Ingredients
5 ounces lean pork belly
13 ounces beef chuck
1 cracker
3 garlic cloves
1 scallion
.5 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1.5 tablespoons gochujang
.5 pounds caul fat
.5 teaspoons peanut oil
6-7 soy-pickled or fresh shiso leaves
Instructions
Mince garlic and scallion fine, and fry gently until just softened. Set aside to cool. Chop all meat into approximately 1-inch pieces and toss with the pepper, salt, gochujang sauce, and cooled fried garlic and scallion. Process first through the large plate of your meat grinder and then once more through the fine plate. Lastly, break up your cracker and process it through your grinder; it helps to get the last bits of meat through the plate and adds a bit of binding to your forcemeat as well.
It’s helpful to fry a little bit of your meat to taste at which point you can adjust the seasoning to your preference. Carefully spread your lacy piece of caul fat onto your clean workspace. I find it easiest to work with the delicate caul fat on a food-safe plastic cutting board just wiped with a cold wet cloth. Depending on the stretchiness and composition of your piece of caul, you may have leftovers.
Place one shiso leaf in the center of a section of the caul fat closest to an edge. Take an egg-sized portion of your forcemeat and shape into a slightly flattened oval patty, and place it centered over the shiso leaf. Use a sharp knife to trim away a piece of the caul just large enough to wrap your meat in, and gently wrap the edges of your little caul fat wrapper up and over your meat patty.
Roast in a 375°F oven on a rack over a silver-foil lined roasting pan for 20-25 minutes or until the crepinette feels firm to the touch and is nicely browned. Serve warm with rice and japchae.
Key Points About Ingredients:
- Caul fat is the lacy, web-like membrane surrounding an animal's stomach; it melts during cooking to baste the meat and creates a gorgeous, crispy exterior without any additional casing.
- Gochujang is a fermented Korean red chili paste that adds deep umami, subtle sweetness, and moderate heat — a little goes a long way in seasoning forcemeat.
- Shiso leaves (perilla) lend a unique anise-mint aroma that perfumes the meat from the inside out and adds a pop of freshness to each crepinette.
- Caul fat from pork belly contributes rich fat that keeps the lean beef chuck moist during roasting, balancing the overall texture and flavor of the forcemeat.
- Grinding the cracker through the meat grinder last is a clever technique: it pushes residual meat through the plate and adds a light binder to the forcemeat mixture.
Key Nutritional Insights:
- Beef chuck is a good source of complete protein and provides meaningful amounts of zinc and iron, both critical for immune function and oxygen transport.
- Pork belly adds monounsaturated and saturated fats that contribute to satiety and help carry fat-soluble flavor compounds from the gochujang and shiso.
- Gochujang contains capsaicin from chili peppers, which research suggests may support metabolism, and also provides a small dose of vitamin C.
- Shiso leaves are surprisingly nutrient-dense for an herb, offering vitamin K, beta-carotene (vitamin A precursor), and anti-inflammatory rosmarinic acid.
- Caul fat is predominantly fat and renders significantly during roasting, so the actual fat consumed per serving is meaningfully lower than the raw weight suggests.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size1
- Amount per serving
- Calories310
- Standard DV% Daily Value*
- Total Fat22 g72 g30.56%
- Saturated Fat8 g20 g40%
- Trans Fat0.3 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat2.5 g
- Monounsaturated Fat10 g
- Cholesterol85 mg300 mg28.33%
- Sodium420 mg2300 mg18.26%
- Total Carbohydrate4 g275 g1.45%
- Dietary Fiber0.4 g28 g1.43%
- Total Sugars1.5 g
- Added Sugars1 g50 g2%
- Sugar Alcohal0 g
- Protein23 g50 g46%
- Vitamin D (Cholecalciferol)8 mcg20 mcg40%
- Calcium28 mg1300 mg2.15%
- Iron2.4 mg18 mg13.33%
- Potassium370 mg4700 mg7.87%
- Vitamin A310 mcg900 mcg34.44%
- Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)3 mg90 mg3.33%
- Vitamin E (Tocopherol)0.6 mg15 mg4%
- Vitamin K18 mcg120 mcg15%
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)0.4 mg1.2 mg33.33%
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)0.22 mg1.3 mg16.92%
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin)5.8 mg16 mg36.25%
- Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)0.45 mg1.7 mg26.47%
- Folate14 mcg400 mcg3.5%
- Vitamin B12 (Cobalamine)1.8 mcg2.4 mcg75%
- Biotin4 mcg30 mcg13.33%
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid)0.9 mg5 mg18%
- Choline72 mg550 mg13.09%
- Phosphorus210 mg1250 mg16.8%
- Iodine4 mcg150 mcg2.67%
- Magnesium22 mg420 mg5.24%
- Zinc4.8 mg11 mg43.64%
- Selenium24 mcg55 mcg43.64%
- Copper0.12 mg0.9 mg13.33%
- Manganese0.18 mg2.3 mg7.83%
- Chromium3 mcg35 mcg8.57%
- Molybdenum8 mcg45 mcg17.78%
- Chloride180 mg2300 mg7.83%
