Rice + Sardines in tomato sauce + Stir-fried beans

Ingredients (per 1 portion)

• Rice, raw — 75 g
• Sardine, fresh — 70 g
• Green bean, fresh — 45 g
• Tomato, fresh — 20 g
• Palm cooking oil — 5 g
• Shallot — 5 g
• Red chili, fresh — 5 g

Method

• Steam rice (guide nasi-putih-tanak).
• Fry/steam sardines until the skin sets; tomato sauce: sauté shallot + chili + tomato until cooked and oily + a little water, fold the fish in last gently (guide sarden-saus-tomat).
• Stir-fry beans on high heat 2–3 min (guide tumis-sayur-oseng).

Ingredient handling & storage

• Rice, raw — Store in an airtight container, dry and cool ≤25 °C — moisture invites rice weevils and mould. Never store on the floor; use a pallet.
• Sardine, fresh — ≤4 °C and cook within 1 day — sardines spoil faster than other fish due to high fat. Fresh signs: firm body, red gills.
• Green bean, fresh — Store ≤7 °C up to 4–5 days; do not wash before storing (speeds rot) — wash right before cutting.
• Tomato, fresh — Store at ambient until ripe, then ≤7 °C. Wash before cutting — skin carries dirt and residue.
• Palm cooking oil — Store sealed, dark and cool. Used frying oil: strain, keep separately, reuse max 2–3×; discard when dark, foamy or rancid-smelling.
• Shallot — Store dry, ventilated and dark — not in sealed plastic (rots). Daily sliced shallot keeps sealed ≤4 °C, use ≤24 h.
• Red chili, fresh — Store dry ≤7 °C up to 1 week. Wear gloves for large batches — capsaicin burns skin and eyes.

Food-safety warnings

• Sardine, fresh — Same scombroid/histamine risk as mackerel-skipjack — do not rely on cooking to "fix" fish that sat warm too long.
• Green bean, fresh — Raw green beans contain lectins — always cook through; do not serve half-raw to children.
• Palm cooking oil — Never store chopped garlic/herbs submerged in oil at room temperature — the oil creates an anaerobic medium for Clostridium botulinum (botulism). If needed, keep ≤4 °C and use ≤4 days.

Allergens & consumption limits

For a child feeding programme, allergen data must be recorded per child and a substitution path prepared — do not just reduce portions for allergic children.

• Rice, raw — Rice is hypoallergenic — the safest staple and the base for multi-allergic children.
• Sardine, fresh — MAJOR FISH ALLERGEN — parvalbumin is heat-stable; fish-allergic children must be substituted.
• Green bean, fresh — Legume — mild cross-reactivity with other legumes; not a major allergen but log it if family reports legume allergy.
• Tomato, fresh — Rare allergen; tomato is a histamine liberator — can trigger itching/hives in histamine-sensitive children even without immune allergy.
• Palm cooking oil — Refined palm oil is nearly protein-free — practical allergy risk is zero. Restriction: daily fried-fat total is still capped by guidelines (not allergy).
• Shallot — Allium — rare; can trigger FODMAP symptoms (bloating) in sensitive children. Not a major allergen.
• Red chili, fresh — Not an allergy — an IRRITANT: capsaicin burns mucosa. Real restriction for primary-school kids: drop chili portions in child menus (see the 0.9-0.85 scaling factor) and avoid raw sambal.

Keeping the cooked dish

Sardines in tomato ≤3 h ≥60 °C — fish spoils fast even in sour gravy; never reheat (histamine). Stir-fried beans ≤2 h.

Nutrition per portion

≈412 kkal energy · 21.7 g protein · total 225 g raw weight per portion. Figures from TKPI Kemenkes — actual values vary with ingredient condition and cooking loss.

Scaling to N portions

Recipe is written per 1 portion. For N portions: staples (rice, protein, vegetables, fruit, coconut milk) scale linearly — grams × N. Strong seasonings (turmeric, chili, sweet soy, sugar, salt) scale at × N × 0.9; frying oil at × N × 0.85; broth/water at × N × 0.9 then correct evaporation ±2% per 10 min of boil. Add a 5% shrinkage buffer on the purchase total. Example at N = 100: Rice, raw 75 g → 7.5 kg; Sardine, fresh 70 g → 7 kg; Green bean, fresh 45 g → 4.5 kg. Full formula: guide "MBG portion scaling".