Let’s Cook! Korean Lettuce Wraps with Roast Pork and Kimchi Slaw

When South Korea was announced as one of the new booths at the 2010 Epcot Food & Wine Festival, I did a little jig (or whatever corresponding dance they do in Korea)…

I really love Korean food, and was eager to see how Disney presented it to the masses. At the same time I was a bit concerned that many guests may think that Korean food was a bit too “foreign” and be afraid to try the offerings.

This apprehension about the acceptance of the food soon was dispelled as the lines for the Short Ribs and the Pork Lettuce Wraps were almost always long – once the word got out the guests queued up. I was very pleased with the quality and taste of the food items, as well as how well the cuisine was appreciated by the festival-goers – of course I did often wish the lines were shorter because I wanted to taste the food again myself!

The two savory items offered were probably not the most “hard-core” Korean foods they could have offered, but I think they provided a reasonable introduction to the flavors that I hope tempted some to try other Korean food after the festival.

So now let’s try one of the recipes from the South Korean booth, and one of my favorite items from all the Food & Wine Festival – let’s cook!

Lettuce Wraps with Roast Pork and Kimchi Slaw (Bo Ssam)

Serves 4 as a First Course or 2 as a Main Course (I think it would really serve more…though I could probably eat the whole think myself…)

Ingredients

For the Roast Pork:

1 (2 1/2 pound) Boneless Pork Butt (actually bone in would be fine – just need a bit weightier piece, maybe about 4 pounds)

2 Tbl Coarse Salt

1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar

For the Kimchi Slaw:

3 Cups Finely shredded Napa Cabbage

1/2 Cup Thinly sliced Red Onion

1/2 Cup Shredded Carrot

1 Tsp Minced Ginger

1 Tsp Minced Garlic

1 Tbl Sambal Olek (spicy ginger-garlic sauce from the Asian market – if you can’t find it, Sriracha should work fine, and you can find that most anyplace now)

2 Tbl Lime Juice

1 Tbl Rice Vinegar

1 Tsp Fish Sauce

1 Tbl Sugar

For the Sesame Mayo:

1 Tbl Sesame Seeds

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Tbl Water

1 1/2 Tsp Sesame Oil

1 1/2 Tsp Lemon Juice

1 Tsp Granulated Garlic

1/2 Tsp Coarse Salt

1/4 Tsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper

6 to 12 Bibb Lettuce Leaves for wrapping

Procedure

For the Pork:

Combine the brown sugar and the salt and rub over the pork.

Put into a large zip-lock bag and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Remove pork from the bag and rinse off the coating. Pat dry with paper towels and put into a roasting pan.

Cook for 4 1/2- 5 hours until very tender.

Remove from oven and shred into bite-size pieces with two forks.

For the Kimchi Slaw:

Combine the cabbage, onion and carrots in a large bowl.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients then pour over the veggies.

Toss to combine.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until wilted. Stir occasionally.

For the Sesame Mayo:

Toast the sesame seeds in a small, dry skillet over medium-high heat stirring constantly until light brown and aromatic. Allow to cool. (Or just cheat like me and buy toasted sesame seeds at the Asian market.)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate.

To serve simply take a lettuce leaf, add some of the pork and top with the kimchi slaw and mayo in desired quantities. Fold the lettuce around the fillings and stuff into your mouth… then thank me….

Some notes…

If you have a favorite method for pulled pork on the grill, knock yourself out and use it – I wouldn’t go too heavy on the smoke myself, but a bit of cherry and/or hickory added would be nice.

Pulled pork does freeze nicely, so feel free to use a bigger piece and/or multiple butts and stick the extra away for wraps or whatever later.

You could also use a warmed flour tortilla as a wrapper (and thus make a fancy-dancy Kogi food truck style taco…), but I’d probably still use the lettuce inside for the crispness…

This is pretty good stuff – give it a try and let us know what you think!

Basic recipe comes from the 2010 Food & Wine Festival Cook Book.

Now back to the kitchen…