Back to School Lunch Box Meals' Suggestion List

My friends told me that I can only use FOUR ingredients for each dish! Onion and garlic often brought notorious “Asian” smelly odor, I will avoid using them as much as possible for especially lunchbox meals! I will gradually add more suggestions for these two lists during the next few months.

Meat-filled Sandwich

Ingredients:

1. Minced pork (Filling)

2. Kale/vegetable (Chopped finely, filling)

3. Sandwich bread

4. Glutinous flour batter (Mix with water, eggs, and butter/oil, check seasoning with salt, sugar, pepper and vinegar)

Method:

1. Mixed the minced pork and kale (Check seasoning with sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper)

2. Sandwiched the filling with two pieces of bread

3. Dip into the batter, fry at 175C preheated oil until golden brown. Note: Always use high burning point oil like soya bean oil.

4. After cooling, cut into half, store in freezer can last for a month. If chill it can only last for 3 days.

5. Place into microwave high for around 20 seconds or 200C preheated oven, turn off the oven, let the residue heat defrosted and toasted the sandwich.

Meat-filled Envelope

Ingredients:

1. Minced pork/beef (filling)

2. Garlic chives/Vegetable (filling)

3. Hard Tofu, cut into small cubes (filling)

4. Thick wanton wrap

Method:

1.  Mix the filling (check the seasoning with sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper)

2.  Place the filling on the wanton wrap, fold the wrap into halve to form an envelope-like rectangle, seal the fringe with water.

3. Pan fry the envelope until golden brown.

4. After cooling, store in freezer can last for a month. If chill it can only last for 3 days.

5. Place into microwave high for around 35 seconds or 240C preheated oven, turn off the oven, let the residue heat defrosted and toasted the sandwich.

Flavored Sushi Rice

Ingredients:

1. Sushi rice

2. Vinegar

3. Sugar

4. Salt

Method:

1. Cook your sushi rice, cool and store in fridge

2. Before you pack lunch box meal, add sugar, vinegar and salt to the rice, reheat in microwave

3. After heating, mix and try to cool the rice.

4. Accompany the sushi rice with pickled Malaysian acar, a piece of meat Pattie or an egg, double fried anchovy and cashew nuts (peanuts is not advise as it is hard nuts, if your children don’t chew the peanuts well, nuts stuck at the throat may cause infection (my friend got peanut stuck at her throat for two months)

Fried Patties

Ingredients:

1. Ground pork

2. Bread, cut into small cubes

Method:

1. Mix the ground pork with the bread cubes, check the seasoning with sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper

2. Press the mixture into a ring mould

3. You can either pan fry or bake the patties

4. Cool and store in the freezer, these could last for a month

5. Chilled patties can last for 3 days.  Reheat with microwave for 30 to 60 seconds depends on the size of a Pattie.

Fried Anchovy and Cashew

Ingredients:

1. Dried anchovy

2. Cashew nuts

Method:

1. Dry anchovy, rinse to get rid of saltiness, mix with pepper powder, vinegar and a pinch of sugar, air-dry. After drying, dust some glutinous flour, mix well

2. Add the cashew nut to the oil while it is still not heated up, when the oil heated up, the cashew nuts will soon turn light brown, it’s the time ready to drain the cashew, the residue heat will further brown the cashew nuts. So, don’t burn the cashew nuts or you can toast the cashew nuts in the oven by dusting them with a thin layer of oil.

3. Fry the anchovy in small batches, fry twice to get crunchy texture.

Acar or Malaysian Style Cucumber Relish

Ingredients:

1. Cucumber, cut into half, deseeded, cut into crescents

2. Carrot, shredded

3. Spice: Turmeric roots, shallot, garlic (slice thinly), ginger, lemongrass, black pepper, chilies (julienne),  oil

4. Seasoning: Dried prawns (Coarsely chopped), vinegar, sugar

Method:

1. Wilted cucumber and carrot with salt (not too much), squeeze off excess liquid, dry in dehydrator or under the sun. Quickly stir fry over a large wok, not more than 10 seconds.

2. Fry the prawn with oil until light brown add chili and garlic as well to continue frying.

3. Blend the turmeric, shallot, ginger, black pepper and lemongrass, simmer with oil until fragrance, add the prawn, garlic and chilies. Add vinegar and sugar, continue to simmer and reduce. Check the sweetness and sourness balance, let it boils.

4. Then add the cucumber and carrot lastly, turn off the heat immediately, mix well. Check seasoning.

5. Let the relish cools down quickly so the cucumber and carrot won’t turn soft.

6. Pack after cooling, store in fridge. If no contamination happens, it can last for at least 6 months.