Next to planning the family’s weekly menu, preparing the kids’ everyday baon has got to be one of the most challenging of mommy tasks. Not only do we have to take into consideration our children’s preference and taste, we have to make sure they’re eating healthy, too. So we asked four moms who can make magic in the kitchen to share with us their tried and tested baon recipes: Jehn Domingo, mompreneur behind Sweet Mommy Cookies; Sabrina Cristobal Go, publisher of Sinfully Sabrina blog; Chats Siao, publisher of iMom Online blog; and Enid Carreon Viana, mompreneur behind Viana’s Kitchen Catering. Enjoy!
1 HOMEMADE EGG TOFU by Jehn Domingo of Sweet Mommy Cookies
Jehn says, “In our house, egg is life. Eggs make us happy, so I had to think of different ways to cook it. This is my latest recipe.”
What you’ll need:
Rice cooker or steamer
Small loaf pan
Parchment paper or wax paper
Strainer
Aluminum foil
4 large eggs
1 small can of evaporated milk (150 ml)
Salt
Pepper
All-in-one seasoning granules
What to do:
1. Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Beat until slightly fluffy.
2. Season with salt, pepper, and seasoning.
3. Mix in evaporated milk to the beaten egg.
4. For a finer tofu texture, strain the egg-milk mixture before pouring it to the loaf pan.
5. Make sure that your loaf pan is lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper must go over the rim of the loaf pan to make unmoulding easier.
6. Cover your loaf pan with aluminum foil to protect your egg tofu mixture from water drops brought about by the steam.
7. Put this inside your rice cooker/steamer and steam for 20 minutes.
8. The tofu is already cooked when the center is no longer jiggly.
9. Unmould the tofu from the loaf pan.
10. Once unmoulded, slice according to your desired thickness. Then fry each slice a little bit on each side. Just to brown the edges.
For variations, you can also chop some spinach, carrots, or some corn kernels into the tofu mixture.
2 CHOCO-NANA LOAF by Sabrina Cristobal Go of Sinfully Sabrina
This is a yummy snack that your kids would surely love to much on!
What you’ll need:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 bananas
2 eggs
1 tablespoon yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup coconut oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips plus extra for topping
What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper and grease again with oil or butter.
2. Mix dry ingredients together; flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
3. Mash 3 bananas, cut one in half and set aside.
4. Stir wet ingredients together; mashed bananas, yogurt, coconut oil, sugar and eggs in another bowl. Stir in dry mixture until blended. Fold in chocolate chips until just combined. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and top with sliced banana, sliced side up and chocolate chips for topping.
5. Bake for about 60 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
3 TURKEY SAUSAGE AND EGG MAKI by Sabrina Cristobal Go of Sinfully Sabrina
This recipe is good for 4 piece of maki.
What you’ll need:
1 cup Japanese Rice
1 cup water
1.5 tablespoon Rice vinegar
1.5 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 Turkey sausages, cooked
3 eggs
Salt and pepper
What to do:
1. Wash Japanese rice about 8 to 10 times or until water runs clear. Cook in rice cooker with the 1 cup water. When cooked, let stand for about 10 minutes.
2. Let your rice cool in a bow for another 10 minutes.
3. While cooling the rice, mix together rice vinegar, sugar, and salt until sugar has dissolved.
4. Mix vinegar mixture with cooled rice gently and set aside.
5. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. In a hot non-stick pan, pour a thin layer of beaten eggs and cook. Flip it over when one side has slightly browned. It should resemble a crepe, set aside to cool. Repeat until you have 4 sheets of egg “crepes”.
6. Once you have your sushi rice, egg “crepes,” and turkey sausage prepared, place a sheet or nori on a bamboo mat and cover two thirds of one side of your nori seaweed with your sushi rice approximately 1cm high.
7. Cut your egg “crepe” just into a rectangle that wraps around the turkey sausage. When done, lay that on top of the rice and then place your turkey sausage in the center.
8. Now using the bamboo rolling mat, start rolling up the ingredients away from you, while keeping the roll tight. The moisture from the rice will help it stick together.
9. You can then cut your roll into 6 to 8 pieces and serve with some soy sauce.
4 BLT KABOBS by Sabrina Cristobal Go of Sinfully Sabrina
This recipe make 5 pieces of kabob.
What you’ll need:
2 slices of any bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (preferably thick slices)
250 grams of bacon, cooked
10 pieces of cherry tomatoes
5 Romaine lettuce leaves
What to do:
1. Toast the bread until golden brown.
2. Cut cooked bacon into bite-size pieces.
3. Cut cherry tomatoes in half.
4. Rip lettuce leaves into 1-inch pieces
5. Assemble your BLT kabobs by starting with the toasted bread, bacon, tomato and lettuce and then start again having at least 3 pieces of bread on each skewer.
6. If desired, drizzle with mayonnaise or Caesar dressing.
5 TAPANG TAAL WITH TWO EGGS OVER GARLIC RICE by Enid Viana of Viana’s Kitchen
You’ll need to prepare this the day before. Enid leaves it to you to measure the ingredients according to your taste.
What you’ll need:
Pork tenderloin
Soy sauce
Brown sugar
Grated garlic
Pepper
Worcestershire sauce
What to do:
1. Marinade the tenderloin overnight in soy sauce, brown sugar, grated garlic, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Pan fry the next day and cut into bite size pieces
3. Make two sunny side up eggs
4. Serve with slices of veggies
6 BACON WRAPPED CHICKEN ROULADE WITH CHILANGO SALSA AND SIDE SALAD by Enid Viana of Viana’s Kitchen
It’s got bacon so of course, your kids will love this!
What you’ll need:
Bacon
Ground chicken
Pepper
Salt
Minced bell pepper
Minced onion
Pepper
Egg
Flour
Cubed mangoes
What to do:
1. Mix ground chicken with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Mix well and season with salt. Turn into a roll.
3. Wrap the bacon around the roll, and then wrap in aluminum foil.
4. Freeze the roulade.
5. The next day, bake it for 45 minutess to an hour and then fry it.
6. For the salsa, mix chili flakes, mango, garlic, a little brown sugar, and salt.
7 PORK SALPICAO by Enid Viana of Viana’s Kitchen
This is something you could easily whip up in the morning.
What you’ll need:
Beef salpicao cuts
Black pepper
Knorr Liquid Seasoning
Brown sugar
Minced garlic
Sliced onions
Minced ginger
What to do:
1. Season the salpicao in black pepper, seasoning, and brown sugar.
2. Saute ginger, garlic, and onions. Add the salpicao and cook until done.
3. Top off with crumbled chicharon.
8 PESTO PASTA by Chats Siao of iMom Online
You can store this pasta sauce in the refrigerator for a week or two.
What you’ll need:
½ cup fresh basil, thoroughly washed and drained
½ cup grated parmesan
½ cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
What to do:
1. Put ingredients in a blender, and blend till mixture is smooth.
2. The pesto sauce is ready to use. Just toss with any pasta.
3. My kids, if they were to be obeyed, will have just plain pesto pasta with lots of parmesan cheese on top. But because I am obeyed, I add pork chops or chicken strips to complete their baon.
9 BAKED CHICKEN THIGHS by Chats Siao of iMom Online
Chicken is a kiddie favorite, and this recipe is delicious.
What you’ll need:
6 pieces chicken thighs or legs, washed and drained well
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon mixture of herbs: thyme, rosemary, sage
Salt and pepper to taste
What to do:
1. Simply mix all ingredients, and marinate for at least 1 hour. Best to marinate at night before going to sleep.
2. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. If your oven has a convection fan function, turn it on.
3. Place chicken pieces in an oven-proof dish, skin side up. Put the dish in the middle rack of the oven.
4. Lower heat to 160 degrees, and set timer to 45 minutes.
5. Check periodically to avoid burning. I turn the chicken pieces every 15 minutes to make sure all sides get cooked. Always end with skin side up to get a beautifully crisp surface.
6. Serve with all the glorious drippings!
Variation: If you want oriental flavors in your chicken, use Asian herbs and spices instead. I like five-spice powder, star anise (sangke), and ginger. Add some sugar (just a little so it won’t be too sweet), and about one tablespoon of sesame oil.
10 CHICKEN/PORK TERIYAKI by Chats Siao of iMom Online
Chats says, “Most of the time, the kids take this to school with rice instead of noodles. This is the baon that their classmates ask from them.”
What you’ll need:
400 grams fresh noodles (I buy from my local Chinese grocer – Jashmart on Mayon Street, Quezon City. May be substituted with dry egg noodles or any thick noodles)
300 grams chicken, cut into pieces (Ideally, should be boneless chicken fillet.)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Onion leeks for garnishing
To make the Teriyaki Sauce:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons mirin (substitute: 4 tablespoon mi jiu [Chinese rice wine] + 1 tbsp sugar)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon cornstarch
What to do:
1. Prepare the teriyaki sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well until the sugar is dissolved. Adjust taste according to your preference by adding more soy sauce or sugar. Set aside. (Can be made ahead; just stir again thoroughly to mix the cornstarch when you’re ready to use the sauce.)
2. Heat the cooking oil in a wok. Stir fry garlic, ginger and onions until light golden brown. Add the chicken pieces and continue stirring. Reduce heat. Cook through for a few minutes.
3. Add teriyaki sauce mixture to chicken. Give it a stir, cover wok, and let sauce thicken over low heat. It’s done when the sauce turns into a nice thick, brown glaze. Turn off heat.
4. Cook the noodles in boiling water. Drain well, place on a serving dish, and drizzle with sesame oil. Top with chicken teriyaki mixture. Garnish with chopped onion leeks. Serve while hot!
Featured photo by Stanley Ong.
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