What I Cooked During the MCO

It was unprecedented...going through our nation's first Movement Control Order (MCO) to try to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus that has wrecked havoc across the globe.

We started the restricted movement on 18 March 2020 and it was supposed to last two weeks.  But a week into the lockdown, it was announced that the MCO will be further extended for another two weeks (till 14 April 2020) with some places subjected to Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO)! :'(

So, it looks like there'll be more cooking!  To a certain extent I'm glad that I had to cook...and now write about it....as a means to relieve boredom.....to have something to do....to pass time.  But I also made sure that I gave support to local food businesses by cooking only one meal...dinner....and tapau the rest, be it breakfast and lunch or just brunch.

The key to cooking (for me) was to keep it as simple as possible.  Even though I had plenty of time on my hands to do more complicated dishes, I wouldn't want to.  That way I can keep the time taken for grocery shopping to the bare minimum without the need to buy more ingredients.  Plus, not all produce are readily available.  We don't get to choose what we want, we just get what we can...and get the heck out of there as fast as possible.


I decided to go the route of Chinese dishes (with rice) as I felt they'd be easier to put together in terms of cooking + my husband is a 'rice' man...he must have rice for at least one meal a day.


If you've not spotted the trend in the below dishes, allow me to let you in on my secret...kekeke! ;)  I follow three principles....keep it simple, use only 1 - 2 ingredients (or at most three) and go with ingredients that can keep longer.  After all, I've never cooked so much in my life before the MCO...certainly not on a daily basis.  I'd usually cook three dishes but if you see four, it's due to leftovers from the day before or some dish a family member don't eat.

#1 - Chicken


I only cook with choi yin kai and still had half a chicken in the freezer before the MCO set in.  I was lucky that I got one from the wet market in my neighbourhood on the first day of the MCO (before the govt changed its stand on open air wet markets).  I, later, managed to get a second from another open air wet market (I won't mention where coz they curi curi jual and I happened to pass by).


The easiest way to cook chicken is to braise it in a sauce of oyster/dark & light soy with ingredients that have a relatively long shelf life.  Dishes such as Chicken with Ginger, Chicken with Potatoes & Chicken with Chinese Dried Mushrooms would be ideal choices during times like these.  Roast Chicken would be the other easy option.

#2 - Fish

As for fish, the simplest (and my preferred) way of cooking is to shallow fry them (only one ingredient is needed...a fish!) and serve it with soy sauce & minced garlic.  I could also steam them but didn't as I my family don't like fish, worst still if they're steamed.

My choice of fish for frying is pak chong (white promfret of ikan bawal putih), sek pan (sea grouper or ikan kerapu), kau yue (Spanish mackerel or tenggiri batang) or ma yau (threadfin or ikan kurau).


The way to fry fish without all that splattering mess is to use a small but deep saucepan (even if you have to fry each piece separately) besides making sure you pat the fish really dry.  The key is get a piece that fits your saucepan...haha! :D  If it's too big, I'd even ask my fishmonger to cut the fish steak into two (right down the middle).  Frying fish in a small saucepan also uses less oil, so less wastage of oil.

#3 - Pork


In my family, one doesn't eat chicken and the other doesn't eat fish (that's why I have to cook 4 dishes sometimes).  Pork is a happy medium...everyone eats it.

I did cook a dish that violated my 1-2 ingredient principle...and that's Minced Pork Patties (and no, I didn't make one of those coronavirus-lookalike type of meatball!).  My pork patties are one of the most well received pork dish.  It needs at least 4 ingredients (even a simplified version)...pork, carrots, onions (or spring onions) and egg (+ cornflour) to bind everything together.

Other simple pork dishes I made include Stir-Fry Pork with Ginger & Scallions and Steamed Minced Pork with Egg.

#4 - Tofu

One of the simplest tofu dishes to assemble is to get a box (or two) of silken tofu (they keep well in the fridge too) and fry up some minced dried prawns & garlic till crispy and serve it with a good drizzle of oyster sauce, soy & garlic oil.  This Chilled Silken Tofu gets the thumbs up from everyone...and we like to have the tofu cold.

#5 - Eggs

Eggs are super quick to whip up...that's why they're super popular and highly sought after.  They sold like hot cakes (people were buying them by the trays) during the MCO.  At one time, they were hard to come by as many places were sold out.


Luckily the situation improved.  No such thing of wanting a particular brand.  You just get what's available.  Eggs are so versatile you can cook them in many ways...fry them, steam them or make omelettes out of them...with minced pork (our favourite), french beans, onions, choy poh (preserved radish)....or simply just plain!  It's my go-to dish as it's universally accepted by all members of my family. ^_~


If fried whole, I can blow my own trumpet to say I make one of the most delicious fried eggs in town...with super frizzy, crispy sides, egg yolk fully cooked and fried on both sides to get a good colour (coz that's how my family likes 'em)...haha! ^o^  If I want a partially cooked yolk, I'll fry them on one side only.

#6 - Dried Anchovies (Ikan Bilis)


What can have a longer storage life than ikan bilis (or dried anchovies)?  So it makes sense to store enough of this versatile ingredient...you can use them in soups, for fried rice + they also make for some tasty dishes.  My only regret was I didn't buy enough more from my regular dried goods supplier (at the open air market) before the MCO.  I like the ones he sells coz they're of a very good quality and, more importantly, they've been prepped and cleaned (heads and guts removed).


I usually make Ikan Bilis with Onions (my son's favourite) or stir-fry it with some blended chilli paste from the fridge (that someone gave me) to make Spicy Ikan Bilis with Potatoes.

#7 - Vegetables

As for vegetables, I get a mix of green leafy ones (that are more perishable) and some sturdier ones (like potatoes, carrots, onions, white carrot, tomatoes, cabbage & jicama).  My way of cooking them is the fastest...for a one-ingredient dish....just stir-fry with garlic.


Like vegetables of Sang Choy (iceberg & romaine lettuce), Hong Kong Kai Lan (Chinese broccoli), Hong Kong Choy Sum (Chinese flowering cabbage), Yin Choy (Amaranth Greens), Baby Bok Choy, Baby Pak Choy & Chinese Broccoli stir-fried with garlic.  A little bit more work would be Cabbage Stir-Fry with Dried Prawns and French Beans Stir-Fry with Oyster Sauce.


There was one instance where I cooked a veggie dish that was an exception to my 1-2 ingredient principle (haha!)...Shredded Jicama & Carrot with Dried Cuttlefish which needed 3 ingredients.


This is good as a leftover too...in fact, no food gets left behind (everything gets consumed).  This is not a time for wastage...especially when we hear of people not even having enough money for food. :'(

#8 - Canned Goods


Of course, we can't get by without a little help from our friends...the canned goods.   Our dinner table will be graced with the occasional express dishes like egg-coated fried luncheon meat, fried dace with salted black beans, sardines with onions, baked beans with egg bits & braised peanuts.

Unfortunately, I only got one can each of luncheon and fried dace (the brands I eat) prior to the MCO and didn't manage to find any selling after that (probably because these were China brands that have ceased coming in for the time being).

#9 - Soups


Since both my husband and son are not into soups, I cook a one-portion soup for myself using the double-boil method with my trusted slow cooker...as easy as pie!


Again, I'd choose to make soups with sturdier and long lasting vegetables such as Chinese Radish & Carrot Soup with White Peppercorn and ABC Soup with Carrot, Onion, Potato & Tomato.  Sometimes, it would be just double-boiled plain chicken soup or with some kei chee (wolfberries) and jujube (red dates).

#10 - One-Dish Meals

When I was tired of cooking meals with dishes, I resorted to easy-peasy one-dish meals like Fried Maggi Mee.  We like to have it with egg only and even order it like that when we're at mamak stalls.


Of course, fried rice is the other well received one-dish meal...I did Fried Rice with Shrimps (and a few other stuff like french beans, onions & egg).  It's fried rice, so it needs more than two ingredients lah to help it along in the taste department.  Cooking Claypot Chicken Rice in a rice cooker is another convenient recipe...and, this time, I followed Sean's (or more specifically Cooking Ah Pa's) recipe of cooking all the ingredients first.

#11 - Bread

Bread was the other precious commodity, apart from eggs, that was difficult to get especially my preferred brand, Gardenia.  They just didn't seem to be able to produce enough to meet the increased demand.


Some days, lunch can be as simple as Egg or Tuna Sandwiches, French (or Egg-Dipped) Toast or even just with butter & jam.

And that, pretty much, sums up some of the things I cooked...and ate....during this MCO period.  Of course, I ate outside food too (otherwise I'd go bonkers eating my own cooked food every day + restaurants need our support).  I usually tapau, I hardly use food delivery coz I like my food hot + the 30% surcharge for the food is also a factor.  We should and need to be thrifty in critical times like these.  Cooking is probably still the cheapest option (especially if you have a big family to feed).

Driving out to tapau is a cinch nowadays...with no traffic and plenty of parking spaces (free too).  I don't have to go far as I've enough of choices at my disposal in my housing area itself since almost all my favourite noodles and roasted meat rice stalls are open...including fast food outlets (one of which has a drive-through).

After all that's been said and done...businesses are suffering....the rakyat is suffering, but we have to dig deep to ride out this storm for our own safety and well-being.  So, it'll be more of the same cooking in the week or weeks to come.


Cookie:  What?  Am I the only one enjoying the MCO?


Eat.Snooze.Dump (and repeat)!  What's not to enjoy? ;D

Stay home.  Stay safe.  Help Stop the Spread of Coronavirus.

Hope the situation improves and the MCO can be lifted soon...but wouldn't be surprised with yet another extension.  *Fingers crossed that won't be the case*