Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

Gochujang Meatloaf (Korean-style Meatloaf) and Onions Pickled with Mustard Sauce

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“Outrageously delicious” is the best way to describe this meatloaf. The authors of K Food really hit the mark by dispensing with ground beef and instead employing ground pork for this recipe. There’s really no secret to success other than making sure to use the glaze.

One of the best ways to serve this is to cut the meatloaf into thick slices and sear them in a hot frypan before putting them on a toasted bun and topping them with onions pickled in mustard sauce. Note that the onions are best after 24 hours of pickling before you eat them, so please plan ahead if using on the meatloaf.

Doesn’t look the best coming out of the oven.


What you’ll need for the pickled onions

  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • Pinch of salt for soaking the onions
  • 0.5 cups English mustard, or a similar type
  • 0.5 cups superfine sugar (can be made by pulsing granulated sugar in a spice grinder a couple of times)
  • 0.5 cups apple vinegar

What to do for the pickled onions

Soak the onions in salted water for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, a separate bowl large enough to hold the onions, mix the mustard, sugar and apple vinegar.

When the onions are done soaking, thoroughly drain them and mix them into the mustard sauce. Ensure that everything is mixed well. You can eat them right way, but it’s better to wait at least 24 hours so they can soften. I refrigerated mine in a glass jar to good effect.

What you’ll need for the meat loaf

  • 1.25 lbs. lean ground pork
  • 3 scallions trimmed and thinly sliced
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1.5T gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
  • Pinch of pepper
  • 1 cup, fresh breadcrumbs (just pulse bread in a food processor)
  • 0.5 a white or yellow onion, minced
  • 1 egg
  • 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan (if using a bigger pan, just calculate the percentage it’s bigger and increase the ingredients by that same percentage.)

What you’ll need for the glaze

  • 1.5T apricot jam
  • 1T gochujang
  • 0.5t honey (I used maple syrup, to good effect)
  • 1t soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 0.25t sesame oil
  • 0.5T apple vinegar

What to do

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease the loaf pan.

Make the glaze: mix all the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Set it aside.

Put all the meatloaf ingredients in a large bowl, and using a spoon or your hands, mix everything together until fully blended. Spoon the meat into the loaf pan and using an offset spatula, ensure the top is level, even into the corners. Bake for 45 minutes or so, until the meatloaf begins to pull back from the edges of the loaf pan.

Remove the loaf pan from the oven and skewer all over the top of the meatloaf with a long skewer. This will allow the glaze to permeate the meat. Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the meat and put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes. The internal temp of the meat should be at least 165 degrees F.

Serve hot or cold. If you manage to not eat it all in a day, it will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days, if covered.

The pickled onions are really versatile and can be used as a condiment for many foods.

Guest cook: Peter makes Poulet à la Moutarde et à l’Estragon (Mustard and Tarragon Chicken)

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This recipe and these photos are from my friend, Peter, who puts people to sleep for surgery and wakes up peoples’ taste buds with food like this. Besides being an accomplished cook, outstanding photographer and one of the few people in the country who repairs and rebuilds vintage Bang & Olufsen components, he and his wife have Miles, the coolest cat, ever.

Mustard and tarragon chicken is a rustic French dish that originated in the Bourgogne region. The ingredient list is simple, but do try to use as high-quality ingredients for the most delicious results. Fresh tarragon is critical to this recipe.

The freshest tarragon possible.
Chopping those herbs. Note the beautiful knife blade.
Giving the chicken a good sear on each side.
Sautéing the herbs.
With the pan deglazed, adding the mustard.
Heavy cream mixed in and ready to reintroduce the chicken.
Just a few minutes from being able to serve.
Ready to serve.

What you’ll need

  • 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (debone but leave the skin, if you want)
  • 1T each of butter and olive oil
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 0.5 cups white wine—dry, if possible
  • 0.5 cups chicken stock
  • 1T Dijon mustard
  • 0.5 cups heavy cream
  • 0.25 cups fresh tarragon, roughly chopped
  • Black pepper and salt, to taste

What to do

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces on each side.  Set aside. Heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat in a large frypan. When the pan has heated, sear the chicken on each side for about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Over the same heat setting add the shallots to the frypan and sauté them until softened—2 – 3 minutes. Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan from searing the chicken. Simmer the wine until it’s reduced by half.

Whisk in the chicken stock and Dijon mustard, then stir in the heavy cream, letting it simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened.

For the last step, set the heat at just a simmer and reintroduce the chicken to the frypan. Let the chicken and sauce simmer for about 12 – 15 minutes, while regularly spooning the sauce over the chicken until it’s cooked through. Be careful not over overcook it; that would dry it out.

Serve hot over rice or home-made mashed potatoes.

One of many of Peter’s Bang & Olufsen systems: a 6500 in white–very cool and rare.

Babi Kecap (Kecap Manis-braised Pork)

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This is a wonderful Indonesian braise. “Wait a minute. Indonesia is a Muslim country, and Muslims don’t eat pork,” you may say, and you’d be correct. The thing is, this recipe is from Bali, which is predominantly Hindu.

With that behind us, I love that different cultures have variations on the same foods, such as marinated and starch-dredged fried chicken, and in this case, cut up meat braised in soy sauce. The Japanese have a similar dish, though it has a different flavor profile.

There’s no real trick to making babi kecap, but keep in mind that kecap manis is thicker than sweet soy sauce and substituting the latter for the former will render a different outcome.

What you’ll need

  • 2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder
  • 3T and 1t neutral oil
  • 10 small, red Asian shallots, peeled and sliced
  • 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 50g (2 oz.) ginger, peeled and minced
  • 0.33 cups kecap manis
  • 2T soy sauce
  • 1.5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2T mushroom powder (optional)
  • 2 star anise
  • 3 Thai chilies
  • 2 large red chilis

What to do

Cut the pork into 1.5-inch cubes. You can trim off excessive fat, but whatever fat there is will render as it cooks. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a large casserole or braising pan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic, cooking until they take on a little color. Make sure not to scorch the garlic. Add the ginger and pork and cook until the pork takes on a bit of color.

Add the kecap manis and soy sauce to the pan, mixing it in well.

If you’re using the mushroom powder, whisk it into the stock before adding the stock to the braising pan. If the liquid doesn’t cover the meat, add more stock or water until it’s just covered. Add the star anise and chilis.

Bring to a simmer and skim off any scum that rises to the top. Reduce the heat to a very light simmer and cover the braising pan. Cook for 1.5 or so hours. Check the pan every 20 minutes or so to ensure the simmer is at the right level. Add water, if for some reason it has evaporated from the pan.

When the pork is cooked, the sauce should be glossy and slightly sticky—like kecap manis. If it’s too watery, remove the pork from the braising pan with a slotted spoon and, over high heat, boil off the excess liquid. Return the meat to the pan.

If the meat was fatty, there will be a layer of rendered fat floating on the surface. You could skim it off, or if you have time, let the dish cool on the counter before refrigerating it until the fat cools and solidifies, making it easy to remove. Serve hot with rice and crunchy stir-fried vegetables.