Friday Recipe - Bo Ssam - Asian Inspired Pulled Pork

BO SSAM

I am a big fan of the Atkins diet, so I am always looking for protein laden meals that can be shared with my family or invited company. This recipe is an Asian inspired version of pulled pork. Rich, tasty and although requires some time to prepare, is very easy.

There is not bread required with this dish, instead, Bibb lettuce leaves are used as the "bread". Very carb conscious and good for the Atkins diet.

This keeps very well as a leftover, and can be re-served with your favorite bar-b-que sauce for more traditional pulled pork.

Bo Ssam

Ingredients:

Serves 6 to 10
1 (8- to 10-pound) bone-in pork shoulder or pork butt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon coarse salt
7 tablespoons light-brown sugar
1 cup Ginger-Scallion Sauce, for serving
1 cup Ssam Sauce, for serving
2 cups steamed short-grain white rice, for serving
3 to 4 heads Bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed well, and spun dry
Sea salt

Directions:

Place pork in a large bowl or roasting pan. In a medium bowl, mix together granulated sugar and 1 cup coarse salt. Rub sugar mixture all over pork and cover bowl with plastic wrap; transfer to refrigerator for at least 6 hours and up to overnight. Pork will look "cured" the next day. Rinse off salt sugar mixture, discard and accumulated juices from pan and return pork to Roasting pan.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Transfer roasting pan to oven and cook, basting every hour with rendered fat in roasting pan, until meat is tender and easily shredded with a fork, about 6 hours.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together remaining tablespoon coarse salt and brown sugar; rub mixture all over pork.
Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Return pork to oven until sugar has melted into a crisp crust, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot with ginger-scallion sauce, ssam sauce, rice, lettuce, and sea salt.

From The Martha Stewart Show, January 2009