Macanese Minchi

Have you been to Macau? I was there a few years ago and I love the place – especially the food (to be honest, food is always the main focus whenever I’m travelling, hah!) The egg tarts, Serradura, pork chop buns… mmm! Macanese cuisine consists a blend of Chinese and Portuguese cuisines, with the addition of spices and seasonings into local Chinese ingredients. To put it simply, it is East meets West.

This plate of comfort food is made by sautéing onion, garlic and pork together. Bay leaves, cumin and deep-fried potatoes are added before seasoned with soy sauce and molasses. It is actually very similar to the one my mom cooks quite often, just that my mom’s version is has more potato (lesser meat) and doesn’t have cumin and bay leaves. It goes very well with a bowl of steaming white rice. If you are not a fan of cumin, use lesser or omit it. I omitted the molasses as I don’t have it on hand.

This dish is made for the Asian Food Fest: Hong Kong + Macau hosted by Annie from Annielicious Food. I’ve originally wanted to make egg tarts but time doesn’t really permit me to do so, so I switched to this quick and easy dish, perfect for a quick weekday meal.

I missed the chance to participate in another event – Bake Along: Chinese New Year Cookies – I re-baked the Black Seasame Cookies for this year, so I have yet to try out new cookie recipes… Can’t believe January is ending! My past 2 days were spent baking Kueh Lapis (if you are following me on Instagram @foodiebaker, you would have seen some of the photos!) Will be updating the recipe with some tips as well 😉

Let’s start making this simple and easy dish!

Step-by-step photos
1) Peel and dice the potato.	2) Deep-fry until golden-brown.
3) Drain and set aside.	4) Sauté onion and garlic until fragrant.
5) Add in pork and bay leaves.	6) Sprinkle the cumin.
7) Add in potato dices.	8) Add in soy sauce and simmer till done.

I’m submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Hong Kong + Macau , hosted by Annie from Annielicious Food. Head over to Annie’s post to see all the submissions thus far!

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Macanese Minchi

Serves 3 to 4

By Jasline N.

Servings: 0

0.511.523

INGREDIENTS

 

• ▢ 1 large potato, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• ▢ 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• ▢ 225 grams ground pork / beef
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat a pot with oil. Dry the diced potato with paper towels. When the oil is hot enough, add in the diced potato and fry until the potato dices are golden-brown in colour. Remove from a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels to drain the excess oil. Set aside.
• Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add in onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent and the mixture is fragrant. Add in the meat and bay leaves, breaking up the meat and sauté until almost all the meat is no longer pink in colour. Sprinkle the cumin over the meat, add in the potato dices and the soy sauce. Simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes then transfer to a serving plate.
• Serve with plain rice.

NOTES

- Adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover

Tried this recipe?Mention @foodiebaker or tag #foodiebaker!

Super Naggy:

• This dish serves 3 to 4 people if you serve it with other side dishes. In Chinese cuisine, we often prepare a few dishes to go with rice – often a meat, a vegetable and a soup dish – for every meal. As such, this amount of meat will be enough to feed 3 to 4 people if sides dishes are prepared. When adding the seasoning, go easy – using only 1/2 of what is stated in the recipe and adjust accordingly to suit your taste.