Caitríona Redmond: Recipes to replace takeaways as budget fails to deliver

Name: Pork Meatball Ramen Bowl
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 75ml water; 100g breadcrumbs; 1 mild chilli; 2 handfuls coriander stalks and leaves; 5 spring onions, chopped; 2 tsp ginger and garlic paste; 300g pork mince; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly; red peppers, sliced thinly; 200g dried noodles; Optional: Poached or soft-boiled eggs to serve

After all, when you have less disposable income one of the first things that gets the boot is the occasional meal out or drinks.

Caitríona Redmond: Recipes to replace takeaways as budget fails to deliver — Caitríona Redmond's pork meatball noodle bowl and chicken burgers

Tue, 10 Oct, 2023 - 19:30

After all the teasing of promised interventions and leaks from so many from Government departments that I checked my kitchen to see if my sieve was missing, Budget Day has been and gone.

The combination of a steady increase month on month of the cost of living so far in 2023, plus the stealthy cost of Shrinkflation, has left our wallets feeling emptier and our shopping baskets lighter.

I don’t think the budget has changed this situation, if at all, for the vast majority of people. As usual, I had a spreadsheet that totted up the value of the one-off payments and energy interventions and then allocated them to the years they would occur.

We can all look forward to an imminent energy credit that won’t go anywhere near the household budget, and if you have children, a double child benefit payment.

As Irish Examiner journalist Cianan Brennan rightly pointed out during the ministers’ speeches, inflation slowing is not the same as deflation. The cost of living is likely to continue to rise, albeit at a slower rate. I am bracing myself for a hard winter ahead and I know I’m not the only one.

There’s a common assumption that the budget measures take effect immediately but that generally applies to items like fuel and tobacco products, which will rise overnight. For the rest of this year, the measures announced this week will have minimal effect on what we have to spend on our groceries.

Sure, the lump sum payments are welcome, but they will be swallowed by a cold winter and meeting the existing cost of living increases.

By the time we get to January when the new tax bands and social protection payments kick in, there’s a chance that these will be negated by the rising inflation in the interim.

The Government announced an increase in the minimum wage and traditionally retail and farm workers earn close to this minimum wage. The cost of this higher payroll has to be met somewhere and more than likely it’ll be reflected in the prices at the till at some point in the future.

I am chasing value and quality every single time I go to the supermarket. I want the best for my family and that much won’t change.

I may have a little less to spend in the year ahead so while I can, I’m stocking up on staples that won’t go out of date like rice, pasta, tins and jars.

As we all have less money to spend we can expect to see more high-end restaurant-style meal deals and fakeaways on offer in grocery stores.

After all, when you have less disposable income one of the first things that gets the boot is the occasional meal out or drinks.

I miss being more flush with cash and being able to nip out to a restaurant or takeaway on a whim. This week’s recipes are minimal effort for maximum results so I can save money on the household budget.

Pork Meatball Ramen Bowl

This is as far away from a cardboard packet of noodles as you get. Making the most of fresh ingredients you can recreate the flavours and aromas of a classic noodle bar. I love bowl food and this is a bowl of comfort.

Servings

Preparation Time

15 mins

Cooking Time

20 mins

Total Time

35 mins

Course

Main

Ingredients

75ml water
100g breadcrumbs
1 mild chilli
2 handfuls coriander stalks and leaves
5 spring onions, chopped
2 tsp ginger and garlic paste
300g pork mince
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
red peppers, sliced thinly
200g dried noodles
Optional: Poached or soft-boiled eggs to serve

Method

Pour the water over the breadcrumbs and leave to soak.
Cut the chilli in half. Put one-half into a jug with half the coriander, half the spring onions and half the ginger and garlic paste. Mince using a stick blender, if you have one, otherwise just chop them all very finely.
Pour this mixture on top of the breadcrumbs. Add the pork mince and mix everything using your hands I use plastic/rubber gloves for this to stop the garlic, chilli and ginger from getting onto my hands).
Pour 500ml of hot water (or chicken stock) into a large saucepan and put on medium heat until it is simmering. Stir in the remaining ginger and garlic paste along with a splash of soy sauce, the carrots and the red pepper.
Use your hands to shape ping-pong-sized balls of the pork dumplings and drop them into the simmering broth with the dried noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve the meal with the remaining spring onions and fresh coriander on top, plus a soft-boiled egg if you fancy it.
The remaining chilli can be sliced and added to the broth if you like a bit of extra heat or left out if you don't want the broth to be too spicy.

Chicken Burgers with Chips

The trick to making your chicken dippers taste like dynamite is to use a very small amount of salt and pepper at each stage of the process. Once you master the breadcrumbs there’s very little else to do and serving up this homemade takeaway is a doddle.