GOTCHA PORK ROAST

Last night, I discovered a new anime called Food Wars, which pretty much embodies my love of both cooking and eating. Some of the recipes looked so good that I wanted to know if they existed in real life. I started with the Gotcha Pork Roast, which was the first epic dish that was presented in the whole series. Over the course of summer, I will be trying many recipes including this one. I found the recipe:

INGREDIENTS: “Pork” Roast:

3 1/2 cubed russet potatoes

3/4 cup finely chopped Eringi mushrooms

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 packs thick cut bacon

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary Baker’s twine

Watercress for garnish

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Sauce:

Sweet sake soy sauce (to taste)

1/2 cup red cooking wine

2 Tbsp butter

This recipe, as beautiful and complex as it looks, is actually extremely simple! First skin and cut your potatoes up into small cubes and steam them for 10-12 minutes until they are soft and squishy. In a separate pan, saute your onions and eringi mushrooms together with some extra virgin olive oil until the ingredients are golden brown and soft. Mash your potatoes by hand (or with a potato masher) and mix in your sauteed veggies. Prepare your bacon wrap by laying out your bacon strips on a baking pan with tin foil or a baking rack. Create the heart of your dish by molding your mashed potatoes into a loaf like shape. Place on your bacon strips, and carefully wrap the bacon around the potatoes. You’ll need to add strips to the ends and on top to fully encapsulate this beautiful concoction. Use your twine / string to tightly wrap the Pork Roast so it does not fall apart while it bakes. When your done, break up your rosemary into small sprigs and pin it against the string and the bacon wrapped mashed potatoes. Bring your oven to 300 F and bake for 35-45 minutes until your bacon is golden browned. Broil on high for 3 minutes afterwards to make it extra crispy. Meanwhile, prepare your sauce by combining a half cup of wine, sweet soy sauce, and butter in a frying pan and let it all bubble up and combine and reduce. When that’s done, you can pour it directly onto your Gotcha Pork Roast! Remove your pork roast from the oven, cut the string off, pour your reduced red wine glaze on top, and add garnish with watercress. ENJOY!