Enjoy these as they come: Family friendly, juicy free-range chicken patties, flavoured with a Japanese-y blend of ginger, soy sauce and Panko breadcrumbs. They're studded with crunchy water chestnuts and bright edamame beans – and, in our experience, they’re beloved by diners of all ages! Order in 2 or 3 packs to keep in the freezer and they’ll set you up with some great easy ideas for the ‘dinner bank’.
THE SIMPLEST SAN CHOY BAO
Cook your chicken and edamame bites following the pack instructions. Meanwhile, separate the small inner leaves from a lettuce and choose the cutest looking ones to make ‘lettuce cups’.
Wrap the edamame bites in the lettuce cups as a fun dinner for toddlers and small children.
For everyone older – and as a great idea for party canapes – turn these into san choy bao by adding simple pickled vegies (see below), and fresh coriander or mint leaves to garnish. Serve with nuoc cham or a chilli dipping sauce.
To make very simple refrigerator pickles, mix 4 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 flat teaspoons caster sugar and 1 flat teaspoon salt. Stir together in a container. Add matchsticks of carrots, cucumber, radishes, spring onions – or any other vegies you fancy. Leave for an hour, or up to 2 days, in the pickling liquid, then add the pickles to your san choy bao.
SUPER SOUP
For a winter lunch or warming supper, we think this is genius! Cook up our easy chicken pho recipe [find it here] but, instead of the chicken meat, add a batch of edamame bites. We loved this so much in the kitchen that we’ve started adding these tiny juicy meatballs to just about any Asian noodle soup – so don’t hold back! The crunchy chestnuts and fresh pop of edamame work well in any salty broth.
And, if you’re feeling extremely lazy or snuggly on the sofa, just add edamame bites to instant noodles… simple, tasty, and a perfect TV supper!
COOK UP A BIG DINNER
When you order your edamame bites, snap up a pack of super-loaded vegie rice for the basket too. It’s a comforting mix of nutty brown rice tossed with soy, sesame oil and ginger and a whole colour wheel of vegies – carrots, corn, edamame, mushrooms and Chinese cabbage – and it turns those juicy bites into an easy family dinner. Poach or fry an egg to pop on top and you’ve got yourself a no-stress dinnertime feast!