Before we start, I need to make a disclaimer: I'm definitely bad at cooking. It maybe doesn't look good, but believe me, it tastes great.
Have you ever watch "Best Leftovers Ever!" on Netflix? In this series, three home chefs are pitted against one another to make a great meal out of leftovers. They are challenged to create some high-end and well-presented dishes from whatever leftovers they got. Watching this series makes me remembered my mother's legendary recipe.
Not showing off, but at home, I have two large refrigerators. Sometimes we have too many groceries and then forget about it. In order not to go stale, at the end of every month my mother always cooks whatever food ingredients are in the refrigerator into one delicious dish. It's really simple. I can even make it when I went to live in the human world.
Ingredients:
- Garlic
- Pepper
- Chilli
- Sweet soy sauce
- Salt
- Meatball, nugget, sausage, or whatever you have
- Any kind of veggie you have
- Eggs
I have meatballs, salmon meatballs, chicken nuggets, eggs, and Chinese cabbage. Usually, I will use garlic powder and pepper powder. But I don't have it. I'm really bad at measuring things, so I can only hope that the seasoning I prepare is sufficient.
I want to make it spicy but also sweet. It must be crunchy and became the perfect match with rice or bread.
First, cut the meatballs and Chinese cabbage into small pieces. Chop the garlic. And grind the pepper until smooth. Like I told you before, I usually used pepper powder. It's not smooth enough but I'm already tired.
It is what it is.
Heat margarine and cooking oil. You can use a little cooking oil, or just use margarine. It's up to you. I use 70% margarine and 30% cooking oil because that's all I have at the moment.
Do not use too much oil and margarine. Later the texture of the food will be wet. These foods should look dry and crunchy.
Add the meatballs and nuggets. Stir well until it looks golden brown. Actually, you can cook it for a while, but I prefer to saute it until it's dry.
This is a little difficult because when I put it in, the meatballs and nuggets were still half frozen. I forgot to defrost it. When it is golden brown, drain it.
You can put more oil in the pan and heat it up. But because there was still oil and margarine left, I immediately put in the chopped garlic.
Saute until fragrant. If you've been sautéing it for 5 minutes and you still don't smell the fried garlic, turn off the stove immediately. Change clothes, and go to the hospital to take a COVID-19 PCR test.
Put the chilli, and stir it. You may sneeze while sauteing it. But that's totally okay. Because it's mean that you are in a good condition. Every time I got cold, I can't smell it, and I will not sneezing while sauteing it.
Stir it until you think: "Oh, it's fine."
Put the eggs, and stir it. A little tip: I will count until 30 before I stir it. The eggs won't be too crumbly. This will make a pretty good size scrambled egg.
After the eggs are cooked, let's move on to the next step. Don't let the eggs overcook or burn.
Put the Chinese cabbage, and stir it for a while. Just to make sure that we don't forget it.
Then, put the fried meatballs and nuggets. Stir it. After that, put the sweet soy sauce.
I like it to be sweet. I put it as much as I want. I just use my feelings, lol. Stir until all evenly.
The last: put the pepper. Honestly, it's the first time I use pepper instead of pepper powder in this century. I mean, why do we use pepper if we have pepper powder? I'm not a professional chef, and I'm single. I cook for myself.
But I don't find my pepper powder in my kitchen. That's really sad because I don't know how much I must use. And if it's too little, and I need it more, I don't want to grind it. Too much effort.
And voila! I put too much soy sauce, lol. But it still tastes good.
I used to make it almost every day for lunch at my office. It's not only because I like it, but also because that's my mom's recipe. Sometimes I make it just because I miss her. Especially, when everything in my life seems not to work.