Passport & Plate - Minchi
Macau | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 4 photos
Ingredients
For 4-6 people
500g minced beef
500g minced pork
5 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 pinch sugar
drizzle dark soy sauce
500 g butternut squash (cubed)
3-4 cloves garlic
thumb of ginger
1-2 bay leaves
2-3 chillis (bird eye works well)
1 medium onion
vegetable oil
as many eggs as there are people
rice
1 bunch coriander
How to prepare this recipeHeat the oven to 180ºC fan/200ºC.
Mix the two meats and add the light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Leave to marinade.
Cut the butternut squash into ~1cm cubes. Toss in oil for a light covering, place (uncrowded) in baking trays and roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
Cook rice with your method of choice.
Finely chop the onion and garlic; seed (optional) and chop the chillis; peel and cut the ginger root into matchsticks.
Heat around 3 tbsp of oil in a wok at medium/high heat and toss in the onion, garlic, chillies, ginger, and bay leaf. Cook until the onion is translucent.
Add the meat and start to stir/fold it. Do this to break up the meat clumps into smaller bits and until they have cooked enough to remain separate. Drizzle some dark soy sauce onto the mixture.
There should be plenty of liquid in the pan at this point. Lower to a medium/low heat and allow the meat to braise without covering. Fold/mix the meat every once in a while. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed, fold in the butternut squash cubes.
Fry the eggs in a separate pan. Roughly chop the coriander.
For individual portions, serve the minchi alongside plain rice, topped with some coriander and an egg.
For a communal portion (serving at the centre of the table) fold in the coriander, spoon the minchi into a large serving dish and place the eggs on top.
The story behind this recipeMinchi (mean-chee, from the english "mince") can be easily considered the quintessential Macanese dish, combining both Portuguese and Chinese elements in cooking. As Cecília Jorge laments in her book "À Mesa da Diáspora", Macanese culture (including its food) has been very poorly documented in history and, as a consequence, there is no central text that can be referred to for us to understand its culinary heritage. This means that almost any Macanese dish can only be described by what is typical, with each family and individual developing their own recipe over time. In fact "À Mesa da Diáspora" contains 5 variations of minchi, in addition to the family recipes submitted and included in the book’s appendix.
I am Macanese by birthplace and ethnic mix, though not by lineage (my family has not been in Macau for generations). This, coupled with the fact that I was brought up in different places, means that Macanese culture is equal parts my heritage and alien to me. It also means I haven't inherited any Macanese recipes.
The recipe I have provided here is a personal variation of the most typical version of minchi and has been developed through what I have learnt from friends and experimentation. The most noticeable change will be the use of roasted butternut squash instead of deep fried potatoes, an influence of my current home, England, as well as a handy sweet to balance the savoury and spice of the sauces and chillies.
This recipe has personal value for me in that it is an edible, tangible metaphor for my identity and development as a Macanese person, a migrant, and a cook.
This entry has an added impact on me in that it has forced to, for the first time, write down this recipe. In the traditions of Chinese and Macanese cuisine I have learnt, measurements are guided by the eyes and nose, making the written record cumbersome. Writing down my version of minchi has felt like a form of legitimisation and proof of the continuing development of my part-culture.
