with that meat though. Here the leftover shot.



For $200 I think this is a pretty good deal for a group meal. If we had maybe two more people I think it would have been just the right amount of food without feeling like going overboard. As it was I ate way too much and didn’t think I was going to eat again for days. However their sister dessert bar Milk Bar is right next door and somehow I heard those treats calling my name...

Momofuku