Momofuku: Pork Belly Ssäm

Just like every tong-totin’ American, I recently picked up a copy of the Momofuku cookbook. I read it as soon as I got it, but quickly realized this was going to be a cookbook where I’d really have to dig in. It was a few months before I actually put it to use, because I was still rooting around in the Ad Hoc cookbook. There’s too many ingredients and do-aheads for Momofuku to be a one-off sort of deal. For example, when preparing the pork belly for the ssäm, I reserved the pork fat, because it’s needed for the chicken wing recipe. When I finally got around to my first meal, I decided to make it epic – pork ssam (I’m tired of copying and pasting that stupid umlaut over the a), hot wings, ginger scallion noodles, and the famous pork buns. For this post, I’ll save you an hour by just going over the ssam. Also, this entire post is the same as the much better looking post on Momofuku for 2.

I started by curing the pork belly with salt and sugar. Mine only cured for 6 hours, which I believe is the recommended minimum. I would have used a single solid piece of belly if that’s what was available to me. I was at Super H again this weekend, and these large chunks are the largest size belly I could find. Anyone know where to obtain very large pieces locally?

Chang instructs us to render at a very high temperature for quite a long time. The sizzle in the oven was audible from 20 feet away.

Proof.

The pork turned a very dark caramel color and was crispy to the touch.

Below is the pork fat rendered from the 2lbs of belly I roasted.

The bottom of the belly was extremely burned after cooking for the instructed amount of time. A little char wouldn’t hurt, but this was a thick layer of burnt protein. I had to trim the layer off of some pieces. Maybe using a solid piece would help with this, but I bet at that temp/cook time, it’s going to burn every time. I’m going to play around with that next time.

Then I let them cool, wrapped them, and chilled them.

Meanwhile I pickled mustard seeds in water and vinegar for the sauce. They tasted weird on their own. Bitter, maybe sort of sour. Not pleasant.

They really worked in the mayo/scallion/pickle sauce though. This cool dipping sauce could have a lot of great condiment uses. Maybe a dollop on a pork tenderloin/chop?

The pickled seeds are a neat trick that Chang ripped from Colicchio. Though I don’t like them on their own, they add an interesting bitter flavor contrast that works well with anything that is sweet or salty. The day after this meal I roasted some brussel sprouts with leftover pork belly, then tossed them in Chang’s octovinaigrette with a few spoonfuls of the pickled mustard seeds. It rocked.

I cut the pork into smaller pieces and grilled them for a few moments on each side.

Then served with some very fresh bibb lettuce. They were demolished quickly. I thought they were definitely worthy of the prep involved, especially as the pork belly is utilized in so many recipes in the book. It’s best to make more belly than you need for any one recipe. I’m still thinking about how to correct the burning though. The high temp seems to be needed for the intense rendering of fat, but maybe a longer time at slightly lower heat will work. The Momofuku for 2 author goes another way – low temp at first (250), followed by higher heat (350). That sounds like a good idea too.