MY HAND AT SSAM

I'm not sure if I should be trying to make ssam, but last night I figured I'd give it a shot. I had that lovely beef rump roast that had been cooked down the previous day and even though it wasn't the incredible salty Berkshire pork they have at Momofuku, I thought it might work.

So I got everything going and as soon as Meena got home from her first day at her new gig, I sprung into action and started wrapping stuff up. Here's the list of what went in:
- shredded beef
- shiitake mushrooms (sautéed with black sesame seeds and rice vinegar)
- white rice
- miso sauce (soy sauce, water and miso paste)
- kimchi paste
- whole wheat and flax wrap

I also made a little green side dish with the following:
- broccoli
- raisins
- cumin
- paprika
- rice vinegar
- garlic
- olive oil
- black pepper

Meena wasn't a huge fan of the broccoli. I should have chopped it up into smaller pieces when roasting. My bad. I learned this one from Bon Appetite and it didn't really say how large they should be ... just what the needed to look like when done. But the vinaigrette was very nice. I liked it and I'll try this one again. I just need to refine it a little.

The ssam was pretty good. I should have thrown something green in there. Edamame would have been nice. I thought about it. But I couldn't find it at Pacific Green. Whatever. I mean, I think we both liked it. Pork is the ideal, but the beef was OK. Meena especially liked that I wrapped it up in foil just like they do at Momofuku.

The point is, I think I stayed mostly true and as a result, we had a nice dinner. I'll keep working on it. It's definitely something I'd like to get better at doing. I want to hit Chinatown and see if I can get some mu shu wraps to use instead of these tortilla things. That'll help. And I should try to marinate some black beans and cucumbers. That would help too.

I'm going to get better. I promise!