Hello from NYC #5 – Meat overdose @ Momofuku Ssam Bar
Having been a pescatarian for about 10 years, I decided to become a meat-eater again on my arrival to NYC and I suddenly realised how much meaty goodness I was missing out on. Delicious fatty bacon, crispy pork belly… (drools). The rest of the crew will be very happy with me since I can now have a share when they roast a pig, or grill some skewers.
Ever since discovering Momofuku, I’ve always wanted to try the Bo Ssam. In the Momofuku cookbook, the Bo Ssam seems very time-consuming to make, no wonder why it costs $200 for the Bo Ssam at the restaurant! Momofuku recommends 6-10 people, so I had to muster up some friends willing to eat enough pork that would turn us into vegetarians for at least the next week. Lucky for me, I have 7 food-loving friends willing to take the dive with me so I could share this experience with you.
Inside Momofuku Ssam Bar
Here are some explanations as to why I suffered from a meat overdose…
What is Bo Ssam?
According to Wikipedia, Bo Ssam is pork wrapped in a leafy vegetable, mostly lettuce, served with small side dishes and Ssamjang (a thick spicy paste). At Momofuku, the Bo Ssam includes a slow cooked Pork Shoulder that’s been cooked for around 6 hours, Oysters, Rice, Bibb lettuce, Ssam sauce, Kim Chi and ginger scallion sauce.
How to prepare for Bo Ssam
- Find 6-10 friends willing to suffer a meat overdose and heartburn (the more big eaters, the better)
- Make your reservation after 10am each day on http://www.momofuku.com/ (I made mine 2 weeks ahead for a Saturday lunch)
- Start training your metabolism by going for jogs. (I went for a 4 mile run/walk that morning)
- Don’t eat meat for the few days prior (I had sushi for dinner the night before)
Starters – the downfall of the meal
Momofuku is also known for it’s steamed pork buns, so ordering them was a must. Knowing we had 8-10 pounds of pork to devour, we restricted ourselves to only one of the two types available each. In hindsight my advice is probably to just get one of them… even one to share if you’re a small eater!
Momofuku-famed steamed pork buns
I liked the regular Steamed Pork Buns more than the special Bar Bun (below). The Steamed Pork Bun has Pork Belly, Hoisin, Cucumbers and Scallions. You are also given Sriracha to drizzle on yourself, which complimented the bun quite well. The pork belly was nice and juicy and is a great start to the meal to follow.
Bar Bun & Grapefruit soda
The Bar Bun has Crispy Pork Belly, Avocado, Basil and Smoked Mayo in a white steamed bun. I didn’t feel that this was tastier as the crispy pork belly was a little dry, didn’t have as much flavour and definitely put me over the edge to near fullness.
And here comes the Bo Ssam
The assortment of “sides” are first to arrive at the table, Oysters, Rice, Bibb lettuce, Ssamsauce, Kim Chi and ginger scallion sauce all arrive in small dipping bowls and are a welcome compliment to the heaviness and fatty-ness of the pork.
Bibb lettuce for wrapping & condiments for flavour
As I read in the cookbook, the pork is marinated for a couple of hours then slow cooked in the oven for another few hours with the entire process taking around 6-8 hours, depending on the size of your pork butt. As we dug into the pork, you could tell how tender it was… the pork stripped off like string cheese and the oil slowly oozed out onto the plate.
Slow cooked pork shoulder - Look at that fatty goodness
Making the wrap combinations was quite fun. My favourite combo was easily the Oyster and Kim Chi wrapped with some juicy pork and a dollop of rice, sounds like a weird combination but try it before you judge! In the end I could only scoff down 4-5 of these, with a few breaks taken in between and I literally ate till my stomach burst.
Dozen oysters to balance out the pork
Despite everyone eagerly awaiting to eat I made everyone wait till I got this perfect shot, before I allowed them to scoff their faces.
The table setting
Even with 8 people at the table we didn’t even get half way through the plate of pork! At the end of the meal, I promptly announced my newly found vegetarian-ness for the next week. Unfortunately for me I took home the leftovers, so was stuck with eating pork for the next few days (it was great under the grill!).
Adios Momofuku... until next time!
This was definitely a memorable experience, an experience I probably will not want to go through again. But hey, my decision could be swayed if you give me some time and a great reason!
Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 Second Ave, New York City
(Cnr of 13th st & 2nd ave in the East Village)
Web: http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/ssam-bar/about/
Author
By teresa
Teresa lives in New York City. She's originally from Sydney, like the rest of the EST crew, but crossed the Pacific to explore the culinary delights of the United States. In a country known for artery-clogging, cholesterol-filled, join in on Teresa's culinary adventure!
Follow glittazInformation
This article was written on 19 May 2011, and is filed under American, Korean, New York City.
Current post is tagged
Recent articles
- The Winery, Surry Hills16 May 2012
- Al-Aseel, Greenacre09 May 2012
- Sugaroom, Pyrmont02 May 2012
- Coco Chocolate High Tea, Middle Head25 Apr 2012
- Easter Long Weekend, Gerrigong17 Apr 2012
- Food Friends, Parramatta04 Apr 2012
- Torque Bar & Grill, Concord30 Mar 2012
- My sister’s baby shower feast & my “sciatus”26 Mar 2012
- Jeep Wrangler King Island Experience, Tasmania21 Mar 2012
- TOYS Collective Issue #9: Blood, Bones & Butter, Otto Ristorante15 Mar 2012
Recent comments
Who Are We?
Search eatshowandtell
Share
Sponsors
Categories
Creative Commons
Eat Show & Tell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License.
I’m jealous! I love the look of the buns, not only the filling but the buns themselves, they look so heavenly soft.
The buns were indeed very soft and delicious. They’re actually pretty simple to make but their recipe makes at least 50 of them! Great to leave in the freezer
That looks like a total treat! Hmmm, bo ssam pork for days afterwards sounds great!
I attempted the infamous pork buns and sad to say, they looked nothing like those pictured…
What happened to your buns? Mine didn’t rise as much but overall they were similar. But the stand is definitely the pork inside the buns. Full of fat!
Food looks awesome but your use of “literally” bugs me.
When you say “I literally ate till my stomach burst”, how did they treat that when you got to the hospital?
See:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally
HAHA! that’s a great site! Excuse my improper use of the word. I guess after my meal, I literally felt like my tummy *could* have exploded!
I definitely took many breaks…
the bar bun does look quite dry, shame!
but mmm that pork looks soooooooo good! moist and juicy. what flavours of marinade came through in the pork?
What flavours of marinade? mmm good question but I can’t answer that. I was so hungry I scoffed the whole thing down… Also, I think I overdid it with the sriracha!
I am hoping I’ll get to go to Momofuku when I’m in NYC in October. As it’s only my friend & I going I think this porky feast will be out of the question, but atleast I’ve now seen what it is all about.
Definitely go for the pork buns even if you can’t do the Bo Ssam! It’s well worth it
Oh I so want to try this. Our local korean place does a version of this for 40 bucks. I am yet to try it though. I still haven’t cooked anything out of this book. I really need to try the kim chi recipe, cause I know I will be able to manage that.
$40 for a version of Bo Ssam? So for it!
I’ve tried a few simple things in the cookbook… Shrimp & Grits are achievable and great. Well I love grits, so this won me over. Try out the buns. I cheated and made the buns but bought some Chinese bbq meat to serve with it. Turned out great and they were a hit!
Drooling over the steamed pork bun!!!
I’m drooling over it too just looking back at the pics!
That pork shoulder looks absolutely divine!
For once, the pictures don’t do justice for this dish. Pulling apart the tender meat and staring at the glistening sugary outer layer… I hope I dream about this tonight!
makes me really want to go!! just now have to find 5+ other people to devour the pork shoulder =P