I have been dying to make the Gotcha! pork roast recipe from the hilarious and slightly scandalous anime, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma. Dubbed the official “food-porn anime,” this show produces some of the most beautifully animated meals with reactions that are truly orgasmic and reaches levels of ridiculousness that I could have ever imagined. 

The Food Wars episode that started it all

https://tenor.com/embed.js

The first episode we are introduced to the main protagonist, Soma Yukihira, an eager-to-learn young cook working at his father’s restaurant. A corporate woman comes into town buying the neighborhood with aims to tear it down and build a luxury apartment complex. After several attempts to sabotage the restaurant to get them to sell, the woman and Soma make a deal that if he can’t impress her with a meal then they’ll sell. She agrees, but tries to steal the victory by destroying all of Soma’s cooking materials. 

Luckily, Soma had done some grocery shopping and quickly devised the meal he’s going to make: Gotcha! Pork Roast. Juicy, thick-cut bacon enveloped around soft and fluffy mashed potatoes with sauteed onions and mushrooms folded to make it look like a little roast with a delicate red wine and sake reduction Bordelaise sauce. The overly-sexual reaction that happens after a single bite made me want to taste this meal more than anything, while simultaneously cry-laughing at the erotic-joy that is a “foodgasm.”  

The Gotcha! pork roast recipe

Searching for the Gotcha! pork roast recipe

My adventure began with researching recipes for this delectable concoction. After an hour or so of watching YouTube videos of people recreating the meal, and becoming increasingly hungry doing so, I finally settled on Chef PK’s recipe. His seemed the most authentic in terms of actual taste versus following the recipe from the show. I ended up following my heart as I went along. 

Ingredients

• 6 potatoes
• 2 small-medium onions
• 4-6 baby bella mushrooms
• 1 egg
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Fresh Rosemary
• Thick-cut bacon
• Red wine
• Sweet Sake
• Butter (unsalted)
• Olive oil
• Minced garlic (fresh or jarred)
• Milk or light cream

Kitchen Utensils and materials 

• 1 large pot
• 1 pan
• Spatula
• Cutting knife
• Serrated knife
• Baking pan
• Grill rack
• Butcher’s twine
• Cutting board
• Parchment paper
• Cling wrap 

Gotcha! pork roast recipe steps

Step 1

Start by peeling and boiling your potatoes. Add a pinch of salt to the water. Let them boil until they are fork tender. This just means you can stick a fork into a potato and pull it out without any resistance. You don’t want the potato to fall apart, but also not stick to the fork. While your potatoes are boiling finely chop the onions and mushrooms into separate bowls. 

Step 2

Medium heat a frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions first. Once they become slightly translucent you can add in the mushrooms and a teaspoon of minced garlic. Cook it all down until it’s nice and tender. Put back in a bowl and set aside. 

Step 3

I decided to use Chef PK’s technique for the bacon versus the anime for the integrity of holding everything together. In the anime, Soma wraps the bacon in strips around the mashed potatoes. However, I didn’t trust myself  not to have potatoes squishing out everywhere so I went with the bacon weave. 

For the bacon weave technique:

• First, put down a large piece of parchment paper.
• Second, lay out the bacon strips horizontally beside each other.
• Third, fold every other strip back then placing a slice of bacon vertically.
• Place the folded back pieces over the vertical piece then fold back the opposing horizontal pieces and repeat until you have a bacon placemat! Place flat in the refrigerator until ready.

Step 4

Once you drain your potatoes, in the pot add two tablespoons of butter and a ¼ cup of milk or light cream and melt together. Then add the potatoes to the pot and mash! Add salt and pepper to taste, but not too much salt because the bacon will be adding flavor as well.

Set aside 1-2 tablespoons worth of the sautéed onions and mushrooms to add to the sauce later and add the rest into the potatoes. I did not add extra bacon into the potato mixture like Chef PK did because I didn’t want it to be too rich with bacon flavor. 

Step 5

Allow your mashed potatoes to cool at least to room temperature. Beat one egg and mix into the potatoes, this will help as a binder. If they still seem a bit loose you can also add some breadcrumbs (about a ¼ cup) or some cornstarch (about a tablespoon).

Then wrap in cling wrap and shape into a log. Place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour. Once they are set, unwrap the potato log carefully onto the bacon weave and wrap around the log. Secure it all together with butcher’s twine. Take small sprigs of the rosemary and tuck into the twine. 

Step 6

Preheat the oven to 375°. Place the roast on the grill rack on the baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Once completed, put the oven on broil for five minutes, gently flip over and five minutes again. 

Step 7

While the roast is in the oven, it’s time to make the sauce!

One cup of red wine and a ¼ cup of sake go into the pan, the alcohol will cook off quickly, bring to a boil. Add in the remaining onions and mushrooms as well as one sprig of rosemary. Allow the liquid to reduce by half turn the heat down to low and add two tablespoons of butter letting it slowly melt into the sauce. Once incorporated turn off the heat completely. 

Step 8

Once the roast is done, allow it to rest for 10 minutes before moving to a cutting board.

Use a serrated knife to gently cut into the bacon. You can optionally sear your piece to get the potatoes a little crispy, but it’s not necessary. Drizzle a little sauce on top and bon appetit! 

The Taste Test

This meal was so fantastically delicious! I will make the Gotcha! pork roast recipe again and I think it would go wonderfully with a side of green beans or asparagus.

Have you tried making this Gotcha! pork roast? Let us know how yours turned out in the comments below or on Twitter @geekgalsco!

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Featured image credit: Melissa Joy/Geek Gals and J.C. Staff Studios