BACK TO SCHOOL – FOUR INGREDIENTS DISHES!

What lunch box meals to pack and what dinner meals to cook suggestion lists

By NZChefSi@ChefSarawak

Back-to-School Kaleidoscope

All dotting Asian mothers got really busy once school starts, due to they would make sure their children are being fed properly, but cooking often could turn working class mothers into a mad woman due to it is an extra stress or even a burden if cooking is not her penchant. Recently, I have promised a few extremely busy Asian friends to write a list of lunch box meals and healthy dinner meals for them, hope that these two lists will help them one way or another.

Since when I don’t know that cooking jobs in a family has fallen into a woman’s hands, the worst fate are those women living at this traditional and modern transitional stage who have to juggle both a profession and a kitchen with a “nursery of young children.” Where is the father? In name of earning money and entertaining, most of them were often found absented from home or could be found at home hanging up their legs watching TV for the Superbowl and expecting their super wives to “understand” them, and they would think their wives are the best if they brought him some beers and tidbits. Worst still, I had seemed some young dads born with a rich dad were playing mobile games, seriously if girls have seemed as many hopeless men like me, none of them would be interested to find a boyfriend or husband.

Or wanna hear an extreme story? A friend of mine just told me many celebrity chefs could easily landed themselves some famous women, all because these women have a common characteristic, they simply didn’t like cooking and they were lazy to cook as well.

Follow what the most recent deceased celebrity chef said, he told an American magazine editor if she placed him on her magazine’s cover, he would place her under his cover (slept with him), that’s why quite a few of my friend’s famous media female figures ended up married to chefs. Luckily, I write but I cook as well, moreover, I am hardworking girl, I don’t need to be under a chef’s “cover”, how many chefs are truly noble, genuinely humble from their flamboyance wife, girlfriend, wrist watch, underwear to their apron, integrity, or honest enough to worth a real respect? I don’t know how many times I have been cheated, misled or being fooled by chefs within last two years period! I easily eavesdropped some Casanova chefs bragging who they slept with, perhaps it is a platform with the most crouching Casanova or what? Why can’t men seal their mouths like their ex-wives, ex-partners, ex-girlfriends or ex-flings who refused to talk about them anymore? There was only an old male college Casanova friend of mine who never bragged any of his past flings even when he was drunk, that’s why I still keep him as a respected friend!

Since the day I wrote at teenager, I probably has released more 10 pen names, my NZSA registration was registered with my pen name as well. My original name was only used for my first or original profession – a musician. I did it all because I learned that most people don’t like a professional who runs two or three jobs but ironically, they would automatically accept a tycoon who runs probably thousands of different businesses! Someone anonymous like me, most strangers would place their doubts on me, when I told them I am an author, they used my real name to check from NZSA, then they suspect I am a baloney, if there is a God, I am well taken care of by heaven decree, if someone suspicious tried to ostracize my FOC offer, a much-blessed offer would come along my way! I experienced that an old worthless bag has to be thrown off when the new one with prospect is coming along my way – I am lucky enough could sing hallelujah instead of crying for being rejected again!

If you are not interested in the terms like light year, big bang or multiverse please don’t hassle to get curious about what’s my pen name in NZSA, as I got another half dozen pen names for different genres. From this incident, I found out the different between  the big city folks and the small town folks’ mentality, the big city folks always doubted and suspicious on a new acquaintance they first met, friendship only extended through time when they found out they could benefit each other in a long run, but the small town folks trusted on the new acquaintance they first met immediately without judging if he/she is rich, educated or famous, and they would treat such a “stranger-friend” very well and with kindness genuinely, if only they got cheated by a bloody crook later, then they only decided the crook should be got rid of! So, big city folks are fostered to be wise but the small-town folks placed kindness above all other considerations.

Back to school ordeal, I also realized that many professional women hate to tango with “other women,” all because they think they are much more intelligent than “other women,” they only choose to tango with men to proof that they are much better and smarter than other women. I grew up with 7 sisters with 7 characters, one of them also hated to hang out with “a stupid woman” like me, 7 sisters have mutated me to a “multi-polar” character, being “bipolar” is a “memory switching” sickness, but being a “multi-polar” it requires a “dexterity, mentality and pride switching” prowess.

I have been working with mostly women all my life, some of them were the ones who acted as angels to me, but the devils were always the hypocrite women who thought highly of themselves that deep inside them, they could only work alone with men or the ones who got X chromosome inferiority– who always wanted to suck something from either a man or woman!

I used to march along with some problematic under-20 girls who would slash themselves with a knife periodically, I witnessed one of my acquaintances who didn’t treat them well, showed her own selfishness without any consideration of sympathy on these poor girls, she would get ambushed when she slept, these girls would step on her feet with their feet while she slept in a training camp’s floor. It came a time these problematic girls thought that I probably would keep my pianist hands clean all the time, they were anticipating like a group of hungry wolves ready to attack me, but when it ended up I could do gardening much better than them, they all turned into my best gardening assistants, and if I saw them in town, I would give them some cash like a dotting big sister. Genuine love and care in welfare are what you needed to show to some of those poor girls who have been trying to survive, working hard but fighting with their haunted past terrible memories. As a female leader, it is much harder than a male leader, you have to proof to those menacing girls that you are really good enough, out of their norm expectation to make them work together with you willingly.

Last year, I came across a female leader who organized an international festival, the event was big enough to get publicized on Forbes, national and state-wise newspapers and international magazines, but I was completely dumbfounded by her - was it a necessary for an event like that to attract people buying entrance tickets by posting how beautifully other women dressed up, ate and drank in an Instagram, “Come join us, make your friends jealous of you!” This was the lousiest propaganda that I ever read last year from an Instagram posting, the post revealed a female leader’s personality, it reflected her “show-off for revenge” imbalanced inner mind to the whole world unfortunately, thus we have to think broadly and humbly from inside ourselves especially if such a woman who has already sitting on top of a stage working parallel with some multi-millionaires. Often, I noticed that a lady could talk so loudly without thinking twice and selfishly like a spoiled brat to other female all because she was spoiled and supported by the man who loves her to guts in her undertakings.  As a female leader, either you play a teacher-figure role like me or a housewife-figure role to ask your other kids to do the household works willingly.

Since the day I went to study in a chef school, I began to observe what other families were eating, I found out every household cooks differently, every family runs an ailment during aging, genetic or dietary problem? Many Asian who migrate to NZ, with a sudden increase of meat diet due to its easy avail, but they still ate the same amount of vegetables and carbohydrate, they all turned rather “fat” in a short period of time. I also learned that a certain group of people would love to add sugar or salt to every dish they cooked and how their taste buds got “immune” to sweetness or saltiness, when they were young, everything was fine, soon gout, hypertension or type II diabetic began knocking at their doorsteps!

A doctor-couple told me this about 15 years ago, they both got high cholesterol problem, they tried to eat only vegetables and rice, but their cholesterol level never dropped, then they tried just eating meat alone, cholesterol dropped, they told me they didn’t know what’s the reason behind it.

My explanation in a joking manner is because our absorbing system is shutting down due to aging, it is no more multi-function, it usually would pick the easiest and fastest digested food to absorb, then the absorbing system shut down to sleep mode. So, if you eat rice and vegetable, vegetables would be digested but not the rice, ended up high sugar remained in your blood. If you eat rice and meat, of course the rice would be fastest to get digested and thus being absorbed, then you got high cholesterol. So, if you eat just meat alone, like that doctor said, he and his wife’s cholesterol dropped unexplained.

The rule when you get older, eat a choice of food at a time (Fruits, vegetable, starch or meat), or unless you know how to use the supplementary ingredients to activate your aging “body motor!”

 

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.

Back to School Dinner Meals' Suggestion List

Simple Chinese Style Stock

Cook your stock on Sunday, cool it down, store in three containers enough for three days. Most food can keep up to 3 days in the fridge, but if you want to keep your food a little longer, please keep in the freezer. It is always safer to defrost the meat with microwave than leaving it in room temperature for the whole day unattended. You can defrost your meat at the bottom of your fridge for a day depends on the size of your meat.

This nutritious stock can save you a lot of time, you can boil it, then simply add tofu, the green leaf vegetable or any ingredient of your choice. Or it can be prepared as stew with potato, carrot and meat quickly.

A healthy meal usually needs at least two choices of vegetables or mixture of vegetable (either beans, green leaves veg or roots) and a meat or fish dish. To save energy, the best way during summer time is eating assorted salad. The salad dressings are very easy to make. I will show you the simple salad dressings ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Pork bones and chicken bones

2. Carrots, daikon or even kohlrabi,  cut in chunks

3. Onion and garlic

4. Leeks, mushroom, celery or even sweet corn

Method:

1. Fill up a large pot with water, add all the ingredients into it, or place everything into a slow cooker for safety reason if you are a busy mother.

2. Once it starts to boil, turn fire to simmer.

3. Skim continuously while simmering, don't stir or else you will get an unclear stock.

3. After 2 hours, sieve and keep the stock, let it cools down as soon as possible in the storage containers. Store in fridge or freezer. 

Tofu Meatball Soup

Ingredients:

1. Soft tofu

2. Minced pork

3. Seasoning: Sesame oil, egg, salt, pepper, vinegar, wine, soy sauce (add your preferred ingredients)

4. Spice/vegetable: Coriander, spinach, shallot or water chestnut (pick the one you prefer, mince it)

Method:

1. Mash tofu with minced pork, add seasoning and spice/vegetable of your preference. Knead into balls

2. Boil your stock, knead the meatballs and place into the boiling stock.

3. Boil at medium heat for at least 10 minutes depend on the size of your meatballs.

4. Add the herbs, mung bean vermicelli or/and vegetable of your choice to the soup. 

5. Check seasoning.

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1. Chuck or skirt, cut into cubes or stripes

2. Carrot/Tomato/Daikon/Potato/scallion/leek/swede or any root vegetable

3. Green vegetable like broccoli/ kohlrabi

4. Stock 

Method:

1. In a oven proof pot, add cut beef, root vegetable and green vegetable.

2. Fill the stock paralleled with the meat and vegetable

3. Place a cartouche on top or a lip (careful don't burn your hands), place into a preheated oven of 180C to stew. 

3. After 30 to 45 minutes, check your seasoning. 

4. Careful always leave the towels on the handle to remind you that it is a hot pot. Place it on top of stove (away from children).



Steamed Minced Pork Cake

Ingredients:
1. Minced Pork
2. Eggs or soft tofu (for those who are allergic to eggs)
3. Seasoning: Soy sauce, salt and pepper
4. Spice: Shallot (Brunoise), garlic (Minced)

Method:
1. Whisk the egg or mash the tofu, mix in minced pork.
2. Add water, spice and seasoning.
3. Steam it over the top of the rice in the rice cooker or in a steamer until cooked. Usually it needs 30 minutes to get cooked.

Salad Dressings 


Italian Style Dressing
1. Balsamic Vinegar
2. Extra virgin olive oil
3. Spice and herbs: Minced garlic, salt and pepper

Method:
1. Whisk vinegar with herbs and spices, add olive gradually, whisk.
2. Check seasoning. 
Note: If you don't have balsamic vinegar, just add lemon can do



Cream Style Dressing

Ingredients:
1. 1 tsp Djon mustard
2. 1 Egg yolk
3. 100ml Olive oil
4. 1 tbsp Lemon

Method:
1. Add lemon and mustard to the egg yolk, whisk until pale white.
2. Add the oil gradually and whisking at the same time, stop when it has thickened. You can add a tablespoon of hot water at last, whisk and mix well.
3. Check seasoning with your preferable spices or chopped herbs, salt and pepper.

Note: You can use a stick blender to whisk, in this case you can get a creamy dressing within a very short time.



Steamed Pork Belly

Ingredients:
1. Pork belly, cut into slices (You can prepare it on Sunday, store in a container, either keep in freezer or fridge, if you keep in freezer, defrost it on the night ahead at the lowest tier of fridge on a tray or plate, if you keep it in the fridge, it must be cooked within 3 days)
2. Krill pickle
3. Seasoning: Lime/vinegar, garlic, scallion and chilies
4. Sesame oil

Method:
1. Place the pork belly slices in a bowl.
2. On top place the mixture of krill pickle, seasoning and sesame oil
3. Steam on the rice top or in a steamer.

Tomato Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1. Tomatoes, get rid of skin (Buy lots of cheap tomatoes and store them whole in freezer during summer days)
2. Stock
3. Any green leaves vegetable or/and herbs like scallion or cilandro
4. Dehydrated Taiwanese noodles or fresh noodles


Method:
1. Boil the stock, rinse the tomatoes, poke a hole on the tomato skin, blanch the tomatoes in the stock for 20 seconds, then place the tomatoes in cold water, peel of the skin. 
2. Chopped the tomato into small pieces
3. Fry the tomato pieces with oil, add the stock, boil for 5- 10 minutes
4. Use the stock pot, fill up with water, boil then add noodle to cook until al dente (almost cooked).

4. Add vegetables or/and herbs, finally add the noodle, check seasoning.

A Simple Korean/Vietnamese Western Style Fusion Meal

Ingredients:
1. Sirloin steaks or Scotch fillets
2. Lettuce or Spring cabbage
3. Extra vegetable: Daikon, potatoes, scallion, cilantro
4. Extra seasoning and spice: Toasted sesame seed, fish sauce, Korean chili flakes, miso paste, garlic, any citric fruit like lemon or grapefruit, sweet chili sauce, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper.


Method:
1. Marinate the steak with salt, pepper, miso paste, vinegar and garlic paste.
2. Wash your vegetables, peel daikon and potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Retain the whole lettuce leaf for wrapping. Julienne the scallion.
3. Prepare daikon pickle: Mix the daikon cubes with the mixture of sugar, vinegar, garlic paste, Korean chili flakes, sesame oil, fish sauce and cilandro (minced), toss and sprinkle with toasted sesame seed.
4. Grill the steaks over a frying pan until medium rare, slice the steak into stripes. Keep the frying pan to cook potato pickle.
5. Prepare potato pickle: Add the potato cubes into the steak frying pan, deglaze the pan with water, cook for 2 minutes, check the seasoning, garnish the potato cubes with scallion.
6. Prepare the sweet and sour chili sauce: In a small bowl, squeeze in a lemon or any citric fruit (preferable a bit sour), add fish sauce, sweet chili sauce (or use fresh chili paste), minced garlic, check seasoning.
7. Use the lettuce leaf, place steak stripes and cilantro on it, roll and dip into the sweet and sour chili sauce.