Momma Cho's Meatloaf

an non-traditional path to a nostalgic comfort

Have You Eaten Yet? Here’s a new recipe from my kitchen to yours that I hope you’ll love! For more recipes, you can order my new cookbook, Chinese Enough, or purchase Mooncakes and Milk Bread for all things Chinese Baking!

If you’re somehow not a subscriber yet, all it takes is a simple click!
Thanks for your support of my corner of the internet!

I considered including this meatloaf in Chinese Enough, specifically in the Best with Rice chapter, which is loaded with simple weeknight recipes that take about as long as a pot of rice takes to steam. But conceptually it just didn’t make the cut and I think maybe 3 years ago I wasn’t sure if anyone cared about meatloaf anymore. This is my mom’s meatloaf recipe that she made frequently in the 90s and early 00s. She always served it with jasmine rice and for some reason (that even she can’t explain to me)… hard boiled eggs. I was always delighted to hear that mom’s meatloaf was the menu for the week, even more excited for the meatloaf sandwiches on sliced white bread the day after. Though it’s been nearly 20 years since I’ve had her meatloaf it’s still a strong comfort meal for me.

Whether it is a comfort meal, comfort show, or comfort sweater, these comfort items tend to be rooted in nostalgia and place in you in a time when things were simpler, cozier, less plagued with stress. I tend to lean on my comfort items heavily during times that feel, for lack of a better phrase, not great. The last few weeks (more like all of 2025 so far) I’ve very much needed my mom’s meatloaf in my life and maybe some of you do to. It’s truly delicous and lifted my spirits more than I thought it could. The recipe is unlike any other meatloaf recipe but worth the adventure.

To be fair, I haven’t eaten too many other meatloafs in my life. Every once in a while I see the dry looking meatloaf at the Whole Foods hot bar and I’m tempted but I ultimately pass on it. I asked my husband, who has more meatloaf life exposure, for critical feedback on this recipe while I was testing it and he said that even though my mom’s recipe might seem atypical it actually produces a meatloaf that feels special but doesn’t stray too far from what makes a classic meatloaf feel, well… classic.

So what makes this recipe non-traditional?

Oyster sauce | My mom’s secret ingredient to literally everything is oyster sauce. It’s honestly not even a secret anymore because I’ve said this so many times. Ketchup and oyster sauce were and in someways still are the pillars of my mom’s cooking. They were a common power couple, especially when cooking with ground beef (think Mom’s Chinese Spaghetti), because they both share a slightly sweet and savory flavor profile that uplift each other.

Fresh Bread | instead of dried bread crumbs, my mom swears torn pieces of fresh bread is the key for moist meatloaf. I used sourdough in my loaf but my mom often uses sliced white sandwich bread.

Steaming | This is where things might feel weird. But the meatloaf goes through 2 cooking phases. The first phase it cooked with water in the baking dish and covered with foil, essentially steaming the loaf. This part also prevent a dry meatloaf and keeps it incredibly juicy. The second phase you remove the foil and carefully transfer the drippings and water into a saucepan to make a gravy. The meatloaf goes back into the oven at a higher temp to get nicely browned.

Gravy | The drippings are thickened with a cornstarch slurry to make a gravy. This part feels very Cantonese to me, where a dish always welcomes a silky and glossy sauce. When you eat the meatloaf over rice with some gravy it reminds me a lot of Hawaiian Loco Moco!

It’s always interesting how the subtle differences in recipes that are rooted in culture can still lead you to something that still feels familiar and like home. Hope you love my mom’s meatloaf as much as I do!

Momma Cho’s Meatloaf

serves 4 to 6