Pork Roast, Just Kidding

Sometimes we would like to try something new for dinner but delivery services and granny’s cookbooks can’t offer anything extraordinary. So the main character of this anime is here to share a solution with you!

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, 2015

“Don’t think of unnecessary things, just make a dish that suits you!”

IMDb ranking: 8.2

Genres: comedy, drama, anime

Certificate: 18+

15 yo Yukihira Soma helps out at his family’s eatery and dreams to succeed his father as a chef. But after his graduation from school his father goes to America and sends Soma to elite Totsuki Culinary Academy not everyone can attend to. Soma reluctantly starts his study believing there’s nothing new they can teach him there.

In the first episode of the anime a local official wants to close down and demolish “Yukihira” family restaurant. To prevent this Soma challenges her with a cook-off and makes a dish called “pork roast, just kidding”.

Several interesting facts about the anime:

• Yuki Morisaki, a famous chef, participated in the creation of manga the anime is based on. She cooked almost every dish mentioned there beginning from the 5th chapter.
• Cookbook of recipes from manga was released in 2015. Its author is Yuki Morisaki, the book is illustrated by Shun Saeki.
• When characters in the anime enjoy a dish they become naked and guys also get ripped muscles.

Pork Roast, Just Kidding Recipe

Ingredients:

• 6 medium sized potatoes;
• 3 mushrooms (oyster, portabello or eringi mushrooms will do);
• 2 packs of thickly sliced bacon;
• 1 onion;
• 250 ml red dry wine;
• 60 ml mirin (sweet sake, could be replaced by any sweet fruity wine or sake with a ½ tsp sugar);
• 30 ml soy sauce;
• 2 Tbsp butter;
• 1 sprig of rosemary;
• Salt and other greens to taste but don’t use too much.

1. Peel potatoes, wash them and cut into quarters. Steam potatoes for 15-20 minutes.

2. Cut mushrooms and onion into cubes around 3x3 mm. This type of cutting is called brunoise. Fry until golden in a pan with 1 Tbsp of butter.

3. Chop potatoes but don’t mash them. Mix together with onion and mushrooms, add salt. When the mixture cools a little bit (it will take about 5-7 minutes) roll it up.

4. Wrap potatoes filling in bacon. Make sure bacon strips are overlapped to prevent gaps between them. Add rosemary sprig to the bacon. Tie the roll with a string so that it won’t loose its shape while baking. Preheat the oven to 190 °C and bake the dish until golden around 40-45 minutes depends on the oven type.

5. Meanwhile make a sauce ready. Boil wine on a frying pan and melt 1 Tbsp of butter in it. Stir gently and pour mirin and soy sauce in the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes more until the mixture gets thick.

6. Once the roll is ready remove the string and rosemary. Put the roll on a plate and pour the sauce on it. Sprinkle with chopped greens.

Pork roast is ready to serve! Enjoy the delicious taste of the potatoes mixed with gentle bacon umami (special, fifth taste they distinguish in Japan) and zesty rosemary flavor — this dish will definitely grace your dinner.

Bon appetite!