Name: Bossam (Korean Pork Lettuce Wraps)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 3
Ingredients: 1 kg skinless boneless pork belly ((2.2 pounds), rinsed in cold water); 1 onion (skin peeled and cut into quarters); 1 red apple ((160 g / 5.6 ounces), rinsed and cut in half, – I used red delicious variety); 2 stalks green onions ((50 g / 1.8 ounces), rinsed and root trimmed, – I used only the white part); 25 g fresh ginger ((0.9 ounces), skin peeled and thinly sliced); 25 g fresh garlic ((0.9 ounces), skin peeled); 1 tsp black whole pepper; 2 Tbsp Korean soybean paste (, doenjang); 2 Tbsp soy sauce; 4 Tbsp rice wine; 8 cups water; lettuce leaves (, washed and stem removed); perilla leaves (, washed and stem removed); 1 English cucumber (, washed, peeled and sliced long sticks); Some green chilies (, washed and thinly sliced); Some fresh oysters (, rinsed); Some Fresh Kimchi salad; Some radish Kimchi salad; Korean spicy dipping sauce (Ssamjang (Homemade or Store bought))

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Bossam is a popular Korean boiled pork dish. When it’s infused with an apple and other spices, it becomes irresistibly delicious!

Bossam

Today I’m sharing my apple infused Bossam (보쌈, Korean pork lettuce wraps) recipe with you! Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? But it really isn’t! Though I’m quite liking the name actually. It sounds sweet, tender and delicious!

In case you’ve never heard of Bossam, the main part of bossam is pork belly boiled in water with some spices (e.g. onion, garlic, ginger and green onion etc.) until the meat is fully cooked and tender then it’s thinly sliced.

It’s typically served with lettuce or napa cabbage leaves along with some spicy dipping sauce and other fresh crunchy vegetables (e.g. cucumber sticks and chilies) you can nibble on. Fresh Kimchi salad and shredded radish Kimchi are great with Bossam as well.

Once these ingredients are all prepared, you simply lay down a lettuce/cabbage leaf on your palm and add the sliced pork and other side dishes you want then wrap them up and put it into your mouth. Oh, yum! It’s really delicious.

The pork is so tender and the fresh Kimchi tastes so good with it! I particularly love having my Bossam with some fresh oysters! These are simply the BEST combo! Oysters are quite cheap in Korea (but not in Australia unfortunately), so make sure you spoil yourself with them if you are in Korea!

Now if you think about Chef David Chang’s Momofuku Bo Ssam, which is oven baked, you will immediately notice that it’s not traditional Korean Bossam. In fact, most Koreans wouldn’t even think that’s Bossam.

Though I believe his recipe is what made the word Bo Ssam / Bossam so famous worldwide.

Apple Infused Bossam

As I already shared my Bossam recipe back in 2006 (almost a decade ago! Oh, gosh, I sound too old now. 🙂 ), I was going to do some photo update. Then I thought it would be nice to update my original recipe a little bit as well for a change. So I started to think what else I could do or add to make my Bossam special.

I thought of adding some instant coffee powder (as my mum does.) – Some Koreans add coffee to give a brownish colour to the pork and also to remove the unique pork smell. But since I wanted my little girl to eat this Bossam as well that option was out. Who wants a little kiddo staying up late at night, right? Besides, my husband hates the taste of coffee.

After some thought, I decided to add an apple. I didn’t know what effect it may bring to my pork belly but apple sounded like a good match to pork. I also added some soy sauce to give a brownish colour to the pork and extra flavour. And I was right! It was really good, definitely better than my original recipe!

I also made some ssam sauce as well instead of using a store bought one. My sister reckons that having Bossam with homemade ssam sauce makes it way tastier!

So I insist that you try my Bossam recipe with my homemade ssam sauce too! (Note: Dipping sauce made with salted shrimps are also very popular to serve with Bossam but I didn’t serve it on this occasion. You can get the recipe from here.)

Anyway, I think my photos can speak for themselves how delicious my Bossam is. 😉 I hope you give this a try soon! It will make a great party food as well. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Apple Infused Bossam (Serves 2 to 3)

For pork (Put these into a large pot.)

1kg (2.2 pounds) skinless boneless pork belly, rinsed in cold water
1 onion, skin peeled and cut into quarters
1 red apple (160g/ 5.6 ounces) – I used red delicious variety, rinsed and cut in half
2 stalks of green onions (50g/ 1.8 ounces) – I used only the white part, rinsed and root trimmed
25g (0.9 ounces) fresh ginger, skin peeled and thinly sliced
25g (0.9 ounces) fresh garlic (about 5 cloves), skin peeled
1 tsp black whole pepper
2 Tbsp Korean soy bean paste (Doenjang)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp rice wine
8 cups water

For sides

Lettuce leaves, washed and stem removed
Perilla leaves, washed and stem removed
1 English cucumber, washed, peeled and sliced in long sticks
Some green chillies, washed and thinly sliced
Some fresh oysters – rinsed
Some fresh Kimchi salad
Some radish Kimchi salad
Homemade Korean spicy dipping sauce (Ssamjang) – Refer this recipe or buy from a store.

*1 Tbsp = 15ml, 1 Cup = 250ml

**If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my 30 essential Korean cooking ingredients list!

How to Make Bossam (Korean Pork Lettuce Wraps)

1.Boil the pot with the pork and ingredients with the lid on medium high heat until the pork is cooked. (It takes about 1 hr.)

2. While the pot is boiling, prepare the side ingredients. (All side ingredients can be prepared during the 1 hr, except for fresh Kimchi salad.)

3. Take out the meat. Cool it down for about 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Thinly slice the meat (about 1cm/0.4 inch thickness) with a knife. (You may want to use tongs to hold the meat if it’s still hot.) Serve the meat with the side ingredients.