Last post on my approach to Asian – inspired one pot meals, following the past pantry basics and flavour + texture posts. People seem to have a misconception that cooking takes hours. Not at all!

General guide on cooking times (No rules written in stone – it’s common sense, intuition, experience, personal preference!) :

1) Smaller/softer things need less time to be cooked than larger/harder ones. Dried noodles take longer than soft ones. Whole beans take MUCH longer to soften than split lentils. For harder-to-cook things like whole beans and potatoes, boil a big batch at one go, freeze in portions. Then they only need a couple minutes to be warmed. For tough veggies like broccoli, breaking into smaller pieces greatly reduces cooking time.

2) Some things are already cooked. Tofu, seitan and many processed soy products aren’t raw in their packaged form. Cooking them is to rid germs and impart flavour, thus only short heating (or even none if preferred) is needed. My fastest way to enjoy silken tofu is soak in hot water for 5 mins, drain and drizzle with sauce.

3) Don’t overcook. When green veggies turn yellowish under heat, they are overdone and have lost crispness and nutrients. Green leafies just need 30 seconds to a minute blanched in hot water to be done!

Continuing on last post’s working-with-whatever-in-fridge miso udon example, you can heat everything at once in a pot – but you may find tomatoes raw tasting and spring onions tasteless.

Here’s the sequence for max flavour:

1) Bring mushrooms, soaking water and additional 2 cups water to a boil in a pot.
2) Add ginger, spices and tomatoes, simmer at low-medium heat for 2-3mins until tomatoes soften.
3) Add pre-cooked yams and soaked lentils. Simmer at low-medium for 2mins.
4) In goes udon, simmer for just under a minute. Off heat.
5) Stir in miso and sprinkle spring onions. A drizzle of sesame oil and white
pepper will round up flavours perfectly. Dinner served in 10 minutes!

So to round things up, one-pots are the easiest hot meals to make everyday. Just keep in mind the simple basics of having a balanced pantry, know what gives flavours and/or textures and try not to undercook or overcook ingredients. Soon you can intuitively compose filling meals from anything in no time.

Here’s some other examples of one-pots (and their ingredients) I made and posted on my instagram, for ideas (I’m an incurable noodle lover, you can use any carbs or grains preferred.)

1) Carbs: Brown rice soya noodles. Protein: Pre-soaked roasted barley, edamame. Vitamins: Bamboo shoots, seaweed, edamame, enoki mushroom. Seasonings: Miso paste, sliced green chilli in soy sauce, sesame oil.

2) Carbs: White rice & quinoa. Protein: Quinoa, ground flaxseed powder. Vitamins: Onion stalks, red chilli, curry leaves. Seasonings: Grapeseed oil, sea salt, lemongrass.

3) Carbs: Rice noodles. Protein: Pan-fried tofu, fermented black beans. Vitamins: Cucumber, tomatoes. Seasonings: Sea salt, curry powder, coconut milk.

4) Carbs: Sweet potatoes. Protein: Pre-soaked red lentils. Vitamins: Okra, tomatoes. Seasonings: Sea salt, black pepper, olive oil.

Hope this series can give you confidence to step in the kitchen and take control of what you eat!