Luncheon meat is one of my favourite comfort foods. It’s affordable, tasty, and pairs incredibly well with loads of other ingredients. To add a little inspiration to your regular luncheon meat routine, I’ve come up with three zhnged up luncheon meat recipes that you can easily try at home. These dishes are made with simple ingredients, and most importantly, you’ll get to enjoy the same mouth-watering flavour of luncheon meat.
This appetiser is great for parties, and combines various textures and flavours. For an added flavour boost, we’re using Highway’s Mala Ham Luncheon Meat that goes great with the fluffy potato crepes. We’re also adding a generous dollop of creme fraiche to cut through the spiciness of the luncheon meat. Be sure to also add a few sprigs of dill to give this dish a refreshing lightness.
To prepare the potato crepes, boil two cups of potato in a pot of water. Potatoes come in all shapes and sizes. For the sake of consistency, measure out the potatoes in cups instead. This equates to around two medium-sized potatoes.
In a clean mixing bowl, add flour, butter, egg, milk, and the potatoes. Blitz everything together with a hand blender. If you don’t have a hand blender, simply mash everything up with a fork and mix with a whisk.
After mixing, the mixture ought to develop a thick batter-like consistency.
Heat a frying pan on medium heat, and coat it lightly with vegetable oil. Gently pour the batter in so that it looks like a little medallion. This might take some practice, but shouldn’t be a problem after a few odd-sized ones. Cook the crepes on both sides, making sure that they develop a pleasant golden-brown colour.
Cook the luncheon meat on a separate pan over medium heat. We’re cutting them into thin strips so that they can develop an incredibly crisp texture.
Assemble this tasty canape by stacking the luncheon meat on top of the potato crepe and adding a dollop of creme fraiche, along with a few sprigs of fresh dill.
Yield: Serves 4
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cup potatoes, diced or two medium-sized potatoes
¼ cup butter
½ cup flour
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
White pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Creme fraiche to taste
½ can Highway mala ham luncheon meat, sliced thinly
Dill to taste
Directions:
Luncheon meat and rice is a classic pairing. In this dish, I’m adding fluffy scrambled eggs to give a touch of elegance and richness to everything else. This rice bowl is affordable to prepare, and filling to boot. It’s also easy to whip up and ought to be ready in under 20 minutes.
For a real fiery treat, spice lovers should consider using Highway’s Spicy Ham Luncheon Meat. This is the spiciest luncheon meat I’ve ever tasted, and it set my mouth ablaze with a tongue-numbing spice.
Start by cutting the luncheon meat into large cubes. The beauty of luncheon meat is its versatility. It can be cut into strips for fries, slices for sandwiches, and also into cubes which go very nicely with rice dishes.
Cook them on a well-oiled pan over medium heat, making sure that they turn golden-brown on all four sides.
In a separate pan, melt a pat of butter and add in three well-beaten eggs. The key to cooking fluffy and airy scrambled eggs is to not scramble them at all. Instead, gently push the edges to the centre to form large curds and move the eggs around using wide folding motions from time to time.
Assemble the dish by scooping the eggs on top of a bed of rice, and adding in the cubed luncheon meat.
Yield: Serves 1
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup rice, cooked
3 eggs
1 tbsp unsalted butter
½ can Highway spicy ham luncheon meat, cut into large cubes
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Directions:
Serving up luncheon meat as a dessert might seem like a crime to some. But its firm texture when cooked means that it pairs nicely with a sweet dip. Inspired by candy bacon, this candied luncheon meat is served with a two-ingredient chocolate mousse. Give this dish a try and it might just be the star attraction during parties.
Chocolate is a strong ingredient, that’s why we’re using Highway’s Black Pepper Ham Luncheon Meat. The robust flavour of black pepper goes quite nicely with the equally full-bodied chocolate, and makes for a sweet way to round off the meal.
It’s never a good idea to add water to chocolate; the result is an ugly and sodden mess of lumpy cakey chocolate. The culprit is the rich amount of fats in chocolate. Just like how oil floats on the surface of water, these two ingredients do not combine well.
But when added in large amounts and with a great deal of whisking, the chocolate-water mixture gets emulsified, resulting in a smooth and creamy consistency.
Pour room temperature water into the chocolate and pop into the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir everything evenly with a rubber spatula, and put it back in for another 20 seconds.
It might look ugly now, but be patient and wait for the magic to happen.
Chill it in the fridge for around 45 minutes. It should be slightly hard and not warm to touch.
Add cold water, and give the mixture a good hard whisk. This requires plenty of wrist action but it’s completely worth the effort. The mousse is ready when the mixture is luscious and smooth. Pop it in the fridge for 30 more minutes so that it can firm up a little.
Cut the luncheon meat into thick long strips. Make sure that they’re thick enough to scoop up all of that rich chocolatey mousse.
Dip the luncheon meat strips in brown sugar. Make sure that the meat is evenly coated on all sides.
Bake them in an oven at 160°C for 40 minutes, or until the sugar has caramelised. For easy cleaning, make sure to put the luncheon meat on top of a wire rack that’s sitting on an aluminium foil wrapped baking sheet.
The luncheon meat strips will be slightly soggy once they’re out of the oven. But give them a couple of minutes to cool down and they’ll develop a nice candy-like texture to them. Serve with a large serving of chocolate mousse.
Yield: Serves 2
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
200g cubed milk chocolate
¼ cup room-temperature water
¼ cup cold water
Highway black pepper ham luncheon meat, cut into thick strips
½ cup brown sugar
Directions:
The recipes on this list are easy to make, and are well-loved by both the young and old. It also helps that they’re made with ham luncheon meat from Highway, which uses premium cuts of lean and tender ham meat that has lower fat content than regular ones.
On top of that, the higher meat content in ham luncheon meat means that there’s a more substantial mouthfeel than regular ones. Lastly, Highway Ham Luncheon Meat comes in five different flavours, so you can mix and match and incorporate your favourite flavours into your dishes!
Highway Ham Luncheon Meat in Mala, Spicy, Black Pepper and Garlic flavour costs $3.90, while the Original flavour costs $3.40. They are available at all major supermarkets as well as on Price Club. From 21st July 2020, Highway will be running islandwide promotions so keep a lookout for it!
Be sure to also enter the latest giveaway from Highway Singapore and stand a chance to win a one year VIU Premium Subscription Plan. Winners will also walk away with a set of Highway Ham Luncheon Meat in all five flavours. All you’ll have to do is like Highway Singapore’s Facebook page, share the giveaway post, and tag two friends. 10 winners will be picked randomly on 30 July 2020, 12pm.
For more tasty yet easy creations, check out these no-bake Asian desserts and no-bake cake recipes!
Photos taken by John Lery Villanueva.
This post is brought to you by Hock Seng Food.
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