Momofuku Bo Ssam

The title of this post is a misnomer because bo ssam really involves delicious pork (which you can see above) wrapped in lettuce leaves with some assortment of vegetabley things.  If you know me well, you know that I'm fairly carnivorous (and if you don't know me well, you now know an important thing about me).  So, I left everything out from this recipe (from David Chang/Momofuku via The New York Times) except for the porky goodness.  Pork butt is often on the cheap at our local grocery store and this is a simple, easy (despite the time commitment) way to make something that tastes fantastic and can feed an army (Matt and I are going to be a very full army of two for the next week).  The slow-roasted pork is tender and I love the salty and sweet flavour contrast.  You'll see at the end that I ate this with a serving of three bean salad because, as an adult with a college education, I've wisened up to the fact that vegetables are both necessary and yummy (yes, I said it).

Ingredients

1 whole bone-in pork butt or picnic ham (8 to 10 pounds)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup plus 1 tbsp kosher salt

7 tbsp brown sugar

Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl.  Mix the white sugar with 1 cup of the salt and rub the mixture all over the meat.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight (or  for at least 6 hours, but who has enough time in the day to let this sit for 6 hours in the fridge and another 6 hours in the oven?).  Pre-heat the oven to 300 F.  Remove the pork from the fridge, discard any juices that have accumulated, and place the pork in a roasting pan.  Roast for approximately 6 hours.  Remove from the oven and let it rest (I did about 30 minutes).  Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 500 F and mix the brown sugar and remaining tablespoon of salt.  Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork and return the pork to the oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has formed.  Tear up using tongs and a fork and enjoy!