Burger with oven baked sweet potato croquettes

I was reading The Experimental Cook's latest post on archar when it hit on me that, in a few years time, we will soon be two old folks at home too (^_^!)

In fact, we are already living like two old folks, especially on a weekday during school terms. Whenever my better half is at home for lunch, I will put in some extra 'effort' to prepare a decent but quick meal...just like this burger, made with store bought wholemeal buns ;p
The extra work went into making some baked croquettes which I had meant to serve as a side for dinner that evening.

开心上学,平安回家

开开心心上学去,平平安安回家来

My elder son wrote the above Chinese phrase when he took part in a Chinese calligraphy competition earlier this year. After the competition, he showed me his work. He wrote a few sheets and submitted the best. While he was fishing out the crumbled sheets of rice papers, he grumbled that the words were something so kiddish...he was expecting something more profound, like those in past competitions. When I saw what he had written, I felt in love with the lines right away.

I told him those few simple words were my exact sentiments, every day.

Loosely translated it means:
"开开心心上学去" - going to school with a happy mood
"平平安安回家来" - coming back home safe and sound

Now, this is what a Stay-at-Home-Mum like me expects on every school day. Every morning, I will wave to them in the semi darkness while the school bus starts pulling away from the curb. In my heart, I am sure they are going to have a great day in school. Every afternoon, I will keep a look out for their footsteps at the doorway. I will start to get anxious if they were just a couple of minutes late.

Once they step into the house, they will always ask me this question: 'What are we having for lunch today?'. Then they will start taking exaggerated deep breathings...trying to make a guess what would be on the dining table that afternoon. I will then leave them to negotiate among themselves...who will be taking the shower first?...base on...who has got the most homework that day; while I head back to kitchen to dish up their lunch. Only when I am in a super good mood, I will start picking up their socks, pants, shirts...that they left all over the floor as they start stripping away (^^').

Yesterday, we had Heng Hwa noodles for lunch. This is a regular home cooked food I grow up eating. We call it "Pah Mee" (pronounced as 'pa-ah' 'mee'), based on the Chinese form, 打面, in our dialect, heng hwa (兴化). Heng Hwa cuisine started to gain its popularity recently. In the past, whenever anyone asked me which dialect group I am from, I am always met with a confused look. This is not surprising since heng hwa still remains as a minority dialect group here. But by now, I am sure when I mention Pu Tien (莆田) many locals would have heard about it.

I grow up calling this dish 'Pah Mee', but for those who are from different dialect groups, you may find this name Heng Hwa Lor Mee (兴化卤面), more familiar. No, I don't regard this as lor mee, never, ever. My feelings for this dish is so strong that I really feel like hammering whoever who came up with this absurb alternative name. It is pah mee, not lor mee, ok. The ingredients, the noodles, the way it is being cooked has got nothing to do with lor mee.

I followed the way how my mum used to cook this dish. The noodle is cooked in a pot of soup together with some pork slices, dried bean curbs, vegetables, dried mushrooms, clams and fish balls. A special type of dried clams is usually used to prepare the stock, which makes the dish so delicious and gives the umami taste. An authentic bowl of pah mee is served with deep fried seaweed (a special type too, see pic here) and peanuts as garnish. Just like the other dish Heng Hwa mee suah, this noodle is very well-liked by the adults and children in my extended family, including my husband and brothers/sisters-in-laws who are from different dialect groups. I am nowhere near my mum's standard. Even though I know they could tell the difference between a good bowl of pah mee from a sub-standard one, my lovely kids were all thumbs up and happily slurping away ;) Even my husband could only lick away from his screen when I sent him a picture of it, commented 'ma chiam from putien' (almost like the one served at the pu tien restaurant we frequent).

My kids have came up with many different versions of the Chinese phrase above, eg: 伤伤心心上学去,快快乐乐回家来, or 开开心心上学去,哭哭涕涕回家来, 哭哭涕涕上学去,开开心心回家来, etc. However, I am glad to say, most of the phrases they came up with, always end with looking forward to come back home or at least coming back home to seek consolation :D

No cook lunch

The biggest problem of having a hobby is that sometimes it can get out of control.

I treat baking as a hobby, but lately I think it is more like an obsession than an innocent past time. I don't know why, but ever since I picked up this hobby four years ago, my enthusiasm never seems to subside. It is not something bad since my time and effort is well spent on creating homemade cakes and bread for my family. Except for the occasional kitchen mishaps, nothing is gone to waste...

really, nothing is gone to waste...whatever I baked and subsequently consumed have found their way back on my body :_(

Like what my cyberfriend VB once said, at our age, we grow fat even by breathing in air! One of my friends had also warned me that a person will put on weight just by thinking about food!  Now, how do you expect a food blogger not to think about food all the time?! So, once in a while, I make it a point to cut down on my calorie intake and also to 'clear my body'.

While my children slurped up their laska with relish, I prepared a no-cook lunch for myself.

This simple, just toss salad is a complete replica of what was served as a side along a breakfast meal I had at the coffee beans. This combination is easy on the palette even for someone who doesn't like to have their greens raw. What can go wrong with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries and toasted almond flakes? All you need is just a simple lemon vinaigrette to dress it up.

Throughout our meal, my elder child kept eying my salad, totally green in envy. He told me he also wanted the same thing the next day. I granted his wish and he got to prepare his own no cook lunch the following afternoon. Instead of the lemon vinaigrette dressing, he came up with his own concoction...mashed hard boil egg with mayonnaise. I must say it tasted really good if you don't mind the extra calories! Even his brother who is not a salad person was completely sold. I didn't have chance to take a photo as he was already busy eating while I was clearing up the mess. His salad somewhat reminds me of caesar salad, which happens to be my all time favourite. I am quite inspired by his dish and it is no surprise that I have just placed caesar salad on top of my to-do list :)


Recipe for my lemon vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or salad oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice (adjust to taste, add more if a more lemony taste is desired)
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Prata in a Bento

It was many months back when I first saw this prata sausage roll over at baking fiends unite! Ever since then, I have been wanting to try this out. Well, I finally bought a pack of frozen prata and made these rolls for lunch.

I left the frozen prata to thaw for a couple of minutes so that it was soft enough to roll up a cheese sausage in it. If the prata is left to thaw for too long, it will become very sticky and it will be difficult to roll it up. So, if you plan to make this, do watch out on this part. I made the slits on each roll before they were baked at 180degC for about 40mins. The finished rolls didn't look as appealing as those done by Baking Fiend :(


While the rolls were baking in the oven, I made another version of these prata rolls. Instead of baking, I pan-fried a piece of frozen prata with a little oil till it was slightly golden. Removed it from the frying pan, and pan-fried a lightly beaten egg. When the egg was about to set, I placed the ready prata onto to it and continue to pan-fry till both sides were golden browned. I left it to cool off a little before wrapping a sausage (pan-fried earlier) in it. As with the baked version, I make a few slits on the top and place it in the oven for about 5 mins. I guess this step is really not necessary. But it helped in a way to keep the rolls warm in the oven before they were served.

The prata rolls for the pan-fried version were more puffy, while the baked ones were very crispy. Both tasted yummy to me :)




I prepared some vegetables to go along with the rolls and it became an instant bento lunch for the kids!