Behold A Macau “Capela!”

I loved a Chicago restaurant called Fat Rice, and their cookbook taught me about the cuisine of Macau, and how to make a “Macau Meatloaf” called a “Capela”!

The word “Capela” refers to a circular shape, the shape of a loaf.

For week #20 of my “52 In 22” cooking challenge, I make a “Fat Rice” “Macau Meatloaf!”

You can see the distinctive typeface of the cookbook – it’s filled with colorful animation, gorgeous photos of food, and great recipes as well – all inspired by Macau, located near Hong Kong.

I decided to make a “Macau Meatloaf” so let’s get cooking!

This is a fast dish to prepare, so heat your oven to 350 degrees now!

As you would expect for a meatloaf, there are a lot of ingredients so let’s do this in stages: I cut the Fat Rice recipe in half as I didn’t want to make a “Capala” for a dozen people!

Ingredients For “Capela” – A Macanese Meatloaf:

2 slices day old bread

3/4 cup milk

1 large yellow onion

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup black olives

1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 cup semi-firm cheese / I used White Cheddar

1 lemon

2 eggs, beaten / 1 egg for egg wash at end

1/2 cup brown mushrooms

1/4 cup almonds and same amount pine nuts

4 slices bacon

To begin, I took two pieces of bread and cut them into cubes, then added 2/3 cup of milk and let it soak – then set aside:

Next up, I chopped a half cup of black olives and brown mushrooms, then diced an entire onion, which I saute’d in olive oil over medium low heat for about ten minutes…

These are pine nuts and almond slivers, a quarter cup of each – and I had a half cup of shredded Mozzarella cheese and the same amount of white cheddar as well…

Finally, I cut 4 slices of bacon in half and it was time to make a meatloaf:

Because there were so many ingredients in there, I mixed it by hand for several minutes, and I added salt and pepper to taste as well- add lemon zest and the juice of one lemon at the end as well:

As you can see, I cut the bacon again and it fit perfectly, which led me to bake it for one hour and twenty minutes, and when I took my “Capela” out of the oven, here’s how it looked:

There was a bit of fat around the edges based on the bacon, so I sopped it up and then it was ready for its close-up:

I took the Meatloaf out of the bundt pan so I could cut it for you and show you the inside – but this is a dish that should be served directly out of the pan!

I really enjoyed this dish – BUT – because of the black olives, mushrooms and almonds, there was a “umami” feel to the dish, especially with the hamburger and pork. I added a bit of seasoning and spicy sauce to the top when eating and helped it “pop” a bit!

I’ve eaten at Chicago’s Fat Rice restaurant several times to enjoy their signature dish:

I chose not to make their famous “Fat Rice” dish, called “Arroz Gordo” – shown above when I had it there – with “Gordo” meaning a riced stuffed with “good stuff” – because I made this Chorizo Paella recently:

I loved this dish – but I still had to make it twice!

Click here to find out why:

I love cooking food from around the world, exploring different cultures and flavors like this:

Yes, I cooked traditional Japanese pub food – click here to see what this was:

I also had a blast making a pie – but it isn’t just ANY pie:

This one has Duck, Pancetta, Cabbage and Mustard!

Click here to see how I made it from scratch!

I have also cooked a traditional Italian “Sunday Gravy”, with an interesting assist from Actor / Cookbook Author / Food Travel Host Stanley Tucci:

I learned a fascinating bit of information about how you are supposed to serve this dish, and you can see how I did by clicking on my story here:

As my “52 Cookbooks 52 Recipes” challenge continues, I am sharing and storing all of these recipes on my food website “Bite! Eat! Repeat!” – it’s your site for all things food – if you like what you see, please click on my link and follow this blog as well!

https://biteeatrepeat.com

Let me know what you think of my “52 In 22” challenge!

If you like the story, share it with friends on social media! Thanks!

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