Lunch Box Meal for 1: Lunch - Chinese Potato and Mince Meat Stir Fry

Cooking time 10-15min (with most items prep the day before)

Chinese potato and mince meat dish serve with vegetable, mushroom and rice

These days I have been waking around 5.30am to cook my meals for the office and It will take about 1 hour to complete 1) 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and 1 tea break from scratch with some prep work done the day before for faster assembly the next day. Steaming the rice using my electric lunch box takes about 30min. I have been saving the funds for my meals to buy books for my kids. At the same time, I could decide how much oil and the type of meat used (organic). It would be faster if you only want to make 1 meal but I cover all my bases. I also do have bigger appetites compared to my peer 😅

I made the sauce in advance, then when I want to use it I will use a dry spoon and take out 1 or 2 teaspoons. These are the little things that help in speeding up the process. I keep it for about a week in the fridge and ensure the utensils are dry.

For the meat, I store it in the silicone ice cube tray that I use for my baby. Then I will take out the portion that I want for my lunch.

To me the dish is easy to cook as there is no need to marinate in advance, common ingredients (mainly with a potato and meat and you are good to go) and takes about 10 min to be ready. The main waiting time was to wait for the potato to soften.

 

Chinese Potato and Mince Meat Stir Fry

“PNB” stands for Prep the night before

2 – 3 clove mince garlic “PNB”

2 cube of mince pork “PNB”

1 potato slice soak in water to remove starch. Ideally half an hour, but I just soak, wash and change water, drain then cook

2-4 tsp Sauce (I prep this a few days ago to use a few times as you see fit) “PNB or in advance”

1 tsp Chinese cooking wine

Cornstarch solution – about 1 teaspoon with pipe water

 

Sauce prep – I don’t use all the sauce at one go. I use the sauce a bit for multiple dishes. You can reduce it further if you only want to use it for 1 to 2 times a week.

1.5 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon light soya sauce (low sodium – I bought mine in Jusco and it is a Japanese brand)

½ tsp sugar

½ tablespoon sesame oil

1 tsp  dark soya sauce (I am not a fan of my food looking very dark. Add more if you are)

 

Slices potato soak and wash away the starch

Food prep - 2 minch meat cube, garlic for current dish and vege dish, sauce

........

Steps:

1)      Put some oil in a pan, stir fry garlic, followed by minced pork.

2)      Add the sliced potato stir fry then add water to cover the potato.

3)      Put about 2 tsp of the sauce

4)      Cover the pan and let it stew for 6 minutes. Adjust the fire accordingly about medium to small.

5)      Test that the potato is soft.

6)      Add Chinese cooking wine followed by cornstarch solution to thicken the sauce

 

Other side dish

I pair it with shimeji mushroom, any green vegetable, garlic and a bit of salt stir fry.

Breakfast

Bread with condense milk, cheese and egg

Recipe: Fried pork (slices) in oyster sauce

Picture: Fried pork in oyster sauce

Ingredient
- Pork (use the bak tao part)
- Pepper
- Soya Sauce
- Oyster Sauce
- Some sugar

First marinate the pork
- slice the pork into pcs. then slice a little cut all over the meat (but not slicing off completely - it just so tat the the marinate sauce can penetrate)
- marinate it with pepper and soya sauce
- leave for 10 min

Second cook
- Put oil
- Put the marinate pork
- Put the oyster sauce then some sugar
- stir fry and serve

Recipe: Curry chicken/pork

Picture: Curry Chicken/ Pork

Ingredient
6 Small onion - cut into tiny pcs
belacan from penang
Serai
3/4 Curry leaf
small amount Cintan manis + 3 pcs of cintan kayu (optional)
1 spoon Cili powder
Curry meat + chicken powder
Santan powder half pack
About 1 Chicken
4-6 Potato
Oil
2 spoon salt, very tiny amt of ajinamoto

Cooking: medium fire
- Put oil in kuali
- Put onion + belacan + curry leaf + serai + cintan manis + cintan kayu - stir fry
(if its pork curry - add garlic. if chicken - no garlic)
- Put the cili powder (small amount) - teaspoon
- Put the curry powder - few spoon full
it will burn quickly after put the powder. so off the fire first then dump the chicken and potato then on big fire again.
- Put the chicken + potato (stir fry. to make sure that the curry powder is enuf, make sure the chicken is a bit of curry powder color else add some more. if too much wont taste nice)

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- Put the pork (front leg near shoulder and back - chu chang rao - sell in kg) + potato. the rest same as above.

- mix the whole thing
- add in a bowl of water until it some wat cover the chicken. stir it then cover it

Cover the kuali for 20 min - 30 min
(till the potato is soft - can know by poking the potato with the senduk...if can poke thru then its soft)
-big/medium fire. after 10 minute interval check the result as different gas stove has different kind of fire.... if fire strong then maybe water will dry up fast. if not enuf water then add in water.

meanwhile mix 2 teaspoon of santan (about half a packet), 2 spoon milk powder into bowl of water.

After the 20 min - big fire
- open the cover.
- add some salt and very little ajinamoto.
- taste the mixture to see whether adequate salt

But the bowl of mix santan milk into kuali then stir until boiling - abt 2-3 min
(santan cannot cook too long as it will turn into coconut oil)

- taste to see taste ok. if not enuf salt can add.

take it out and transfer to pot and ready to eat!!

Recipe: Fry pork potato ball

1st marinate the minch pork
- salt
- pepper
- ajinamoto
- leave on for 10 min

2nd - potato
- cut the potato using "scrapper" then chop it further into tiny pieces

3rd - mix into minch meat
- the potato
- some corn flour

4th - roll into a ball and fry till golden

:D

Recipe: Bah Kian

haha while on hols i learn to cook :D

First marinate the meat (minch meat - pork)
- salt
- pepper
- ajinamoto
- 5 spice powder
- leave it for 10 min
- add the sengkuang and mix it (first slice the sengkuang into tiny strips - use grinder)

Second get the fu cuk skin
- cut the fu cuk skin into pieces
- wipe the fu cuk skin with cloth
- roll the marinated meat into fu cuk skin
tip: roll the meat tightly else the skin would not stick to each other

Fourth
- Fry at first with big fire, small fire then when want to take it out big fire.