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Bossam is Korean-style boiled pork until it’s flavorful and tender. The highlight of the dish is the pork itself. Since Bo-ssam literally means “wrapped”, it is served with various side dishes, sauces, and vegetables.
What is Bossam?
Bossam is a traditional dish in Korea. This is commonly served to family or community members who helped out during “gimjang” or kimchi-making season. People gather at the end of the activity over this delicious boiled pork which pairs perfectly with their freshly made kimchi.
Aside from that, I personally love this dish because it’s keto, it’s easy to prepare, it can be included in meal preps, and it’s actually a healthy dish!
What You’ll Need
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As mentioned, bossam is super simple to make. You’ll need several ingredients but the main aim of these is just to enhance the flavor of the meat and to remove the strong pork odor.
For the pork, I used belly, but pork shoulder or pork butt is also amenable to this recipe. Choose the one that has a balanced amount of fat and meat so it remains juicy.
For aromatics, you’ll need garlic cloves, half an onion, stalks of scallions, ginger, Korean radish, bay leaf, and coffee grounds. If you can’t find Korean radish, you can also use Apple. In place of bay leaf, you can use star anise or cinnamon sticks.
You don’t really need to peel or chop anything, because they will be discarded anyway after boiling the pork.
For the seasonings, you will need salt, peppercorns, soybean paste, and soju. Soybean paste is a common Korean pantry ingredient that is similar to miso. It complements the pork really well! Soju, on the other hand, removes any odor and also stands as a tenderizer to the pork. In place of it, you can also use mirin.
How to Cook Korean Boiled Pork Belly?
In essence, you will let water boil, add the aromatics, seasonings, and the pork and you can leave it to cook. Just ensure that the pork is submerged well and you’re good to go!
Something to take note of in making this is the time of boiling. We will do 10 minutes on high, then 50 minutes on medium-high. The goal is to make sure it is cooked and tender, but not to the point of mushing the pork. We want the shape to be retained so that it can be sliced beautifully.
A trick we commonly do is to give the pork an ice bath for a minute after an hour of boiling to prevent it from cooking further. This helps hold its shape so it can be sliced and served the way it is intended to be.
What to Serve With and How to Eat Bossam?
There are several things you need to prepare to enjoy Bossam in the best possible way:
- Side Dishes: Cucumber Salad, Radish Salad, Chive Kimchi, Radish Kimchi, or the best is Fresh Napa Cabbage Kimchi
- Dipping Sauce: Ssamjang or Salted Shrimp
- Other Vegetables: Lettuce, Perilla Leaves, Garlic Slices, and Chili Slices
Use the leaves as the bed and layer pork, garlic, or chili slices, and then kimchi to make a wrap or ssam. Take a big bite or eat it whole and enjoy!
While this is how Koreans commonly eat this dish, you can also serve this with multigrain rice and a side dish on your meal prep. Just make sure to slice the pork only before eating it to retain its moisture. Reheat in the microwave or steam in a pot.
Other Korean pork dishes you may like:
- Soybean Paste Pork Belly
- Jeyuk Bokkeum
- Doenjang Jjigae
- Kimchi Jjigae
- Kimchi Fried Rice
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me onFacebook,Instagram, orTiktokwhen you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Print Recipe
Korean Boiled Pork Belly (Bossam)
Bossam is pork boiled in aromatics for a tender, moist, and flavorful meat. Best served with kimchi for an easy and healthy meal!
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time1 hour hr
Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: Bossam, Korean Boiled Pork Belly
Servings: 3 people
Author: Chef Chris Cho
Ingredients
- 7 cups Water
- 2 lbs Pork Belly Slabs 2-inch thick
- 1/2 of Big While Onion Whole
- 150 grams Korean Radish Whole
- 80 grams Ginger Big slices
- 2 stalks Scallions
- 10 cloves Garlic Cloves Peeled
- 7 pcs Bay Leaves
- 30 pcs Black Peppercorn
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Soybean Paste
- 1 tsp Coffee Grounds
- 1 shot Soju
Cold Bath
- 5 cups Cold Water
- 1 tbsp Salt
Instructions
Let the water boil.
Once boiling, add onion, Korean radish, ginger, scallions, and garlic, and place the pork belly in there.
Season with bay leaf, peppercorns, salt, soybean paste, coffee grounds, and soju.
Let boil for 10 minutes in high heat, making sure the pork is fully submerged.
Continue to boil for 50 more minutes on medium-high heat.
To check if it’s done, poke it with a chopstick. If it comes through quickly, it is done.
Remove the pork belly from the pot and place it in the cold bath right after. Set it to sit in cold water for about a minute.
Slice and serve with kimchi.
Video
Posted By: Chef Chris Cho · In: Classic Korean Dishes, Main Dishes, Non-Spicy, Pork
