Home-cooked Meals Under $10 Part 3

Here is my 3rd instalment of home-cooked meals under $10 and I have decided to try some recipes which are pretty interesting but yet very delicious.

The first dish is pan-fried tofu meat patties which I saw on a Korean cooking program and decided to improvise on my own. The ingredients needed:

250gm of minced pork – SGD 3

1 box of tofu – SGD 0.95 ( I am showing 2 kinds of tofu here and it doesn’t matter which one is used)

Chives – SGD 2

1 egg = SGD 0.30

1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine

2 tablespoons of corn starch

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 teaspoon of sesame oil

The total cost of the dish = SGD 6.25

First, mash up the tofu so they become tiny bits

Mix the mashed tofu and minced meat together

Add in the chives which should be chopped finely.

Add in the egg, corn starch as well as all the seasoning and mix well. The corn starch and the egg will help the meat and tofu combine well.

The mixture should be slightly starchy and sticky and you can start to shape them into meat patties. If the mixture is too wet because of moisture from the meat or tofu, you can add in 1 tablespoon of corn starch.

Shape them into thin patties and grill them on a hot pan greased with oil. I shape them into thin patties so that they cook easily.

Pan fry each side for about 1 min till golden brown before flipping to the other side.

Both sides should be pan-fried till golden brown and the patties are ready. If you wish to quicken the cooking process and like a crispier outer layer, you can use more oil so that the patties are semi fried.

The completed dish is crispy on the outside and soft and juicy inside. The savoury flavours of the minced meat are well complemented with the light soy flavours from the tofu. You can either eat it on its own or dip it in tomato sauce or chilli sauce.

The 2nd dish is something I had in a restaurant in Kluang and I have been wanting to try cooking it on my own and the first time I made it, my family loved it. This next dish is Fried cabbage with salted egg yolks. The ingredients need are:

1 whole small sized cabbage – SGD 1.95

4 salted eggs steamed and mashed – SGD 1.80

Seasoning needed will just be soy sauce for taste

The total cost of the dish is SGD 3.75

First, you need to steam and mash the salted eggs. Fry the mashed up salted eggs in 2 tablespoons of oil.

You should start smelling the strong flavour of the salted egg yolk and once you see the oil turning yellow, it means the fragrance of the salted egg yolk has been diffused into the oil.

Add in the sliced cabbage into the pan and try to stir up the salted egg yolks so they are evenly distributed within the cabbage.

To help the cabbage wilt slightly, you can cover the pan for 1 min so the cabbage will soften and it will be easier to fry them. Add in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce to flavour the dish and stir fry them till the cabbage start to brown slightly and is thoroughly mixed with the salted egg yolks.

It is ready once the cabbage is soft. I like my cabbage with a slightly charred flavour so I tend to fry them much longer and till some of the cabbage has a little burn to them. You will be able to taste the sweet crunchy cabbage in-between bites of the salty and fragrant salted egg yolk which is a great balance.

The total cost of both is dish is SGD 6.25 + 3.75 and just well within SGD 10