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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder (Bo Samm)


When I was younger, I wasn't allowed to eat pork. Unclean. But then my God cleansed it and now I eat it at will ;).

Although the concept of a slow-roasted pig is nothing new, I got the idea for this particular dish from reading Momofuku. A wonderful book from author and chef, David Chang. But let's back up a bit...

My son is about to turn 6. We fed him everything when he was a baby, but very little of it stuck. Now, he's pretty much a mac-n-cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets kid. But, the one area where I'm really proud to say "it stuck" is with Asian cuisine. Specifically, my son can down the greatest Taiwanese food, Japanese- yes, and Korean - aaaah yeaaaah. Galbi (bbq short ribs) is one his favorites. And, since beef = growth (he's like 85% in height rankings, 15% in weight), I don't hesitate when he wants it.

But, I'm a little selfish when it comes to food, and if I need to make Galbi, you can guarantee I'm gonna cook up a feast. We were going to have 9-11 adults and 2-4 kids, so I needed massive amounts of meat. Galbi - done. Onto the pork.

It's quite simple, really. Sugar, brown sugar, and salt. That's all you need- that and a nice cut of pork. Maybe butt (which is what Momofuku calls for), but I opted for a shoulder cut...it just had my name on it. Marbled with fat, perfect size (5 pounds), and excellent color behind the glass.

Bo Samm:

1 5lb pork shoulder with plenty of good marbling of fat
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix your dry ingredients, then rub them all over the pork. Rub it good. Rub it real good. Put this into a ziplock and into the fridge for at least 6 hours, but overnight is apparently fine.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put the pork in a baking dish, small enough to fit it tight, but make sure you have a decent height on the lip, because once the fat renders, you don't want it overflowing. Put the pork in the dish, without excess liquid from bag. Roast for 6 hours, basting with the juices at least once per hour. After 4 hours, flip the roast and sprinkle some brown sugar on top.

Remove from oven and shred. Set aside to eat with lettuce, spicy bean paste, kimchi, etc.

Enjoy!

~ Brock

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