The Make-away Chronicles: Episode 1
So it was Chinese New Year back on February 8th. Apparently I missed it.
Whoops.
That’s a bit of shame, I love Chinese food and the New Year
would have been the perfect excuse to go balls to wall hard on some take-out. Curse my lack of global awareness!
Well to be fair, I didn’t miss the celebrations entirely per
say. When meeting up with my good pal Ellen last Saturday, we were taken aback
by a most unusual sight after lunch. A large pair of dragons (not the authentic
kind, just a combination of some well-made costumes and puppeteers who knew how
to shake what their mama gave them) flamboyantly took over the food court in
procession of a Chinese marching band with drums, dancers and a great deal of rhythmic
thrusting. As they stormed Ned’s noodle bar with the vivaciousness of a 90’s
Oprah Winfrey and danced over Taco Bell’s tables in a style reminiscent of an umbrella bird's mating ritual, all
I could think of was ‘Ooooh I fancy a Chinese now’. Unsurprisingly, food took a priority up in the
old noodle – get it? Noodle? Don’t roll those eyes, you love it!
Chinese (and Asian food in general) is without a doubt one
of my favourite food genres. It’s right up there along with Italian, BBQ and all
manner of ‘comforty’ things like crumble. I’m not too fussy either; whether it’s
one of Wagamama’s finest Japanese ramen bowls or a greasy, sugar laden chow mein
from the local takeaway, it’ll do donkey, it’ll do.
The only problem with Chinese take-away is that it doesn’t
really fit into my philosophy of eating well at home and then treating yourself
when going out to eat. Of course the occasional indulgence is fine but
sometimes I forget what the word ‘occasional’ means and despite trying to
maintain a healthy varied diet it’s very easy to suddenly find yourself eating
out 2-3 times a week causing you to feel like an orca whale. Plus all that salt
seriously messes up my bladder control. I go from bodily function commanding 23
year old to 60-something year old mother of 9 after a heavy session of take-out
food.
However, there is potential solution to help bridge the gap
between having take-aways more regularly but not suffering from the health
drawbacks.
Why not make homemade takeaway food? Sound’s easy enough and
I’m sure there’s a heaping helping of reasons why this is a good idea.
It would be a lot healthier for sure
It would be much less expensive for sure
The only drawback that I can think of is…
…Effort! Yes, that is an embarrassing insight into my potential
degree of laziness but I’m just being honest here. Sometimes I don’t feel like
cooking. Sometimes, the day has just been too much. Sometimes I want nothing
more than to phone up someone else and politely demand that they feed my
gluttonous face hole. This is just an excuse really (an excuse for my inner
sloth) but if there was a way to minimize as much time and hassle as possible
when recreating my favourite Chinese inspired dishes, I knew I would be more
prone to actually doing it. Luckily, as with most things, the Internet provided
the answers I was looking for.
After a bit of recipe hunting I found that a lot of Asian
dishes aren’t actually very difficult to make healthy and what’s better is that
more often or not they involve no more than throwing a bunch of things into a
wok and stir-frying. In half an hour food can be ready – about the same time
for the takeaway people to arrive. Perfect. Crack out those chopsticks!
Quick disclaimer:
Fake-aways as the
Internet has so lovingly christened them are not a new concept and make no mistake;
there are plenty of bog posts, recipe books and TV programs dedicated to the
subject. I’m not trying to rock the boat or start a new trend by referring to a
home-made takeaway dish as a make-away (eeewww ma gad, seewwww uniaque and
insparashional) but I just thought it sounded nicer. Plus you can’t fake a take away
– they’re too good and that is what makes them perfect for being rare treats- but you can definitely make your own ‘better for you’ versions at
home on a more regular basis. So every few Fridays or so I’ll try to remember
to post a classic take away dish lightened up in the hope that as these things
become more regular in my diet, the real stuff can become more occasional and
much more of a treat when I do choose to splurge.
Enjoy!
Chicken Satay Skewers
Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts
4 skewers
2 tbsp natural peanut butter or 2 servings of PB2 (powdered
peanut butter)
2 tsp reduced salt soy sauce
1 tsp truvia or other sweetener of choice (you may want to
add a little more if using something like honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar,
I recommend starting with a little and then adjusting to taste)
2 tbsp almond milk (can sub other milk or water)
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp garlic granules
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and soak the skewers (if
made of wood) in a shallow dish of water, ensuring they are completely
submerged for at least ten minutes.
Cut up the chicken breast into small cubes and thread onto
the soaked skewers.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until a smooth sauce
had formed. Drizzle half of the sauce over the 4 skewers and make sure they get
completely covered. You can even put them in a freezer bag and allow them to
marinate in the fridge for a while.
Spray a baking tray with cooking spray/oil before laying out
the satay chicken and placing in the oven for 15 minutes.
After this, remove, flip them, pour over the rest of the
peanut sauce and return to the oven for another ten minutes.
EAT. That is all.
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