Tuesday, October 21, 2014

xiamen minced meat rice 厦门肉酱伴饭

I was thinking of either making katsu don or bibimbap for dinner.

Something easy. Preferably a one-bowl dinner so I could pretend to do a Nigella (Lawson) and curl on on the sofa in front of the TV to eat my dinner.

Never mind that I don't eat dinner on my sofa, or that we don't have a TV in front of the sofa. It is one of those things I'd fantasize about doing once in a blue moon.
Anyway, I digress. So I ran out of chicken - yep it does happen once in a while - and the LAM is not a fan of Korean food in general, so I had to think of something else I could cook.

It so happened that I was flipping through my copy of "A Trip Down Memory Lane: Signature Dishes from the Tan Family" by David Tan Sek Yin and there was a recipe for this minced meat rice bowl.

The dish has meat, and loads of vegetables and egg (love!) and it was something the LAM would happily eat, so it was a no-brainer.

And, I did have some minced pork in the freezer, so I guess it was fated that I made this for dinner? :P

Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to make this dish.

Start by marinating the mince with five spice powder, white pepper, sugar, corn starch and light soy sauce. Give it a good stir and set it aside.
Cut the potatoes into small cubes.
Deep fry the potato cubes until they turn golden brown. Place the potato on kitchen towels to drain.
In a hot wok, add vegetable oil. Stir fry the shallots until they turn soft and translucent.
Add the garlic, give it a quick stir, then add the meat.
When the meat was about 75% cooked, add the potato cubes, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine and water.
 Stir to combine before covering the wok with a lid to simmer for a minute.
Add the frozen vegetables, dark soy sauce and fried shallots.
Continue stirring until the liquid reduces. Season with salt and turn off the heat.
Place some rice in a bowl, top with the meat sauce and a fried egg.
Find a sofa if you must. Turn on the TV, fold your legs under you and tuck in!

RECIPE
Xiamen Minced Meat Rice 厦门肉酱伴饭 (Serves 4-6)
Adapted from "A Trip Down Memory Lane: Signature Dishes from the Tan Family" by David Tan Sek Yin

Ingredients:
400g minced meat (pork, chicken, beef or lamb)
200g frozen vegetables
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
250ml water
100g shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large onion, diced - I omitted this
4 cloves garlic, minced
*4 eggs, fried sunny side up
*2 cups rice, cooked
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
4-5 tablespoons fried shallots
salt, to taste

Marinade for the minced meat:
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon sugar - I used 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon corn flour
2 tablespoon light soy sauce

Method:
1. Start by marinating the mince with five spice powder, white pepper, sugar, corn starch and light soy sauce. Give it a good stir and set it aside.
2. Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Deep fry the potato cubes until they turn golden brown. Place the potato on kitchen towels to drain.
3. In a hot wok, add vegetable oil. Stir fry the shallots until they turn soft and translucent.
4. Add the garlic, give it a quick stir, then add the meat.
5. When the meat was about 75% cooked, add the potato cubes, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine and water.
6.  Stir to combine before covering the wok with a lid to simmer for a minute.
7. Add the frozen vegetables, dark soy sauce and fried shallots.
8. Continue stirring until the liquid reduces. Season with salt and turn off the heat.
9. Place some rice in a bowl, top with the meat sauce and a fried egg.

I went to Ikea the other day to get a bed for my little girl and Christmas decorations are already being sold! Yes! It is THAT TIME OF THE YEAR to eat, drink and be merry! Are you getting excited? :)

Are you planning to cook anything special for this Christmas???  Or maybe start baking batches of delicious Christmas goodies? For Christmas 2014, Yen from Eat your heart out, Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and yours truly, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and  are cooking and celebrating for the whole month of December 2014 starting on 1st December. Join us and remember to link your post with us if you are cooking something special for your Christmas celebration.


4 comments:

  1. I did not know this is Xiamen- style minced meat, but as a child, I used to have minced meat stewed with diced potatoes with peas and corn and I enjoyed the dish very much with rice or plain congee.

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  2. Hi Diana, this plate of rice looks so yummy ... I've tried minced meat cooked with potatoes quite similar except Shaoxing wine. Didn't know it is Xiamen dish.

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  3. This looks delicious! We love comforting meals like this!

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  4. This dish is so appetising and great with rice. Made me hungry now.

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