I love cookery shows. Of course I have my favourites. Rick Stein will always be the king and I will always mourn the demise of Anthony Bourdain. Stanley Tucci’s Taste of Italy was a feast for the eyes. His dapper travels made me want to get straight on a plane to Tuscany.
John Torode is another favourite. I always think that he knows what he’s doing. His mastery of Asian food is remarkable. He is the owner of the delectably named Yum Yum sauce.
The recipes today are about another hero, David Chang. He is famous for popularising pork belly bao and on one visit to New York, I was determined to waddle my way around with a belly full of them.
I’m embarrassed to admit that one of my many idiosyncrasies is that while I may have a full and happy plate in a restaurant, I’m also eyeing up what other people are eating as I’m comprehensively riddled with FOMO.
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I had spotted a section on his menu that said “Momofuku Bo Ssam… a pork shoulder for six or more, advance order necessary”. Sadly, we were only four. One lucky table beside us ordered it and I was transfixed, so much so that there was barely a peep out of me as I worked through my own food and stalked them.
Chang cooks his marinated pork for six hours at a low heat until it falls apart, and serves his Bo Ssam with a ginger scallion sauce, Ssam dipping sauce, rice, lettuce, kimchi and optional oysters. I have written about this before, but today’s recipe is an updated version, because I was transfixed by the Yum Yum sauce.
I couldn’t decide what cut to use so I went to my Polish shop to see what they had. I chose shoulder and belly as I was still prevaricating and decided to cook both. They also have a lovely neck joint, that would have been lovely too but I had enough pork for one day.
So I’m doing another version of Momofuku porky feast. I never got to eat the real thing in the end and I’m forever dreaming about it.
Recipe: Slow cooked pork with Yum Yum sauce
Recipe: Pickled summer vegetables
Recipe: Sesame and spring onion Hasselback potatoes
