Besides prawn fritters, prawn omelette, you can also make a prawn stir-fry for your lunchbox!  This is cooked in a blend of Asian sauces, and it has a slightly sweet taste which goes really well with the onions.

Ingredients (Serves 3 adults):

• 10 medium prawns
• 1 red onion, sliced
• Cooking oil

Ingredients for Asian dark sauce:

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons water

Instructions:

Step 1:  Wash the prawns, trim off the feelers and legs, but keep the shell intact.  Pat dry with a paper towel and set aside.

Step 2:  Put all the ingredients for the Asian dark sauce in a separate bowl.  Blend well.  It is easier to prepare this in advance.

Step 3:  Heat up a wok or pan with oil to fry the prawns.  When cooked, remove them and set aside on another paper towel to drain the oil.

Step 4:  Leave about 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok or pan for the stir-fry.  Add in onion slices.  Saute them till they are soft.

Step 5:  Transfer the prawns back in the wok or pan and add in the blended Asian dark sauce.  Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes till the sauces are absorbed and coated evenly on each prawn.  If you think the sauce is too thick, add in 1-2 tablespoons of water.  It’s now ready to serve.

I kept a portion for Hubby’s lunchbox.  How does it look?  Try it if you have the time!

Actually, it is like a fruit salad too if you notice!

Ingredients of our Fruit Yu Sheng (Serves about 10-12 adults):

• 1/4 honeydew
• 1/4 rockmelon
• 2 chinese pears
• 8-10 strawberries
• 1 mango
• 1/4 pomelo (or 1 orange)

Ingredients for sauce marinade and garnishing:

• Juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons lemon sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• A pack of Chinese shrimp crackers (or 1 cup of plain cornflakes)
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, preferably toasted
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped finely

Preparations:

Step 1:  Peel and cut the fruits into thin strips about 3 inches long.  For pomelo (or orange), peel and divide them into smaller sacs.  Place each type of shredded fruit on a round shallow plate side by side to make a nice colorful platter.

Step 2:  Sprinkle the crackers, chopped peanuts and toasted sesame seeds on the fruits.

Step 3:  Mix lemon sauce, lemon juice and honey in a small bowl.  Taste.  If you like it sweeter, add more honey.

Step 4:  Drizzle this sauce marinade from Step 3 evenly over the platter.  This is how it should look (or close enough).

Before eating, just toss the ingredients evenly.

Basically this Yu Sheng recipe is made up of fruits, so you can add any type of fruits to the list, but I will advise choosing fruits that are not too soft yet sweet to make the dish taste better.

I hope you like it!

You know why?  I have been eating non-stop for the past three days.

On Friday, we had a buffet dinner at our holiday chalet.  I think it was 8 courses, including drinks.

On Saturday, we had a BBQ feast at the chalet too.  We had crabs, satay, kebabs, fish, sotong, prawns, sausages, etc.  BURP…Can you imagine how much I ate?  Haha.

On Sunday, my cousin hosted a buffet lunch at her house.  Another 8 course meal to stomach.

I think it’s time I detox a bit this week.  Perhaps I will think of some light meals to make.  But before that, I have a prawn recipe to share.  It’s really late now though, maybe tomorrow!

Unlike Chinese double-boiled soup which takes a long time to simmer, miso soup can be prepared in just 10-15 minutes and it’s so light that you can drink it anytime of the day.

Ingredients (Serves 3-4  adults):

• 3 tablespoons miso paste
• 3 cups water
• 150 g  soft tofu
• 100 g fresh enoki mushrooms
• Handful of dried kelp/ konbu (optional)

Instructions:

Step 1:  Fill stockpot with water.  Soak dried kelp in water for at least 1-2 hours to soften it.

Step 2:  Cut tofu into cubes.  Wash enoki mushrooms, remove the portion at the roots (about one inch) and separate them.  Cut enoki mushrooms into half length-wise.

Step 3:  Boil stockpot of water and kelp.  When the stock is boiling, transfer the tofu cubes and enoki mushrooms into the pot.

Step 4:  Cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add in miso paste.  Stir to dissolve it well.

Step 5:  Cook for another 2-3 minutes at lower heat.

There are different types of miso paste available in the market.  If you are vegetarian, just make sure you get one which is purely miso without any extra seafood flavouring.

Remember to transfer the soup while it is hot into a thermos food jar if you are bringing it for your lunch box.

Enjoy!

This is a no-frills recipe, and is very easy to follow.  If you like the aromatic blend of garlic and olive oil, you would probably enjoy the taste.  If you are cooking for your kids, you may want to add some sausages and ham to go along with the spaghetti in case they think it looks quite plain.

Instructions (Serves 3 adults):

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons garlic, chopped finely
• 300 g spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons fresh or dried english parsley flakes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• Juice from half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Boil water in a stockpot enough to cook the spaghetti.  When water boils, add a pinch of salt and drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil.

Step 2:  Put in the spaghetti and cook for about 7 to 8 minutes till al dente.  You can taste a strand of spaghetti to check on it.  If you prefer them softer, leave it for another minute or so.

Step 3:  Remove the cooked spaghetti and place them in a colander to drain of excess water.

Step 4:  Heat up the rest of the olive oil in a pan.  When oil is hot, add the chopped garlic.  Stir fry till garlic is fragrant.

Step 5:  Transfer the cooked spaghetti back into the pan.  Toss spaghetti with garlic till well blended.

Step 6:  Add lemon juice, salt, parsley flakes and ground black pepper.  Mix well.  Serve.

This is my simple and satisfying lunch.

Another all-in-one lunch box idea for the lazy you (and me).  I hope you like it!

This is a very simple tofu dish you can try.

Ingredients (Serves 4 adults):

• 100 – 120 g of minced pork
• 250 -300 g soft/ silken tofu, cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 small carrot, diced into small cubes
• 1 stalk scallion (spring onion), washed and chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup corn starch mixture (2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/3 cup water)
• 3 teaspoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• Ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon hua tiao chiew (chinese cooking wine)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Marinate minced meat with 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce and a dash of pepper.  Mix well and leave it aside for about 30 minutes.

Step 2:  Heat up the cooking oil in the fry pan or wok.  Add minced garlic when oil is hot.

Step 3:  When garlic starts to brown, add in the minced meat.  Stir fry till it is cooked.  Add in the diced carrots and scallions.  Stir fry for another 30 seconds.

Step 4:  Add oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce, hua tiao chiew and a dash of pepper.  Stir fry again to mix well.

Step 5:  Add in water and cover the fry pan with a lid.  Allow the stew to cook for 1-2 minutes.

Step 6:  Remove the lid and add in the silken tofu cubes.  Ladle some sauce mixture over the tofu cubes and cover the fry pan again for another minute to cook the tofu.

Step 7:  Finally, add the corn starch mixture slowly into the stew, stirring it carefully to keep the soft tofu cubes intact.

Does this look really easy?

I only took about 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients and 10 minutes to cook this dish.  In fact, if you are rushing for time in the morning before going to work, you can prepare the ingredients in advance.  Marinate the minced meat, chop the scallions and carrots the night before.  The next day, just take them out and cook!

Aren’t the colors beautiful?

For an even easier variation of this recipe, you can replace the carrots and scallions with half a cup of frozen peas/carrot/corn mix.

This dish is best served piping hot, so if you are bringing it to work, ladle them into a thermos food jar immediately to keep it warm.

For me, this tofu combo makes a simple all-in-one meal as well as it has meat, vegetables and tofu.  All I need is just a bowl of steamed rice to go along with it.  YUM…

Enjoy!

Well, for these bread rolls, you probably have to make them the day before as it will take a few hours to complete.  But it is a very fun activity that you can involve your kids as well.  Allow them to design the bread rolls the way they like them to be and I sure they will look forward having their own masterpiece in their lunch box the next day!

Even me, the “old” kid, had so much fun.  My mum and I moulded the dough into different shapes just to see how it would turn out after baking.  I even created one “uniquely shaped” bread roll (see it below) specially for Hubby.

Ingredients (for sweet bread dough):

Part A

• 480 g bread flour
• 120 g plain flour
• 110 g sugar
• 10 g fine salt
• 20 g milk powder (can be substituted with bread flour)
• 4 teaspoons instant yeast

Part B

• 1 egg
• 300 ml cold water

Part C

• 60 g butter

Ingredients (filling for sweet bread roll)

• About 400 g of luncheon meat, cut into smaller pieces

Instructions:

Step 1:  Mix Part A ingredients in a mixing bowl till they are well blended.

Step 2:  Add Part B ingredients and knead to form a dough.

Step 3:  Add Part C butter and continue to knead until the dough looks smooth and elastic.  Cover dough with a clear film.  Let it prove for 50-60 minutes or until it doubles its size.

To check if the dough is ready, test by pressing a finger on it lightly.  If the dough does not sink but shows a clear finger print mark, you can proceed to the next stage of separating them into individual portions.

Step 4:  Divide the dough into 60 g portions.  Shape them into balls and leave them to rest for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, you can prepare the luncheon meat filling.

Step 5:  Now the fun begins!  You can make the bread roll according to your liking.  The easiest way is to wrap the luncheon meat in the dough completely, or you can elongate the dough and coil them around the luncheon meat.

See what I did for the first tray?  I made a round one, an oval one, a “pillow” shaped one, and one that resembled a croissant.

Step 6:  Brush the surface of each bread roll with a little egg wash (egg yolk+water) and bake at 190 deg Celcius for 12 minutes.

Does my first tray of sweet bread rolls with luncheon meat look good?

I can’t describe to you in the picture, but the smell of freshly baked bread is just heavenly!

Besides luncheon meat, you can also vary the fillings for the bread roll.  Think of tuna?  Ham?  Raisins?  It’s up to your family’s preference!

For lunch box meals, just pack these sweet bread rolls in a normal bento box with a salad or some fruits at the side.  It’s a lighter meal, and an interesting alternative to noodles or rice.

Well, we made about 17 sweet bread rolls in total for this batch.  And this is the “masterpiece” I mentioned above that I gave to Hubby.  Can you make out what it resembles?  (Clue:  We usually call it a pile of …)

We both had a good laugh and he really ate it for breakfast next morning.  LOL.

Hope you like this recipe and have fun making your own home-made bread roll!

We introduced black pepper to this recipe as it adds a new taste to the dish.  If you have kids who cannot take the spiciness, just cut down on the pepper part.  With the rest of the seasoning, it is still delicious!

Ingredients (Serves 3 adults):

• 2 packets of (200 g) udon
• 4 imitation crab sticks, cut half and peeled into thin strips
• 2 small fish cake, cut into thin strips (optional, if it is not available)
• 1 small bok choy, washed and cut into smaller pieces
• 3 dried or fresh shitake mushroom, trimmed of caps and cut into strips
• 1 packet (100 g) enoki mushrooms, trimmed of ends, cut into half and peeled into individual strips
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Water, about half cup

Seasoning:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoon black pepper (adjust according to your preference)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Boil some water in a stockpot.  Cook the udon noodles.  Drain and set aside.

Step 2:  Heat up a wok or pan with olive oil.  Add minced garlic when oil is hot.

Step 3:  When garlic starts to brown, add in the ingredients (imitation crab stick, fish cake, mushrooms and bok choy) and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.  Add half a cup of water and allow the ingredients to simmer for another minute.

If you notice, this whole wok are just the cooked ingredients.  See the mushroom and red imitation crab stick strips?  We like our udon with lots of ingredients!

Step 4:  Add the udon noodles into the cooked ingredients.  Blend well.

Step 5:  Add the list of seasoning next, one by one.  Stir-fry the udon noodles till all the ingredients are mixed evenly.

Finally, our completed wok of stir-fried black pepper udon.  Don’t you think the udon look a little like squid tentacles?  LOL.

Time to eat!

I set a portion aside for Hubby’s lunchbox too.  For this type of meal, I usually use a microwave-safe bento box so that Hubby can heat it up again during lunch.

This udon recipe is really easy to cook and makes a great lunchbox idea for kids and adults.  It is convenient to pack too as it is an all-in-one dish like fried rice.

By the way, don’t you think all-in-one meal ideas are like a godsend on the days we feel really lazy or under the weather?  I am often guilty of this, so I bet I will be sharing more all-in-one meals to come.  Haha.

It is what comes to my mum’s mind when she is feeling really lazy.  LOL.

There are times when she does not feel like using a wok at all, so she makes very simple dishes with just the microwave.

The recipe I am sharing below is thus based on microwave cooking.  If you have a microwave, all you need is to cook it with the “Steam Fish” function.  If you don’t, you can also steam the fish the normal way for about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.  The results should be the same, although the great thing about microwave cooking is I do not need to time how long it takes for the fish to cook.  My trusty Panasonic microwave never fail to cook it to perfection and always keeps it moist and juicy.

So how lazy can you get with this dish?  Well, all you need is to get the sauce ready and you are good to go!  Sounds easy?

This sauce recipe was created by my mum, after much trial and error.  Feel free to adjust the proportions according to your cod fish steak.  The recipe below is enough for a total of 500 g of cod fish steak, which can serve 4 to 5 adults.

Ingredients for cod fish:

• 500 g of cod fish steak (could be made up of a few pieces)
• A small piece of ginger, peeled and cut into fine strips
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Ingredients for Asian sauce:

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (vegetarian oyster sauce is fine too)
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon hua tiao chiew (chinese cooking wine)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  If you can’t get fresh cod fish, frozen ones will do as well.  Remember to thaw and wash them before cooking.

Step 2:  Place the ginger strips in a microwave-safe cooking bowl, and drizzle olive oil on them.  Make sure they coat evenly.

Step 3:  Without covering the bowl, microwave at “High” setting for two minutes.  The ginger strips should turn golden brown.  Remove the ginger strips from the bowl and set them aside.

Step 4:  Blend all the ingredients for the Asian sauce in a separate mixing bowl.

Step 5:  Before cooking the fish, sprinkle some ginger strips in the cooking bowl.  Place one of the cod steak on the cooking bowl.  With a small spoon, coat the surface of the cod steak with some Asian sauce.  Flip the cod steak over and coat the other side.  Sprinkle some ginger strips on top.  Tip:  Putting ginger in this dish removes any fishy smells.

Step 6:  Cover the cooking bowl and microwave the cod fish with the default “Steam Fish” setting.

Step 7:  When the microwave beeps, don’t take the fish out immediately.  Leave it to stand for another 5 minutes in the microwave.  Remember not to open the door at all.

Step 8:  After 5 minutes, take it out and serve while hot.  Repeat Step 5 to Step 9 for the next cod steak.

This cod fish in Asian sauce is best eaten with white rice.  There is a buttery taste to the fish that I like and I love to have the gravy on my rice.  Yum…

I also set aside a cod steak for Hubby’s thermos lunch box.  He gets one smaller cod steak all to himself.

Cod fish is very good for kids and adults alike as it is a good source of protein and is high in omega-3 fatty acids.  Although it may be more expensive than most types of fish, I highly recommend cod fish for the health benefits.

If you have always wondered how to cook cod fish in another way, perhaps you can try the recipe above.  It’s really easy to prepare as you can see and is a healthy dish you can whip up in 15 minutes, even if you do not have a stove!

But always going to the restaurants to get my fix is not going to be good for our pockets in the long run, so I am learning how to prepare them from my home.

For example, this meal below which serves four would cost us about US$40 – US$50 at a mid-range restaurant, but when we cook it ourselves, we can probably save two-thirds of what we would have spent.

For convenience, I have used pre-mix tempura flour that you can also get easily at supermarkets.  Other ingredients like furukake (Japanese rice seasoning) and bottled tempura sauce can also be bought readily.

Ingredients (Serves 4 adults):

• Cooking oil (for deep-frying of tempura)
• 4 cups of cooked Japanese short-grained rice
• 4 large shitake mushrooms, trimmed of caps and cut into halves
• 2-3 ladies’ fingers (okra), tail trimmed and cut slanted
• 1 small carrot, peeled and sliced
• 15-20 tiger prawns, de-shelled and de-veined
• 100 g tempura flour pre-mix
• Cold water (1 cup should be more than enough)
• 8 tablespoons tempura sauce
• 4 tablespoons furukake seasoning

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Place the tempura flour pre-mix in a mixing bowl.  Add cold water (it must be cold!) a little at a time, and mix batter lightly till a moderately thin consistency is achieved.

Step 2:  Heat up enough cooking oil for deep-frying in a saucepan or wok.

Step 3:  Pat dry the prawns and vegetables with a kitchen paper towel before frying.

Step 4:  Test whether the oil is hot enough by dripping a drop of tempura batter.  If the batter comes up to the surface immediately, the oil is ready for frying.

Step 5:  Dip the vegetables, one by one in the batter and put them gently in the hot oil.  It is best to use a pair of long chopsticks or tongs to flip them to protect yourself from oil splatters.  The tempura should float on the surface when frying, coated with a layer of batter.  If the batter does not stick well, add a bit more tempura flour to make the batter thicker.  After the vegetables are done, continue with the prawns.

Step 6:  When the coated layer turns golden brown, remove the tempura and place them on a kitchen paper towel or rack to absorb excess oil.  This picture below shows part of what I have made.  How does it look?

Step 7:  To make tempura don, scoop a cup of pre-cooked Japanese steamed rice into a bowl.  Drizzle two tablespoons of tempura sauce on the rice.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of furukake seasoning in the centre.  Place the tempura on the bowl and serve while the tempura is hot and crispy.  Repeat for another bowl.

I kept a lunch box portion for Hubby, where I separated the rice and the tempura into two boxes. I also added a coleslaw side created from the left-over wasabi mayonnaise I made the day before.  Wasabi flavoured coleslaw taste awesome by the way!

The challenge about this lunch box is the tempura will go soft if it is not eaten hot.  But as long as you or the person you make the lunchbox for don’t mind, making this tempura rice lunchbox is a nice change to the menu.  And it is not too difficult at all.

I am glad I tried it!  How about you?