Bo-ssam (Korean Pork Wraps) but 20% effort
Cooking doesn’t need to be hard or complicated. Often, you’re simply looking for a recipe that gets you most of the way there with minimal effort, hence 80/20.
Today we’re making bossam, which is a dish that I always love ordering at Korean restaurants, but for whatever reason whether it was because of the high price or all the different toppings it comes with, I somehow assumed it couldn’t be easily made at home.
Bossam is normally served with many toppings like salted napa cabbage, salted shrimp sauce, pickled radish and oyster salad, and more. But, if you’re looking for the simplest combination of ingredients that get you most of the way there, bossam is a dish that you can have ready in 30 MINUTES. In my opinion, lettuce, sliced garlic, store-bought kimchi and ssamjang is the 20% combination that gives you the biggest bang for your buck.
Also, depending on where you live, bossam could range anywhere between $30-50 to order at restaurants, but not only is it much cheaper to make at home (at $4-5 per serving), it can also taste just as good!
Ingredients
(tap measurement to shuffle units)
Pork Belly
Salted Shrimp Sauce
Salted Cabbage
Other Toppings
Directions
(tap text to cross out step)
- Add pork belly, yellow onion, ginger, garlic, instant coffee, brown sugar, salt, and water into the InstantPot or pressure cooker.
- 2 lb pork belly (900 g)
- 1 yellow onion, halved (300 g)
- 3 inch ginger, chunk (50 g)
- 12 clove garlic, whole (36 g)
- 1 tbsp instant coffee (15 g)(or fresh ground coffee beans)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar (12 g)
- 2 tsp salt (8 g)
- 6 cup water (1440 g)
- Run the InstantPot on manual and high pressure for 15 minutes. If your pork belly is on the thicker side, add 2 additional minutes.
- While the Instant Pot is running, prepare your toppings like lettuce, kimchi, sliced garlic, salted shrimp paste (optional), or salted napa cabbage (optional).
- 1/2 head lettuce (300 g)
- 1/2 cup kimchi (85 g)(example)
- 2 clove garlic, thinly sliced (6 g)
- (Optional) To make the salted shrimp sauce, combine salted shrimp (saeu-jot), brine from the jar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, gochugaru, and green onions in a mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.
- (Optional) Place the napa cabbage into a bowl and generously rub the salted shrimp sauce onto the exterior and between each layer, ensuring it is fully coated. Let it rest for 2 hours to allow the cabbage to pickle.
- 1/2 head napa cabbage, cut into quarters (500 g)
- (Optional) After 2 hours, rinse the napa cabbage thoroughly to remove any excess salt. Slice off the root to separate the leaves.
- After the pork belly has finished pressure cooking, manually release the pressure. Remove the pork belly from the Instant Pot and allow it to cool, or rinse it under cold water to speed up the process before slicing.
- Assemble all your toppings along with the sliced pork belly, and enjoy!
Cost Savings
Cost Savings
Prices may vary based on location and specific ingredient & restaurant choices. ⓘ
Homemade Cost
$4.13
per serving
Restaurant Cost
$49.68
~4 servings (incl. tax & tip)
Total Savings
$33.16
~4 servings
You can save up to 93% by cooking this dish at home!