Wednesday 18 July 2007

Happy Meal


This was what we had for lunch yesterday...another Kid's Meal I cooked for my kids And myself. Just a simple burger, a cup of sweet corns, a bottle of vitagens...and leftover greens for me ;)

It only happened sometime earlier this year that my boys started to like hamburgers. They used to eat only chicken nuggets whenever we had meals at the McDonalds. I bet you will find it amusing if you know the reason behind it...

Well, it all happened a few months ago, when the kids TV channel here started showing SpongeBob Squarepants at a time, best suited for the TV to 'babysit" these two boys for me...it was from 6pm - 6.30pm...the time I am usually busy in the kitchen. They started to enjoy the silly jokes and funny character of SpongeBob...so much so that they could recite what he said after each episode.

One fine day, both of them related to me how SpongeBob (who's job is making hamburgers at Krusty Krab) made his Krabby Patty. They could tell me step-by-step the way to put a hamburger together. Of course, after their story, they requested me to make one for them!

Before this SpongeBob craze, I did made hamburgers for them, only occasionally...as I didn't know how to prepare the meat patty, I used frozen ones...something which I'm quite reluctant to include in my kids' regular meals. After their full animated account of how a Krabby Patty is made, I looked up some recipes and learned that I could easily use minced meat to make a meat patty. As beef is not available at the wet market near my place, I used pork meat instead. I simply marinate the minced pork with some salt & pepper, and a heaped teaspoon of corn flour. Shape them into meat patties and pan-fry. It will smell/taste great if butter is used instead of cooking oil. When the patties are almost done, I coated them with a spoonful of store-bought Unagi (eel)sauce or Yakitori sauce...and let it simmer for a few seconds before serving. I find the sweetness of these Japanese sauces go very well with the meat patties. It makes the patties real juicy and yummy! The patty will taste very good if some minced onions are added...but, too bad, my little one kept complaining about the tiny bits of onions, as such I have to omit it totally :(

I usually get ready all the necessary ingredients...lettuce, tomatoes, cheese slices, ketchup, mayonnaise...and the kids will assemble the burger themselves. Even though they get to make the burgers whichever way they like, they will always end up arguing who's doing the right thing!


Oh, by the way, after several attempts, I learned that in order to make the burger "burst" with ingredients...the bun should be sliced at an angle...not 180 degree across..and don't cut through it.

Now, this meal will be perfect, if a little toy comes with it, don't you think so?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Again, I must say yr kids are so so lucky!!!!! Do u want to adopt another kid??!!! hehehehhhee...

Unknown said...

Hi there!

I chance upon your blog when I was looking for pork floss bun recipe. :) I have been reading through your blogs and I must say, keep up the good work! You have no idea how much it has inspired me again to bake or even cook for that matter! :) I have twin boys you see..they are going to be 1 year old soon! I live in NZ so it's hard for me to find good asian meals here. Anyway, just want to say again, thanks! :)

Happy Homebaker said...

hi vb, I really don't mind, especially the kid can cook and bake :D btw, my meals can only fool the kids, and a husband who doesn't have very good taste buds, haha!

hi justin & zoe, it seems like I can't get into your blog, donno why? Many thanks for your encouragements, your kind words really made my day :):) I'll love to bring my kids to NZ someday! It must be a wonderful place to raise your kids there!

Cuisine Paradise said...

Wow.. this is great! Thanks for sharing your tips.. i will try to make this for reyon too.. and i am sure he will love it...

Happy Homebaker said...

hey Ellena, you can 'tailor" the taste to suit Reyon...there's no doubt that you can make something far better than what I did :)
but I am not stopping here, will still try to improve the taste! btw, you can also make rice balls to replace the buns...just like MOS burgers :)

Anonymous said...

But this kid lives in HK and can only visit u periodically!!!!!! Hahahahahha.......

Anonymous said...

Oh, the meal look anytime better and also healthier than the "commerical" one. I also want!

Fecho said...

You can make any such meat patty zestier if you fry very finely chopped onion and a bit of garlic, and then mix them into the ground meat. Further possible add-ons: fresh bread crumbs moistened with milk, an egg, ground cinnamon(!), nutmeg, chopped parsley or coriander, and for adult tastes some chopped hot pepper.

Happy Homebaker said...

Thanks Fecho for your wonderful tips! I keep this in mind :D