{chicken nuggets in hermie}

I was looking around the internet and social media trying to gain a little inspiration for something new Miss A could try eating. Everywhere you see, children love eating with their hands to feel what a new food is like and nuggets fit perfectly into this category. The trouble is, is that nearly every recipe I have found, contains a bit of parmesan cheese and uses an egg wash before crumbing. These are 2 things that Miss A cannot eat. 

Therefore, the below recipe is my take on the classic Chicken Nugget albeit a bit healthier and full of those ‘hidden’ vegetables that all parents like to sneak in. I find by adding a good amount of veggies means that the chicken breast does not dry out too much and the nuggets are still moist to eat. Enjoy xx

6 weet-bix

500-600 grams chicken breast, cut into ~4cm chunks
drizzle of garlic oil

1 small zucchini

1 leek, white part only, cut into 2 

300 grams sweet potato, cut into ~1 cm slices
5 turns of the ”Chef’s Choice” Sicilian style seafood seasoning or to taste (optional) - See note

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C.

2. Place weet-bix into TM bowl and crush 3secs/ speed 6. Set 2/3’s aside in a small shallow bowl. Place the rest of the weet-bix in a large bowl that will be used to combine all ingredients.

3. Place chicken into TM bowl. Mince 2-3 times/ 1-2secs/ closed lid position/ turbo. Set aside in the large bowl. 

4. Place zucchini, leek & sweet potato into TM bowl and chop 3secs/ speed6. Add garlic oil over the chicken. You don’t have to add the garlic infused oil however, I find it adds another layer of flavour to the nuggets. Saute 3mins/ varoma/ stir speed/ reverse. Add to chicken in bowl & add seasoning or salt if using.

5. Mix with your hands and form either nugget style shapes or balls. Coat in the reserved weet-bix crumb and place on a lined oven tray. (This mixture is quite wet but works well if you use one gloved hand to make the nugget and one ‘naked’ hand to crumb the nugget.)

6. Once all nuggets/balls are complete, give them a quick spray of olive oil over the top.

7. Place in a pre-heated oven for 15minutes. Take the nuggets out and flip them over. Increase the temperature of the oven to 220C and bake another 10 minutes or until golden.

8. Take out of the oven when done and cool slightly before serving with your favourite tomato sauce.

Makes 40-45 nuggets.

Tips: These can be cooked in a frypan instead of oven baked however, they might end up a bit oilier. Also, I have used weet-bix to absorb a bit of the moisture in the mix however, a good batch of bread crumbs thrown in would do the trick too. Finally, I like to use a white zucchini because my Miss A loves to scrutinize her food before eating and it does not stand out as much in the mixture as the more common green zucchini.

Note: This seasoning looks like this:

{bouncy chinese fish balls in hermie}

When I was growing up, I always wondered what other non-Asian families would have for lunch on weekends. In my house, we definitely did not have sandwiches but my mum always made something hot such as laksa, congee, fried rice, roti & rendang or fish balls with noodles. The last being one of the old time favourites that I have still enjoyed into adulthood. 

Having said that, on my journey to finding out what my food intolerances are, I have found that my love of fish balls could be no more due to nearly all commercial varieties containing MSG, other nasties and not that much fish. Hence, my quest to try and make a homemade version that was just as tasty and more importantly, 'bouncy'. Bouncy does not mean rubbery and a good test is if you squish one in your fingers and there's a little spring to the meat.

I have tried making these in a food processor and some manual handling but just cannot get it right. The Thermomix has changed all this and with little effort, I can now make up a batch of bouncy fish balls that are 'nasty' free. The proof is in the eating!

550-600grams white fish (I used Spanish Mackerel as it is quite an oily fish. Any other oily fish would be good too), cubed 3-4cm, frozen for 1-2 hours
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder
40-50 grams water
sprinkle of white pepper
1 spring onions (optional), cut in half
2 litres water (for cooking fish balls)

1. If using spring onion, place into TM bowl and chop 3-4 sec / speed 5. Set aside.
2. Put a pot on the stove and start boiling the water.
3. Place 1/3 or 1/2 of the fish into the bowl and close lid. Pulse closed lid position / turbo/ 4-5 times. Put aside in another bowl. Repeat with remaining fish.
4. Return all fish into TM bowl and add in all other ingredients. Blend 1min / speed 9.
5. Then, knead 1min/ interval speed. This replaces the hard manual labour part if you're making these without the Thermomix. It's what makes them 'bouncy' due to the proteins being worked (correct me if I'm wrong people). At this stage we have fish paste which will be used to fish balls but can also be used for other things like making fish cake (for fried rice, noodles etc) or in Yong Tau Foo.

6. To make the balls, put some fish paste in your hand and form balls by squeezing through the index finger and thumb and scoop off with a teaspoon into boiling water.
7. Simmer the balls until the float to the top (about 5 minutes). Note, they will expand a little.

8. Transfer to a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. Serve with some seasoned egg noodles, blanched green veg (e.g. choy sum, bok choi) and chilli sauce OR, in a fish ball noodle soup.

Makes about 40 ping pong sized balls.

Bon Appetit xx

Tips: When making the balls with your hand, use a food handling glove. It may make the fish paste stick more however you won't be left with a fishy smelling hand the rest of the day. These are also suitable to freeze.

Note: the batch in the picture above does not have the spring onion in it :-)