Oysters, Left and Pork Butt, Right
Here’s how Ssam Bar does pork butt: they cook it forever so that when you take your tongs to it, the thing falls apart. They place on your table a couple of bowls of Boston lettuce, white rice, a tray of raw oysters and dipping sauces: pureed kimchi, kimchi, ginger-scallion sauce and a Korean barbeque sauce.
Lettuce, Rice, Sauces
You layer juicy pork in one of the green velvety leaves, add a bit of rice, the sauce of your choice (the classic kimchi was my favorite) and on top, an oyster. Wrap it up and eat it. It is salty, sweet, a touch spicy, creamy, crunchy, rich. It is all those things. When do you get to experience all those things IN ONE BITE?!
The first of many pork lettuce wraps
It’s a pork feast like you’ve never had, best enjoyed with a big group of people (6-10, to be exact) who like getting their hands dirty. The feast is called Bo Ssam, and you have to make a special reservation for it, and that special reservation must be done online exactly one month in advance (although sometimes you can get lucky with last-minute cancellations).
Momofuku Ssam Bar, Bo Ssam dinner 207 2nd Ave at 13th St. For information about the restaurant, visit their website, and to make a reservation, click here.
at first bite 