Someone needs a new barrette

mess of pig

After reading this story about Momofuku bo ssam -- slow cooked caramelized pork served with rice and various Korean condiments -- my friend Lisa and I got the idea to have a bo ssam party. Like half of America, apparently. I went on Facebook yesterday morning and saw a photograph of our Saturday night dinner in Marin County on the table of a friend who lives in New Jersey.

To order bo ssam at Momofuku in New York City costs $200, but it is something you can and should make at home because there is nothing cheaper than slow cooked pork shoulder, nothing tastier, nothing easier. I was napping an hour before Lisa arrived. It's that kind of meal. You brine the pork overnight in sugar and salt, then put it in the oven for 6 hours. For the first hour you'll think you're roasting the meat, but it throws off so much fat it ends up braising in its own "juices." Don't dwell on this. When the meat falls off the bone, it's done. Coat it in sugar, put it back in a super-hot oven for 10 minutes, and serve.

cooks

How delicious was the bo ssam? Very delicious. It's like Korean carnitas, but instead of mixing the pork with salsa and wrapping in a tortilla, you mix it with rice (or not) and fiery sauces (you may need to visit a Korean grocery), and wrap it in a lettuce leaf. It is fun to eat because every piece is different and tastes slightly different, whether it's a mild chunk of meat from the middle or a hard, sugary shard of crust. If I had to choose between Mexican carnitas and Korean "carnitas" I would choose Mexican, but it wouldn't be an easy decision.

Highly recommend.

Also recommended: Gold Rush cocktails, contributed by Lisa. They're spicy-tart-sweet and truly wonderful and we only drank one each so the repercussions were nil. For dessert, Isabel made compost cookies from Milk Bar. I only ate half a cookie so the repercussions of this were also hopefully nil.

cookie

The compost cookies spread a lot and didn't look quite right, but tasted very right. Recipe is here.

Bonus video: In an unflattering sweater, Mark Bittman watches Momofuku's David Chang make another version of bo ssam that looks even better than the one we served.