


Hi all! So we’ve been lucky to be invited by Gilt Taste to sample some awesome product off their website. We recently received an awesome shipment of pork shoulder from Berkshire Farms and pure maple syrup from BLiS. We decided to make a Korean style dish called Bo Ssam where the pork is usually steamed, thinly sliced and served alongside a number of sides and condiments. We thought it would be fun to add more flavor to the pork itself by brining and roasting the pork shoulder and glazing it with the sweet and deeply flavorful syrup.
The syrup really added a great touch of sweetness, against the salty brine, as well a a nice caramelized crust to the pork. We were pretty much eating that pork for days, with everything, and it was awesome. This dish is also super fun because of all the other added elements you can choose to pair with your pork. Most dishes that come to mind when we think of pork are rather heavy. This is actually lighter, and more refreshing. So go get all your cute small dishes out and make this!
Bo Ssam
Serves 7 to 10
Ingredients:
pork brine:
½ cup kosher salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, chopped
6 cups water
3lb Becker Lane Organic Farm Pork Shoulder
2/3 cup BLiS Bourbon Barrel Matured Maple Syrup
seasoned spinach:
1lb spinach
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
spicy shredded daikon:
1 tablespoon distilled vinegar
2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean chili powder)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 daikon radish (about 10 ounces), coarsely shredded
1½ cups steamed rice
1 cup store bought kimchi, coarsely chopped
½ cup Ssamjang
1 tablespoons tiny salted and fermented shrimp (saeujeot)
40 perilla leaves
Directions:
1. Place brine ingredients into a large container, except pork, and stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Place pork into the brine, cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.
3. Remove the pork from the brine and rinse over cold water. Pat dry and place onto a roasting pan.
4. Preheat oven to 425°F.
5. Place pork into oven and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F and cover roast with foil. Continue to cook for 1 ½ hours.
6. Remove foil and baste with ½ the syrup. Place roast back into the oven and continue to bake for 30 minutes.
7. Baste with remaining syrup. Raise heat back to 425°F and cook for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and allow roast to rest for 10 minutes.
9. Bring a large pot of water up to a boil. Drop the spinach into the boiling water for 30 seconds.
10.Drain spinach from water and squeeze out any excess water.
11. Place remaining seasoned spinach ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
12. Toss spinach into the seasoning mixture, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
13. Place all ingredients for spicy seasoned daikon, except for daikon, into a mixing bowl.
14. Pour mixture over daikon and mix together until completely combined.
15. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, to allow the daikon to marinate.
16. To serve: Thinly slice the pork and serve on a platter with kimchi. Place remaining sides/condiments into individual dishes and serve.
17. This dish is meant to be eaten “taco style”, by wrapping a small amount of each component (pork, spinach, rice, kimchi, etc) into a perilla leaf before consuming it.
*Full Disclosure & Fine Print: Gilt Taste furnished us with the pork shoulder and maple syrup for this recipe. We were not paid to write or to furnish our opinions, images, or views.








{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Anything “build your own taco” RULES MY LIFE.
This looks SO GOOD!!!
I! Want! It! Now!
But I never heard before of perilla leafes … can I use something else in exchange?
Mel.
Not sure what the substitute would be….It is pretty distinctive, imo…Perilla is also known as Shiso leaf. It is served with sushi which is how I learned about it. Hope you are able to find it! Good Luck!
Hi Mel! The flavors of perilla leaves are rather distinct, but if I’m out and don’t want to make a trip to the Korean market I’ll usually substitute red leaf lettuce and mint leaves. Hope this was helpful!
I’m diggin’ using crystallized ginger in your brining solution. Genius! Awesome recipe all around; these look awesome!
I never would’ve thought to put crystallized ginger in a brine until I made Alton’s (we’re on a first name basis), but I have to say it was so subtle and delicious. I’m totally into this brine. Also, steamed anything < roasting. Duh. And I'm even more psyched about how beautiful those perilla leaves are.
P.S. I'm sort of obsessed with this dish. CANYOUTELL?!
my korean half just did a major fist pump! i loooove this dinner (although we’ve only made it with thinly sliced beef)! the sesame leaves are an absolute must, as is the ssamjang! sometimes we make a little dipping sauce for the beef with sesame oil, salt & pepper. sooooo super good and if you have all the side dishes ready, it’s really fast!
Love it, everything looks so fresh and very tasty!
This looks amazing. The colors and combination of flavors is making me happy! I really want to try this.
You guys rock my world.
damn this looks divine.
This sounds delicious, loving the photos too.
How much water did you use for your brine?
Hi Gina! I added about 6 cups. Thanks for catching that; I forgot to add it to the ingredient list. It’s all fixed now. Good luck!