Lacquered Pork (Momofuku Bo Ssam)

Lacquered Pork (Momofuku Bo Ssam)  

I think I have mentioned my love of easy to make dishes. I also have a love of pork (who doesn't), and I love Asian style foods.  This dish is the best of all three. It has minimum preparation and piggy goodness. Pop it in the oven and ignore it for hours. Then Serve. Its perfect for when you want to impress your guests with something that looks as if you slaved all day to make.

This is also a great recipe to make for a family dinner, shred and eat or freeze for grab and go meals. 

Ingredients

3-5 lb bone in pork shoulder
1/3 cups white sugar
1/3 cup salt
1/8 cup garlic powder
1/3 cup brown sugar

Procedures

Combine sugar, salt and garlic in a small bowl. Score the fat on the pork shoulder. Rub sugar mixture into the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, drain liquid from the meat.  Heat oven to 300 degrees.  Cook, covered for 5 hours.  Remove meat from the oven, increase oven temperature to 425. Coat the meat with brown sugar and return it to the oven, cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until sugar caramelizes.  Serve with rice on lettuce leaves.

Note- I have made this multiple times. It always turns out fabulous. I have even played with the recipe slightly by cutting small slits in the meat and stuffing 5-10 1/2 cloves of garlic into the meat or a mix of garlic and fresh ginger sliced very thin. Every version turns out wonderful. 

This goes great with a little of the Yongnomjeong sauce recipe I posted a while back.I make an Asian coleslaw and serve it as a lettuce wrap or type of Asian style taco.

To make leftovers into steamed buns-

Shred and dice the one pound lacquered pork. In a separate bowl combine:

2 shallots (finely diced)

2 chopped spring onion
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
¼ cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon cornflour

2 tbs honey
½ tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine (mirin works in a pinch)

½ teaspoon five spice powder

1/4 teaspoon ginger, grated

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or pan.
2. Add diced pork to the wok/pan and stir then add spring onions and shallot, cook for 1 minute.
3. Add hoisin, soy sauce, honey, wine, ginger, 5 spice powder, oyster sauce and sesame oil to the pork mixture, stir fry for one minute.
4. Mix corn flour and stock together and then add to the pork mixture.
5. Stir well and keep cooking until the mixture thickens, 1 or 2 minutes.
6. Remove mixture from wok/pan and place in a bowl to cool. Set aside until ready to use.
7. Thaw rice bun dough (i cheat and buy it), roll out into 3” rounds and place 2-3 tbs meat mixture onto each round. Pinch dough closed around meat and place in steam basket. Steam 10-15 minutes until done.

 

Cilantro Jalapeno Chicken aka the perfect pot luck dish.

Cilantro Jalapeno Chicken:

 aka the perfect pot luck dish. 

I am always at a loss as to what to bring to pot luck dinners.  Making salad is a bit of an easy out, there are always too many desserts, never enough main courses. But who wants to prepare a difficult meal, pack it to go and hope it survives the trip? Especially when it has to be re-heated. I usually go for the side dish. My standard is a dish of  mixed boil in a bag rice, a can of diced chili's, a can of beans, a can of diced tomato's and some taco mix. It's a standard dump and go dish that's cheap, feeds many and easy to make on site.  I love easy, I particularly love cheap, easy and quick. However it was always lacking in something. So I kept looking. That's when I found this dish. It's not overly expensive. It makes a ton and it's a standard dump and go that reheats well.  This dish is perfect and a real crowed pleaser.

It also looks really pretty if you make it in a bunt pan. Or as I did in little individual bunt pans.

Cilantro Jalapeno Chicken

Don't let the name fool you. There is just a bit of heat. The Jalapeno's are just for flavor and boy o' boy does this have great flavor.

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked rice
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• 1 lb diced chicken breast meat
• 1 can (12 ounces)  evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon diced pickled jalapenos, or fresh if you have them

• 1 tbs Garlic Powder
• Salt to taste

Garnish (optional)- sour cream and whole jalapeno rings

Procedure 

Heat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except garnish.  Spread into a large casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Garnish if desired.