Luncheon Meat and Baked Beans

The other day, I posted a picture of Luncheon Meat and Baked Beans I’ve cooked on the HCP Facebook page. It is a very common dish, often cooked at home or found in cooked food stalls. So when it gathered over 50 likes and folks were asking for the recipe, I was surprised. I think it was the camera on my new phone that made it look so good haha.

A overseas Singaporean friend had posted of his take on this dish and we all agreed this is the dish that everyone had and loved when they were kids. Quick, inexpensive and makes you gobble down lots of rice. Now that I am a mom, I came to accept any dish that is fast, easy and get my kids to eat quickly is gem.

Here is my take on this homely dish enjoyed by many of my friends when we were kids.

Luncheon Meat and Baked Beans

1 small carrot – cut into cubes

1 small potato – cut into cubes

Half a tin of luncheon meat – cut into cubes

1 small tin Heinz baked beans

Handful of peas

1-2 tablespoon Lee Kum Kee tomato sauce

Some water

Oil

Black Pepper to taste (estimate 3 turns)

Sugar to taste (estimate 1-2teaspoon)

Method

1. Half cook the carrots and potatoes the HCP with some water (estimate half a mug) and set aside.  

HCP how-to: When cooking potatoes and carrots, close the lid and lock it. Switch on the fire. After it has been boiling for 2-3 min, off the fire. Leave it alone for 5mins or so before opening the lid to check. Cooking time n water is dependent on the type of potato n size of cubed vegetable.

2. Clean up HCP. Lightly coat HCP with oil (estimate half teaspoon). Add luncheon meat cubes and fry til all sides are golden.

HCP how-to: When frying the luncheon meat, heat the pan, lay them flat, close the cover but do not lock it. There is a tiny gap n this prevents moisture forming yet minimize oily fumes from getting into kitchen. Open the lid to check when to flip the cubes. I flipped them individually so all sides are nice and golden.

3.  Add potatoes, carrots, peas and black pepper. Fry for a bit. Add baked beans, tomato sauce, sugar and some water. Mix it up n let it come to a gentle boil. Adjust the taste to your liking.

HCP how-to: After mixing in baked beans, water and sugar, close the lid n lock it. Let it heat through. For this dish, I do not flip n toss the food with the lid closed as doing so spoils the look of the cubes.

This dish is meant to be a topping for rice. Suitable for school lunch boxes. Freezing not recommended.

The luncheon meat can be replaced by hot dogs and it becomes Hot Dogs and Baked Beans. Totally awesome too.

Ngoh Hiang inspired by my late Ah Ma - Recipe in progress

4th quarter of 2014 has been hectic and the 1st quarter of 2015 looks crazy too. I've not been doing much in the kitchen and when I do, it's mostly trying out recipes found in books or online. That's how I unwind from all the crazy 16 hour days.

For this year's Chinese New Year, I'm inspired to cook at least 1 dish from each of the dialect group close to my heart - Hokkien, Teochew and Nonya.

This recipe is inspired by my late paternal grandma, who is a Hokkien Nonya lady who married a true blue Teochew man (my late grandpa) from Swatow. As most Nonyas of her time, her cooking was amazing. Unfortunately, I did not have many chances to be with her when she was in the kitchen. I do not know if able to recreate even a fraction of the taste of  Ah Ma's Ngor Hiang but I continue my research and keep trying. Thus this recipe is a work in progress.

The recipe here is a result of what I heard from my parents, recipes I saw in books and a little of everything I have learn from my own cooking. It has got the stamp of approvals from the picky tasters in my family, namely Dad, Mum and my 2 kids. In addition, Hubby polished off 2 whole Ngor Hiang on his own. That's what makes this recipe a keeper for me.

Ngoh Hiang inspired by Ah Ma for my family
Ingredients A
300g minced pork
20g pork liver (optional)
6-8 prawns deshelled

Ingredients B
1/2 yellow onion - diced
1/2 medium size carrot (optional) - grated
5 water chestnuts - chopped into cubes 0.5cm by 0.5cm
1 egg - save some egg white as glue for the rolls
1/2 tablespoon bread crumbs
2 tablespoon water

Ingredients C 
Oil
Beancurd Skin - Cut into the size you like your rolls. I cut mine approx 7 in by 9 in. One packet gives 9 sheets. Before wrapping, rinse 1 piece in a big container of water and gently wipe.

Seasoning 
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
3 teaspoon five spice powder. Use more or less according to preference
a few dashes of white pepper
a pinches of salt

Method
Stir fry onion in oil til it is translucent and set aside.
Stir fry carrots in oil til it is almost cooked and set side.
Mince ingredients A together on a chopping board til it is finely minced and well mixed together. Place ingredients A into a big bowl.
Add in ingredients B and the seasoning to ingredients A and mix them well. This is our meat mixture.
Prepare the beancurd skin by cutting them to the size required and wiping both sides with a damn cloth.
Place meat mixture near the bottom end of the beancurd sheet, leaving an inch space from the edges. Lift the bottom end over the meat and fold the sides in. Continue rolling and seal the ends with the reserved egg white.
Lightly oil the steaming tray and put the meat rolls in. Do not let the meat rolls touch each other or the sides of the tray. The steaming tray should have holes to allow the cooking liquid to escape.
Steam meat rolls for 10mins.
Let it cool complete on a tray (I used the cooking rake for my cookies).
Deep fry the meat rolls til beancurd skin is golden brown.
Slice and serve with your favorite sauces. I use a sweet flour sauce.

The meat rolls can be frozen for 1-2 weeks. Reheat them using a toaster or over pan.

Chicken Porridge

What a month! #2 is going through a phase of rejecting food. What she use to love is pushed away. Oh she does the cutest "hands block mouth! shake head!" move when she does not want to eat or is full. If you try to make her eat, left hand will swing n push your spoon to the floor. What a cutie!

I've been cycling through all her previous favourites in different textures but nope, she has decided "I'm done. Find something else to entertain me with." So it's a month of creating and experimenting new menus. And finally, oh finally, found something that she totally loves. Good bye Pork! Good bye Beef! Good Bye Fish! It's Chicken time!

Chicken. I had wanted to give her chicken or chicken stock since she was 7 months old but was stopped by my mother. Her reasons was chicken are often injected with hormones and antibiotics that are bad for the baby. Then my neighours introduced me to Sakura Chicken, supposedly grown without growth hormones or antibiotics. I can't find such statements on the manufacturer website. What I found are other sites and blogs that says it is so. Until I can find a better chook within my budget, sakura chicken will be used in the chicken recipes for #2. So here it is, chicken porridge recipes #2 loves.

Chicken Porridge - Chicken Breast (Makes 2 servings for a small eater)
100g chicken breast
1/4 cup uncooked rice
salt
suger
water
Vegetable of your choice

Wash rice and place it in a non-plastic bowl. Measure 1/2 cup water and remove 2 tablespoon of water. Pour the water into the bowl of rice. Put into the steamer and steam for 20mins

Remove any visible fats from chicken. Rinse chicken in a bowl with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Remove and place in non-plastic bowl/plate with 2 tablespoon of water. Steam for 12mins.

Steam vegetable of your choice. Root vegetables - 15-20mins. Leaf of green vegetables - 3-5mins.

Strain the juice from the steamed chicken into the bowl of rice and continue steaming for 15mins.
Finely chop half of chicken breast and mix into rice when it is done. Add vegetables. Serve.


Chicken Porridge - Chicken Thigh and Wolfberries (Makes 2 servings for a small eater)
100g chicken thigh meat cut into 1 inch
1/4 cup uncooked rice
8 wolfberries rinsed
soy sauce
salt
suger
water
Vegetable of your choice

Prepare rice as per recipe above.

Remove any visible fats from chicken. Rinse chicken in a bowl with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Rinse again with water. Remove and place in non-plastic bowl/plate with 2 tablespoon of water, 5 drops of soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and wolfberries. Steam for 20mins.

Strain the juice from the steamed chicken into the bowl of rice and continue steaming for 15mins.
Finely chop half of chicken thigh and mix into rice when it is done. Add vegetables. Serve.

Apple Pork Soup for baby & preschooler

As #2 moves into stage 2 of weaning, I start to find myself exploring recipes that is suitable for both a baby and a pre-schooler. Time is a constraint as #2 transforms from a sleep all day baby to a nap for 30 minutes super light sleeper. To add to the challenge, #1 is a very picky eater who insists on eating the same thing everyday.

Today, I've decided to try out noobcook's recipe Apple Pork Rib Soup with some tweaks of my own to make it baby friendly. The original recipe is found here: http://www.noobcook.com/apple-soup/.

Here's my version of Apple Pork Soup for baby & preschooler.

Ingredients
300g pork for soup - I used 龙肉 aka 龙骨. A wet market vendor will know what this is.
3 red organic apples
1 onion
1.2 liters of water

Method
Thermos Thermal Cooker

Time
10 mins prep, 6 hours total. Time away from baby - 15 mins.

Quarter and removed the core of 3 apples. Quarter and remove outer layer of the onion. Bleach pork in hot water and set aside. Place all ingredients and water into the thermal cooker's inner pot. Bring to a boil for 10mins then lower the fire to a small boil for another 20mins. Remove from heat and place pot into thermal cooker and wait for 5-6hours. Before serving, bring to a boil for 10mins.

I would do this at night after the kids are asleep and the soup will be ready in the early morning for me to convert it onto what the menu was for the day or served as-is with a pinch of salt for #1.

The result was 2 happy kids who wolfed down their lunch and a very satisfied mummy.

Basic Pork Stock

#2 loves her porridge and she likes it made with fresh stock. So I've been exploring how I can provide her with what she likes yet still not be a slave to the stove.

The very first stock made for her is pork stock. It's super simple with 2 ingredients and can be done in many ways.

Here's my Simple Pork Stock for baby's porridge.

Ingredients
150g pork - I used 腰肉 or 肉头
water

Bleach pork in water. Set pork aside. Now choose the method of cooking and it's done!

Method - Boil over stove. Time away from baby - 20-30mins.
Place meat and 800ml water into a pot and boil for 40-50mins. During cooking, check the water level and add water if too much water has evaporated.

Method - Slow Cooker. Time away from baby - 3mins.
Place meat and 500ml hot boiling water into slow cooker. Set on high for 3-4hrs or on auto over night.

Method - Thermal Cooker. Time away from baby - 5mins
Place meat and 800ml water into a inner pot and boil for 15mins. Place in thermal pot and it will be ready in 4-6hours. Bring to a boil before using.

Each method I tried yielded stock that are slightly different in taste. In short, the longer the stock is over the stove, the more intense the flavour is, the yummier the porridge will be. This also translate to longer time away from the baby, higher chances of burning the pot because I fell asleep nursing #2 and too much risk when number #1 is at home jumping around.

Thus, my preferred method of cooking stock is my trusty thermal cooker. I would cook the stock at night after the kids are asleep and bring it to a 2nd boil either before I sleep or in the morning before cooking the porridge. This would yield a favourful stock that will rival the one cooked 1 hour over the stove.

There are lots of other stuff that can be added to the basic stock and turn it into a yummy soup for baby. So far I've only used food that has already been tasted and confirmed as non allergen for #2. She been loving my experiments and that makes me happy.

Ngor He and Heng Chye Porridge

My parents have been very excited about feeding #2. My dad, especially, have a good track record in getting #1 and #2 to eat when others have failed. One of the staples for chinese babies in my generation and my children's generation is Ngor He and Heng Chye. In english, Ngor He is threadfin and Heng Chye is spinach. My dad would buy Balai Ngor He and baby Heng Chye. My mum will cook porridge for #2. #2 loves this porridge since she was 6 months old.

Here it is, My Dad n Mom's Ngor He and Heng Chye Porridge

1 spoonful of rice

hot water enough to cover up to 1 inch above the rice

2 fifty cent sized ngor he without skin n bones

8 leaves heng chye

sesame oil

salt

Cook rice with hot water in mini slow cooker for 4 hours.

Chop heng chye very very finely.

Season fish with 1 dab of sesame oil and 1/2 dab of salt

When porridge is done, add heng chye. Cover and cook for 20-30mins.

While this is happening, steam Ngor He til it is cook. This will take 5-10mins depending on the size and thickness of fish. Finely chop the Ngor He.

Add Ngor He to porridge, Mix, dish and serve.

Serves: 1 Baby for lunch and dinner

Time: 4.5hrs cooking, 30mins for preparation.