This special recipe has taken the best of both worlds, by adding
some Eastern ingredients to this Western recipe. By using
chillies, oyster sauce and chicken stock, mixed with the
traditional pie sauces, the result is a delicious and moist meat
base with just a tad of kick from the chillies. For more or less
of the ingredients, its entirely up to the individual, but I
would use the following estimates to suit my tastebud.
I have baked this on many occassions and it never fails to
get people asking for the recipe.
Ingredients:
500g
minced meat; 1-1.5kg potatoes; 3-4 tbsp ketchup; 3-4 oyster
sauce; 2-3 tbsp worchester sauce; 3 medium onions; 6 garlic ;
3-4 cups of mixed vegetables (green peas, corn, carrot); 4-6
tbsp milk; 4-6 tbsp buttter; 2 chicken cubes; 4-5 chilli padi
(small chillies and hotter than the usual ones, if not
available, normal chillis can still be used); sliced button
mushrooms ; grated cheese; salt and pepper.
Methods to
make the meat filling :
Saute/fry onions for a while, add the
minced meat, stir till its almost cooked. Add the sauces,
chicken cubes, oyster sauce, ketchup. Then add mixed veges,
mushrooms, chillis. Salt and pepper. If you wish, you can remove
the chillies from the mixture once cooked.
Methods to
make the mash potatoes:
Boil potatoes and mash (without skin
of course). Add milk and butter; salt and pepper. Ensure they
are well mixed. (I always end up with just a bit more milk and
butter).
For baking:
Place minced meat mixture in a
baking tin, level it. Place the mashed potatoes on top and level
it. Use a fork to make some designs on top, when its brown,
makes it look pretty. Then sprinkle grated cheese on top, how
much you desire , it's up to you. Bake in pre-heated oven at
210C for estimated 30-40minutes, check in once in a while, as
long as the top is brown, you are done.
Some tips:
I used to mash potatoes by first boiling them
with the skins, and then peel them and mash them, which was
usually very hard work. Till I was taught by a chef, who peeled
the potatoes before boiling and cut them up into cubes, add
salt. They cook faster and so easy to mash, and does not
shortchange the taste. For the westerners, if you do not wish to
use chillis, use lots of pepper. For the Asians with fiery
tongue, use chilli padis for that kick, more if you wish but
don't get burned!
All the best!
Nora Maskuri
About the Author:
Noraini Maskuri enjoys cooking and
likes to experiment with food, and has professional training in
bakery. She is the owner of
http://MyCookery.com and has a blog at
http://mycookery.com/blog For more tips and recipes, visit
http://mycookery.com/blog
