Cycle 14 – Item 248

10 (Sun) September 2023

Bossam with Kimchi Sok

3.0

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with IZ

When I make bossam, an essential side dish is mumalaengi muchim (dried radish strips, seasoned with red chili powder, sugar, garlic, etc – to be featured in its own post someday), which is always shown in photos and mentioned in passing but never really emphasized (see most recently 14.227 Garlic-Ginger Bossam).  Kinda like kimchi, it provides a spicy-sweet counterpoint to the richness of the pork belly, as well as crunch to offset the meat’s squishiness.

Didn’t have any on hand, didn’t feel like making a trip to the store, so I improvised with the leftover bits of kimchi stuffing (sok), which consists primarily of julienned radish, adding sugar and sesame oil.

It sorta worked.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)