White meatballs

Ok, before you think this post is something vulgar - it's meatballs made with white meat. As in chicken and pork. (Shame on you and you should go wash your brain with soap!) Now that we've got that out of the way...



This is what I'd like to call a Base recipe - it forms the base of other recipes that i'll whip up for my packed lunches throughout the week (more on that later). Of course, the meatballs are good enough to eat by themselves! I've based it a little on Swedish meatballs, and of course, the choice of spices here are purely optional. I just raided whatever I had in my spice rack at the time (tarragon and chilli powder) and you can opt to put in what you like.

White meatballs
500 gm minced chicken
250 gm minced pork
1 cup breadcrumbs
milk
Spices - 1 tbsp black pepper, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tbsp tarragon

1. First, the breadcrumb mix. Put 1 cup of breadcrumbs into a bowl and pour just enough milk to soak the mix. At this point, add in your spices. The breadcrumbs serve as a binding agent to keep the shape together.

2. The basic proportion for chicken to pork to breadcrumbs is 2:1:1. If you'd lke to use only one type of meat (like say, for Muslim readers who cannot eat pork) then the proportion of meat to breadcrumbs is 3:1.

3. Form into meatballs and cook in boiling water. When fully cooked, the meatballs should turn white and float to the surface of the water. Because milk is an ingredient in the binding mix, you should cook all the meatballs and not leave them for later. Store in fridge or freezer until required.

Tune in later in the week to see what I have in mind for the meatballs!

Tags: chicken pork meatball skewersbudget recipe

salted fish and prawn fried rice

got leftover rice ? don't know what to do with it leh ? this recipe is for you .

following the aftermath of C.O.S.D.U's post-welcome mass home-cooked food fest , the leftover rice was donated to me and jon . after having aged it overnight , i set out to fry it ala chinese-y style .

what do you need ar?

i don't have a scale at home , but i measured the cooked rice and it amounted to 6 cups (250ml) .
150 grams of salted fish .
350 grams of prawns (peeled) .
4 stalks of spring onion (chopped) .
8 tablespoons oil .
2 tablespoons sesame oil .
5 eggs (beat) .

2 tablespoons chicken stock .
3 tablespoons soy sauce .
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar .
2 tablespoons salt .
5 tablespoons white pepper .

how liao ?

heat the oil and fry the salted fish until nicely crispy golden . set the fried salted fish aside but leave the oil in the wok / pan hor (don't wanna lose all that flavour) . add the sesame oil now and cook the prawns in this oil mixture . after making sure the prawns are cooked , add the rice and stir the mix together briskly . whilst stirring , add in the chicken stock , soy sauce , sugar , salt and pepper . next , make a well in the centre of the rice / prawn mix and pour the beat eggs into it . envelope the egg well with rice for a minute . then stir everything again to let everything meet each other . add the spring onions and stir once more for a couple of minutes . switch off the fire and mix in the salted fish again . always make sure everything's properly mixed hor . garnish with some more chopped spring onion and a small red chilli .

here's what half of the amount i cooked looks like in a bowl :



this amount should last three to four normal serves (but only serves two hungry guys) .


Tags: salted fish prawn fried rice budget recipe

Veggie Dumplings

I like dumplings, the Chinese kind (guo tie), a la Shanghai dumplings when I was in Melbourne. Of course, they're oily as hell, but it's one of those party foods that a few friends could get together and share while having their meals on their own.

I was planning my packed lunches for the week when I thought about making Shanghai dumplings as part of my menu. I didn't feel like having any meat, so I made it a full vegetarian dish. Be warned though, this isn't the kind of dish that you can whip up in half and hour - you've gotta make the dough, then make the dumplings and cook them how you want it. If you want it as straight dumplings, just boil and enjoy. If you want the guo tie/potsticker style, then add a further step of pan frying after boiling. In both cases, enjoy with black vinegar and ginger.

Veggie Dumplings

The dough:
200 gm plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp oil
Warm water

The filling:
1 package frozen spinach
Equal amount of chives
1 tbsp light soy
1 tbsp chinese wine



1. Make the dough! Add small amounts of warm water to form a dough. It's as easy as that. And yes, that means you've got to get your hands dirty. We're aiming for a consistency that is not too hard to mould and too soft that it breaks apart easily. After a good amount of kneading, cover with a damp cloth and leave for a few hours in the fridge.

2. For the filling mixture, drain and squeeze dry the spinach and chop it coarsely. Add chopped chives and season with soy sauce and chinese wine.

3. The magic number to this dish's serving size is 16. So split the dough in two parts, and then split each part in two, and then split in two again. With each serve, roll out on a floured surface and make a flattened disc. Seal the edges and pinch the sides to secure it.

4. Cook the dumplings in boiling water until skin is translucent. If you want it potsticker style, pan fry the dumplings until skin is golden brown. Enjoy!

Tags: spinach chives chinese dumplings potstickers gyozabudget recipe