The first time I attempted this dish was almost… *gasp*… twenty years ago.
It was during the Home Economics lesson while I was still in secondary two. I used to look forward to the weekly HE lessons, specifically the cooking ones, because I could cook dishes using utensils that either my house did not have, or that I wasn’t allowed to touch at home. This was one of the recipes that the teacher got us to try our hands at. It was kind of a weird dish that none of us had heard of, or seen before, but managed to churn out at the end of the lesson. I remember packing them carefully into my tupperware at the end of the lesson so that I could bring it home for my family to try. In the end, nobody touched it and this disheartened fourteen year old girl had to lap it all up by herself.
It wasn’t that bad tasting actually. The appearance was a tad sloppy but the taste was familiar and homely. For my attempt this time, I have decided to abandon the original way of presenting the dish (see picture below) and go for the more familiar pie with mashed potato dish, so that it is easier to scoop and looks more presentable as well.
Ingredients:
- Fish sauce: 2 tbsp
- White pepper: 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
- Corn starch: 2 tbsp
- Minced pork: 500g
- Potato: 6, peeled & quartered
- Milk: 1/2 cup
- Butter: 25g (1.5 tbsp)
- Salt: 2 tsp + 2 tsp
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- White onion: 1, diced
- Mixed vegetables: 200g
- Tomato: 3, diced
- Water: 1/2 cup
- Sugar: 2 tsp
- Ketchup: 3 tbsp
Method:
- Add fish sauce, 1/2 tsp white pepper & corn starch to minced pork.
- Leave to marinate in fridge for 1 hr.
- Cook potatoes in boiling water for 15 min. Drain water.
- Mash potatoes with milk, butter, 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp white pepper. Set aside.
- Preheat oven at 200 degrees Celsius.
- Heat oil in wok. Fry onions till translucent.
- Add pork and stir-fry till just cooked.
- Stir in mixed vegetables and tomatoes.
- Mix in 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp white pepper, water, sugar and ketchup.
- Pour into baking tray. Level top with spoon.
- Spoon mashed potato on top of pork mixture. Use a fork to create imprints on mash.
- Bake in oven for 15min till browned.
Trick:
- If you’re too lazy to prepare so many ingredients, eat the meat dish as it is, without the potatoes and the baking. They taste just as good by themselves – very fresh, tender and juicy!
Disclaimers:
- This recipe was adapted from the 2E Home Economics textbook (picture above). Don’t follow the recipes in it blindly – you must add in more condiments and ingredients so that the dishes don’t taste like hospital food!
- This dish is a fusion of Western (white pepper with mash) & Asian (meat) flavours. It tastes a bit like Shepherd’s Pie, but is a lot easier to make and has no beef in it.
Serving:
6 – 8 persons as side dish
