HPB Voices Reloaded

By Dr Veronica Tay

My maid is going home for 5 weeks from mid-December and I have no time to cook 3-4 dishes for dinner. Here’s some recipes I’d like to share with you. There is a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and fibre!

Claypot chicken rice (feeds 4 people)

Ingredients:
3.5 cups of rice washed.
500 g Chicken fillet
1 chinese sausages (sliced)
A small piece of salted fish - tiny pieces, without bones (optional)
300g of Chye Sim (blanched in boiling water)
A bunch of spring onion - chopped
3 tbsp of canola oil
2 tbsp of sesame oil
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
ginger – 5 slices
Garlic – 1 clove, chopped
Dark soya sauce for colouring
3 tbsp of light soya sauce

Method:

1. Cook rice separately in a rice cooker.
2. Saute sliced ginger and garlic in oil.
3. Throw in the sliced chicken fillet which has been marinated with light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and oyster sauce. Cook till it's done. 
4. Add a little water if necessary.  Splash a little sesame oil and set aside.  Make sure there is enough sauce for the amount of rice you've cooked.
5. Brown salted fish in oil and set aside.
6. When the rice in the rice cooker has been cooking for 15 minutes, it will be almost dry and you can see ‘holes’ in the rice still with some water.
7. Put all the cooked chicken in and pour in the sauce, splash in additional
   black soya sauce, sprinkle some spring onion over, arrange the chye sim around the rice. Serve with home-made chillie sauce.

Cornbeef Cabbage Stew (feeds 6 people)

Ingredients:
1 tin of corn beef
1 tin of luncheon meat (cut into cubes)
1 packet of chicken sausages (cut into small pieces)
½ Cabbage (cut into small pieces)
Carrots (lots of it – cube it or slice)
Potatoes (lots of it, if the kids like it, also cube it)
2 big onion (or more if you like onions-cube it)
A small piece of cinnamon (kayu manis, can use the powder form, just a dash for the smell)

Method:

1. Boil ½ pot of water.
2. Add in the carrot first, followed by the potatoes, cabbage. Lastly onions.
3. When the vegetables are almost done, add in the sausages, followed by the corn beef and luncheon meat. 
4. Add cinnamon.
5. Add dark soya sauce to ‘darken’ the stew. You may not need to add salt as all the canned foods are salty.
6. Thicken with corn flour to make the stew less watery.
7. Serve with rice or bread.

Spicy Fried Rice

Ingredients:
4 cups cooled cooked rice
150 g prawns
150 g chicken fillet
3 clove crushed garlic
1 tsp shrimp paste (toasted or fried)
1 tbsp light soya sauce
5 shallots
2 tsp grounded fresh chilli
2 tbsp canola oil
2 eggs (beaten)
salt
Green peas

Method:

1. Heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic, chilli and shrimp paste until the onion is soft. Add the prawns, chicken and peas.
2. Add the cooked rice and salt, light soya sauce to taste. Mix thoroughly while constantly turning until every grain is coated. Then add the dark soya sauce and mix again until the colour is even throughout. Dark soya sauce gives the rice a darker tinge.
3. Move the rice to the side of the wok. Leave the middle empty, add a little oil and add in the beaten eggs. 
4. Cover the eggs with the rice and mix evenly.
5. Serve with some cucumber and tomatoes.

Nonya Noodles (Mah Mee)

Ingredients:
1 kg of fresh yellow noodles
bean sprout (about 30 cents)
200 g Chye Sim
200 g prawns (deveined with tails on)
200 g belly pork (optional-has to be boiled and sliced)
1 Fish cake (sliced)
200 g of sotong (sliced)
Prawn Stock (Prawn shells boiled in a pot of water)
2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
Light soya sauce to taste.

Garnish
2 eggs (beaten, fried on a pan and shredded)
Chopped coriander

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok and fry minced garlic.
2. Add fresh prawns, sotong and fish cake. Cook for a minute.
3. Add yellow noodles to the wok and continue frying. 
4. Add prawn stock ½ cup at a time to prevent drying.
5. Add Chye Sim and bean sprout and season with light soya sauce to taste.
6. Add enough prawn stock so that the noodles is just moist.
7. Remove the noodles to a plate and garnish with egg and coriander.
8. Serve immediately with sambal belachan chilli..