Tuesday 15 January 2008

No frills meals

Since the start of the school year, one of the new 'challenges' I have to face is preparing lunch for my kids. My younger son has to take his meal by 11am so that he will be ready by the time the school bus comes over to pick him up. On the other hand, my elder boy will not be home before 1.30pm. So lunch not only has to be simple and easy to prepare, but also be able to keep well or at least when I reheat it for my elder boy, the taste or texture will not be compromised too much.


One of the lunch meals that I prepared last week was these Maki Sushi Sandwiches. I have been keeping this recipe which I took from a magazine for months. I am glad that I finally tried it. It was really a very simple meal to put together. There wasn't any cooking involved...I only need to cook the rice! The rest of the work involved layering the rice with pork floss, seaweed and canned tuna. The combo was surprisingly tasty! Even my elder boy finds it delicious as he doesn't quite like tuna. There was no issue with my younger boy too as he loves rice balls! The good thing about these rice sandwiches is that I don't have to reheat it before serving :)


I cooked this easy Seafood Marinara pasta for dinner on one of the weekday nights. It was my second attempt...the only difference is, this time round I managed to get some clams from the market. I used ready-made pasta sauce as I doubt I am capable to make the sauce from scratch! I didn't follow any recipe...the meal was put together simply by stir frying some prawns, squids and clams with some minced garlics, before adding the sauce. This is another no frills, almost fool-proof dinner dish...simple and yet delicious.


Maki Sushi Sandwiches

Ingredients
(serves 3)

1.5 cups rice & 1.5 cups water
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

filling:
3 sheets of seaweed
1 can of tuna spread
some pork floss
some rice seasoning (furukake) for topping.

Method:

  1. Add rice vinegar to cooked rice and mix well.
  2. Spread half of the rice onto a serving dish and press down firmly. Shape to form a square shape the size of the seaweed.
  3. Spread pork floss over the rice and layer with a sheet of seaweed. Repeat with tuna spread on the next layer, and pork floss for the third layer. Spread remaining portion of rice and press down firmly.
  4. Sprinkle rice seasoning on top of the rice. Cut into pieces and serve.

  5. (recipe source: adapted from Simply Her magazine)

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Sh, how's year 2008 for you so far? The maki sushi looks really delicious. I love pork floss! =)

MH said...

Hi!

Your no-frills meals look yummy,simple and easy :) Will try the sushi sandwich for my kids' lunch one of these days. Thanks for sharing!

-Berenice- said...

Wow this looks great! Your kids are so lucky to have a mummy like you! :)

shiyan said...

Hey HHB, I think these are really good ideas for quick meals. Most importantly is that they are yummy and your family members enjoy them. =)

Anna said...

Oooh, I love the look of the maki sushi sandwich - what a great idea!! I'd love to try that for lunch some time.

Aimei said...

What a great idea to do stacking, not only beautiful but i bet they taste nice also cos' you can bite into rice, seaweed, tuna and floss!!

I just made onigiris recently but not that good cos' I find it too big. I will incoporate your idea next time! :)

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Love those sushi sandwiches... Your boys are very lucky!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Jace, I have been very busy lately :( I hardly have time to do any baking! Pork floss is my favourite too :D

MyHomeKitchen, thanks! The Sushi Sandwich is really delicious and simple to make. I am sure your kids will like it :)

Berenice, thanks! I am the lucky one...to be blessed with two kids who are not fussy eaters ;)

Shiyan, my cooking sucks, I can only manage very simple dishes. Luckily my family members are not fussy about food...they eat whatever I cook as long as it is edible, lolz!

Indigo, do give it a try, you can use other fillings of your choice, just need to make sure you press the rice real hard so that the rice grains will stick together and not give way when u slice it.

Aimei, yes I like the seaweed, tuna and floss combo :) I use a rice mould(from Daiso) to make onigiris, I find the size is just right, my younger boy can finish 3 in a go!

Thanks, aforkfulofspaghetti!

daphne said...

been following your posts for a while and I think you are definately capable for making the sauce from scratch! Tomato paste, fresh tomatoes , fresh herbs, hint of chilli and stock- you will be set!

Anonymous said...

hi,
for rice, is normal rice or need jap rice? thks

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, you need to use Japanese rice.

Anonymous said...

I've tried making sushi sandwich before I saw your posting. Assembly was simple. But cutting it into squares was a nightmare for me. the rice sticked to the knife, the ingredients slipped out. how did you cut them so smooth?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, make sure your knife is sharp, and after each slicing, clean/wipe the knife and you will be able to make very clean cuts. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

Hi

I wonder how can i take the rice out of the serving dish to cut it? wont all the ingredients drop out? Can you advise me how you do it? --Lilacz

Happy Homebaker said...

hi Lilacz, I didn't have problem with the ingredients fallening apart, they stick together like sushi, just make sure you press down firmly.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

Im trying to make sushi rice.. can i just use same portion of rice +water and cook in rice cooker ? after it's cook then add rice vinegar ? any brand for the rice and vinegar??

i need to wait for the rice to cool before making suchi or while it's hot ?

Mico

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Mico, you can follow the instruction according to the short-grain rice you bought to cook the rice. Most short grain rice will use slightly more water than long grain ones. You will need to add the rice vinegar only after the rice is cooked. You can check out the supermarket for the brands, I am sorry I am not able to recommend any as it really depends on availability at the supermarket shelves.
You will need to wait for the rice to cool. I will like to suggest that you read up on how to go about making sushi, as there are some steps that you need to follow to ensure success. I am afraid I am not able to share much here as I am also learning.