Like every other busy person, time for meals can be short. Thus I make quick one-pot meals like this very often. It literally involved throwing everything into a pot of stock or water and bringing to a boil. Stir in a spoonful of sauce and maybe some plant milk for creaminess – ready in 10 minutes!

One thing that I will always have in the fridge is mushroom soaking water. It’s a decent base for soup dishes, and much cheaper than buying ready-made stocks. Simply rinse 5-10 of any dried mushrooms then leave them in a huge bowl of water in the fridge overnight. The mushrooms would be hydrated for cooking too. Dried seaweeds like kelp and wakame can be used too, or combined with mushrooms.

Ingredients (serves 1):

2 cups water, stock or mushroom soaking water (or as needed)

Brown rice noodles (as needed)

1 tomato, cut into wedges

2 thin slices of ginger

1 tbsp wakame (or as needed)

Handful of soybean sprouts, roots removed

4-5 carrot slices (or as needed)

1 shiitake mushroom, sliced (soak for 30 mins in hot water if using dried)

1 tbsp miso paste (or as needed)

¼ cup unsweetened plant milk (I used non-GMO soymilk)

Spring onion and white pepper powder as needed, for garnish (optional)

Place everything except the garnish, miso and plant milk into a pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and simmer over medium heat for 5 mins, or until noodles are soft. Remove from heat and stir in miso and plant milk. Garnish and serve.

Notes:

• I suggest to always compose a meal to include carbs, protein and vitamins. Here the protein sources are the brown rice noodles, wakame, soybean sprouts, miso and soymilk.
• You can use any noodle you like, just take note of the recommended cooking time on the packet so as not to overcook them.
• Instead of miso, you can use tom yam paste, fermented bean pastes, curry pastes/powders for variations.
• Some plants cook fast, others cook slow. Plants like raw potato and dried beans won’t suit this recipe as the cooking time is too short. Other plants like leafy greens (bak choy, spinach) cooks very fast, they need to go in at the point miso is added to avoid overcooking.
• For more detailed tips on making one-pot meals, check out my guide on making Asian one-pot meals.