Intloko (sheep’s head)
6
Easy
20 minutes 
5 hours“I’ve seen intloko eaten by groups of men standing hunched over a plastic table, carving slivers of meat right from the skull. I’ve seen a smiley sliding along the dashboard of a taxi while the driver drove with one hand and ate with the other. Even at emigidini, the head of the animal is traditionally offered to the men. Somehow, it just never quite landed on my plate. Regardless, I’d never ignore its cultural significance, or deny its deliciousness, whether simply boiled until the meat is soft and eaten with a pinch of spicy seasoning, or glazed with gochujang and sugar like this.” – Khanya Mzongwana
Ingredients
Method
- 1 sheep’s head, halved
- 4 T salt
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 celery long stick, cut into chunks
- 1 T black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed For the glaze:
- 4 T Woolworths gochujang paste
- 4 T brown sugar
- 4 T canola oil For the tomato salt:
- large tomatoes
- 1 T cayenne pepper
- 1 T Maldon salt
- 1 t onion powder
- 1 t brown sugar
Method
Ingredients
1. Place the sheep’s head in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add the salt, onion, celery, peppercorns, bay leaves and garlic and bring to a boil. Cook for 3–4 hours or until the meat begins to fall off the bone.
2. Remove from the cooking liquid and place in a large ovenproof dish.
3 Preheat the oven to 190°C. To make the glaze, combine the gochujang, sugar and oil and baste the head generously. Place on the bottom rack of the oven and roast for 1 hour, basting occasionally, until the skin is sticky and crispy.
4. To make the tomato salt, prepare an ice bath large enough to hold the tomatoes. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Lightly score the underside of the tomatoes and lower into the boiling water. Blanch for just under 1 minute, or until the skin begins to blister slightly. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and plunge into the ice bath. Peel
the tomatoes and pat the skin dry using kitchen paper. You can freeze the tomatoes for later use.
5. Preheat the oven to 150°C. Place the tomato skins onto a lined baking sheet, then bake until dry and crispy, about an hour. In a blender or spice grinder, blitz the tomato skins with the cayenne pepper, salt, garlic and onion powder and sugar. Serve alongside the head for seasoning.
Find more South African recipes here.
Photographs: Toby Murphy And Jan Ras
Production: Khanya Mzongwana
Food Assistant: Emma Nkunzana
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