merryn – sixthseal.com

I have been going through a bit of a body transformation as of late. I know you guys have noticed but I just want to say it to syiok sendiri k. Let me pat myself on the back sometimes, jeez. Anyway, a lot of these efforts are made in the kitchen. I do hit the weights in a systematic way everyday but to get a leaner body type, diet is very important. That’s why I’ve mostly been cooking myself at home.

Merryn

However, I got an invite from Wick Kee (one of the founders of Epic Fit Meals) to drop by and check out their new, revamped menu. I went with Merryn and Joyce last Sunday. Their meals have friendly macros so it won’t affect my diet. If you didn’t know, Epic Fit Meals does Melbourne inspired meals with an emphasis on healthier options. The calories of their meals are listed on their menu. Not only this, but it also has mentioned some of the items from which people can have an allergy or intolerant. They highly recommend the people, whoever faced the problem while eating to have a food intolerance test.

Chicken

I’ve actually met Wick Kee a few years ago when I went to their first outlet to see their offerings. I’m also a customer coz I saw their flyer with a free chicken deal when I was living at my previous condo. I’ve always wondered how they managed to get up there since Cascades has really strict security. Haha. It’s a higher end place. Effective marketing though.

Grilled-Chicken

Besides their macro friendly grilled and schnitzel chicken offerings, Epic Fit Meals also has a range of other proteins and menu items. This is perfect for people like Merryn who’s not a huge fan of chicken breast. I think it’s pretty bomb, especially when paired with their delicious range of sauces.

Epic-Sauces

These sauces range from 13 – 89 calories. The most yummy one to me is their Fire S.O.S. which is a sweet sambal sauce. It’s also the 89 calorie one. Figures!

Pollo-Supreme-Pizza

They also have pizza. This is the Pollo Supreme with lean chicken and various vegetables. It’s pretty good.

I enjoyed the Beef Buffy too. It’s a beef burrito with pulled beef and their delicious cilantro lime rice that brings a zingy zest to it. It makes the chubby very refreshing.

Chummy-Burger

The Chummy Burger is another new menu item. This is the Chicken Chummy.

OZ-Strip-Steak

I also liked their OZ strip steak…

Butter-Citrus-Baked-Pollock

…and Butter Citrus Baked Pollock, which are both protein options in their Epic Fit Meals.

Baked-Pollock

But the clear winner for me is the Herb & Lemon Crusted Pollock. It’s baked but tastes fried and I could detect a note of shrimp in the batter. I’m not sure if I’m having taste hallucinations but it’s good.

Epic-Fit-Meals

Epic Fit Meals delivers within 45 minutes to selected areas. You can order online at their website or pop into one of their 3 physical outlets.

Pounder

I am currently experimenting with different recipes to make my meal prep taste better and I have found a winner. This is the reigning champion – my current favorite! Ayam pongteh is a Nyonya dish made with taucu (fermented soy beans). It has a very distinctive taste that I like. I used the base recipe from Merryn and modified it according to my taste buds. This is for 8 portions:

2.5 kg chicken legs
0.5 kg chicken breast
6 shallots
10 garlic cloves
1 cup taucu
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp palm sugar
Potatoes
6 cups water

Fry Garlic

I had to get a pounder for this. You need to slice the garlic and shallots into manageable pieces and pound it to extract the flavor and increase the surface area of the aromatics. You also need a medium to fry them in.

Taucu

I used the chicken skin from the breast meat – you can get a small amount of grease from it. The original recipe has oil but I’m cutting down on excess calories so mine just uses a minimal amount which is skimmed out of the gravy later. You need some agent to fry the minced garlic and shallots.

Pongteh Paste

Next you add in the taucu, light + dark soy, and palm sugar. You might need to break it up into smaller pieces first if it comes in block form. You fry this entire mixture for 30 seconds or so until it forms a sticky paste. You can literally see it bind and bubble up when that happens.

Chicken Arrange

Next I arrange the chicken legs into my rice cooker (you can use a pot, I just don’t have one big enough) with the potatoes on top and pour in the mixture. Add in 6 cups of water and you’re set!

Chicken Pongteh

I didn’t put in the breast meat coz I don’t want to overcook them. I wait until the chicken leg is done cooking (up to your standards when that happens) and take them out before dunking in the breast part into the gravy. I don’t cook my chicken breast long since it goes through a reheating process which dries it up if overcooked. I usually just leave it in for a minute or two and finish up in the microwave when I eat it.

Ayam Pongteh

This is really delicious! I’m a huge fan of it and I can’t wait to prepare it again coz I was the happiest guy eating this compared to other meal preps. My next prep will be chicken curry, let’s see if that can topple this one as my favorite meal! I suspect not coz I like sweet gravy in my meals. I made a lot for this but stored it separately, to add to the containers when I heat it up.

Epic Fit Meals Food Review 2018

Merryn’s Ayam Pongteh