15 minute meals

[hwarium]

These are all meals I can put together when I’m exhausted and brainless. Life is hard and work can suck me into a vortex where I get home and the lizard inside me wants to eat now.

(Note: I garnish and season heavily because I like crunch and spice — I always have scallions, nuts, toasted sesame seeds and furikake on hand, so it’s no extra work for me to add in. All the recipes below can be further simplified, I'm a true believer that cooking doesn't have to be authentic as long as it gets eaten :D)

recipes

• caprese salad
• chachim deopbap (tuna rice bowl)
• variations on cabbage
• gimbap sandwich
• kbbq at home
• steamed egg (korean and chinese)
• steak with couscous and asparagus
• breaking down a rotisserie chicken
• congee/juk (rice porridge)
• ochazuke
• soy bean meal set
• malatang / jiggae / sukiyaki / nabemono / one pot wonders
• cilantro lime rice with seared fish
• crisp gnocchi with brussel sprouts and brown butter
• cold noodles: bibim guksu / taiwanese sesame noodles / ma jiang mian

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caprese salad

1. tomatoes + bocconcini + basil + olive oil + balsamic vinegar + salt + pepper

THAT’S IT. Just look up a picture of a caprese salad and you know how to make one. You can use a full mozzarella ball if you’re making more servings / okay with eating it 3 meals in a row. Otherwise I recommend bocconcini which are cherry tomato sized and you can eat as little as you want without committing. During covid caprese salads & baguettes were my lifeline.

If there’s a deal for heirloom tomatoes I get those because they are so much tastier and less watery. If you’re organised you can marinate the tomatoes slices first in olive oil/salt/vinegar.

Leftover basil ideas: stir through almost cooked pasta, soda water/lemonade/chilled wine, bruschetta, thai salads. I’m always too lazy to make pesto but if I need to save my basil I always loosely chop it and stuff into my whiskey ice cube tray and freeze with olive oil. Then I can dump it into a pasta later that month.

chachim deopbap (tuna rice bowl)

1. manifest cooked rice (I always have it either frozen or pre-made, ofc you can make this fresh or just buy microwaveable rice)
2. top with thinly sliced cabbage or lettuce
3. top that with canned tuna (you might have to drain it depending on the tuna you get)
4. top all that with kewpie mayo and sesame oil
5. mix well before eating
6. Optional: apple cider vinegar, nori/gim, kimchi, scallions, pickles, chilli flakes, furikake

If I’m really destitute it’s one fried egg instead of tuna. It’s a step above kimchi egg on rice because there’s slaw and pickles which means I get a rainbow.

I love cabbage *___* It’s so versatile and stores amazingly. When I make cabbage and carrot slaw I always make a week’s worth — no dressing just thinly sliced and placed in an airtight box with paper towel on the top and the bottom. It can go into stir fries or soups or just eaten raw as a salad. Tip: store the box upside down so you use the wetter pieces first.

Oh! while I’m at it —

detour: I LOVE CABBAGE

Once I have the cabbage and carrot slaw I am all powerful:

• add a simple dressing and it can be a side to any protein or a base to any salad: kewpie mayo + vinegar + sesame oil. Bonus: julienned scallions + almonds. You can also do a classic coleslaw but I can never eat too much coleslaw before I feel sick >___<
• throw into ramen/instant noodles in the last minute for extra veggies
• stir fry with garlic/onion/protein and eat with noodles or rice
• two snips of the scissors and I have a vegetable mix I can throw into congee/juk or soups (more on that later)
• okonomiyaki!! — um please follow a recipe for the batter or make it up at your own risk.
• these 4 recipes from aaron & claire in the same video: cabbage rice bowl, gilgeori toast (the famous korean street food toast), cabbage pancake, jjolmyeon (korean spicy chewy noodles)
• fat japanese sandwiches: have you heard of 沼サン (numa san - link to instagram tag). These are loaded sandwiches that are super popular in japan because the cross section is so aesthetic. The original numa san consists of:
  • sliced cabbage mixed with avocado
  • mustard
  • ham/bacon
  • cheese
  • toasted shokupan bread
  • and the best part is squishing it down and getting the cross section
  • (but also cabbage + egg, cabbage + leftover chicken, cabbage + pastrami….)

gimbap sandwich

1. nori square + fried egg + rice + cheese+ kimchi
2. Optional: spam, carrot, lettuce, scallions

Please watch the video and be marvelled. This technique of folding gimbap went viral during covid and I made it SO many times because it’s delicious and so much easier than gimbap. I personally make it without spam and with carrot and lettuce (CRUNCH).

we have kbbq at home

1. prep perilla leaves or lettuce (butter, oak, gem, anything that can roll well)
2. chop carrot + cucumber into batons
3. manifest rice
4. generously salt thick strips of pork belly, pan fry
5. Let it rest, then cut into bite sized pieces. Then shove it into your mouth with the lettuce and everything (and kimchi)

Optional: pa muchim (korean spring onion salad), pickled carrot (1:1 ratio of water and vinegar + sugar), or some kind of dip like ssamjang or salt/pepper/sesame oil.

steamed egg (korean)

1. Whisk 1:1 ratio of egg to stock/water + fish sauce/stock cube + chopped scallions + sesame oil
2. Steam for 6 minutes

Tip: to minimise wash up, you can use the eggshell to measure water. 1 egg = 2 eggshell halves of water. My grandpa taught me this!

steamed egg (chinese)

1. Whisk 1:2 ratio of egg to water + fish sauce/salt/bouillon powder
2. Steam for 10 minutes
3. Once done, slice squares into the surface and pour in soy sauce and sprinkle scallions

Note: the chinese version is silkier and the korean version is more savoury and fluffy. Both of them go really well with rice!

To turn this into a balanced meal I’ll either microwave any prepped veggies like broccoli or use the hot water left after steaming to blanch a leafy green like spinach or kale. Of course, I always have this with rice.

steak with couscous and asparagus

1. Make cous cous (get the smaller morrocan type, not the larger pearl type. Follow the packet instructions, it’s literally just adding hot water and let it soak for 10 minutes)
2. Sear steak
3. While the steak is resting, fry the asparagus in the delicious leftover beef fat. When almost cooked, splash in white wine and make sure to scrape off all the fond for extra flavour

Other than asparagus, any quick cooking vegetable works — spinach, kale, brussels sprouts, broccolini. For the cous cous, I usually stir in olive oil for flavour or ghee if I have it.

If you already have leftover rice just skip the cous cous and make your own pepper lunch… add tinned corn and scallions and magic up some sauce. I also really like steak with barley or risoni/orzo and mix in EVOO.

rotisserie chicken to the rescue

1. 1/4 chicken + prepped veg + prepped carb + pickles
2. Optional: toum (garlic sauce)

Whenever I buy roast chicken I always eat 1/4 immediately, then break apart the rest to use up later. Sometimes I shred and freeze 1/2 as a raincheck if I know the next month is going to be busy.

This quick meal is possible because I always stash a little serving away when I cook. So I always have veggies ready to microwave (e.g. broccoli), greens that can be eaten raw (slaw or salad leaves, tomatoes, avocado), some kind of pre-cooked carb (rice, barley, beans, risoni/orzo), and I always have pickles (usually red onion or carrot).

If the fridge is empty I grab frozen green beans and mash and this makes a pretty comforting meal.

Frozen shredded chicken can always be added to:

• salads
• Soups, congee, juk
• wraps/burritos
• rice bowls
• pasta, nooddles

Speaking of…

juk (korean rice porridge)

1. Dump premade congee into a saucepan (congee is just rice + water + salt boiled for at least an hour). You can also use pre-cooked rice and water to make congee on the day but it will take longer.
2. Take a shower while it heats up. Low heat and lid off. Optionally, dry ingredients can be added now like scallops/conpoy, shiitake mushrooms, seaweed/wakame/miyeok — they all give a wonderfull umami flavour. Note: it’s very easy for congee to boil over so please watch over it the first time.
3. When you’re back, it might be done it might not be. Depends on the consistency and whether the dried ingredients are cooked through. And how long you shower for :D. If it’s not done, up the heat and stir to prevent burning. If it’s done, you can do any of the following:
   1. stir in veggies (e.g. sliced cabbage and carrot slaw, spinach, zucchini, fresh mushrooms, broccoli etc etc — cut into small pieces)
   2. scallions, ginger, garlic (powder/freshly minced/frozen/jar/whatever)
   3. stock cube / bone broth concentrate / fish sauce / soy sauce / salt / MSG / white pepper / any aromatics to taste
   4. hot pot meat or any thinly sliced meat
   5. beaten egg — the trick to a lacey egg is to drizzle thinly and let it sit until it coagulates, and then stir it. If you stir too soon the egg will break apart
4. Optional garnishes: scallions, sesame seeds, chilli crisp, crushed nuts, gochugaru/shichimi togarashi, dried anchovies (indonesian ikan bilis/balado teri goes SO WELL with congee)
5. For dakjuk: add in shredded chicken
6. For jangguk juk: first stir fry minced beef, scallions, garlic & black pepper in sesame oil. And then dump in the rice/congee.

Look, if you can’t be bothered to cook down the rice into congee, that’s also fine and you’ve made gukbap instead :D

Technically I’ve never done this in 15 minutes but it’s so low effort it’s on the list.

If I’m really lazy, ochazuke is literally the next level down.

ochazuke

1. Cooked rice + green tea/genmaicha/dashi stock
2. Garnish: furikake/sesame/scallions/cilantro/nori
3. Optional: smoked salmon fillet

ochazuke is the lazy meal of all lazy meals but for some reason whenever I make it I’m possessed by the urge to make it into a full japanese set meal with heaps of side dishes… tamagoyaki… natto… pickled cucumber … miso soup… silken tofu… OH

the most soy bean set meal to ever

1. slice 2/3 siken tofu + top with kecap manis and scallions (or soy sauce/oyster sauce/chilli crisp/crushed peanuts)
2. natto
3. miso soup: miso paste + wakame + scallions + cube 1/3 silken tofu
4. rice (w/ furikake and pickles)

profit??

malatang / jiggae / sukiyaki / one pot wonders

Similar to the juk recipe this is just a formula of liquid base + vegetables + meat + FUN STUFF. The trick is in learning how to make a soup base in 1 minute + knowing how long each ingredient takes to cook and adding them in at the right time. My secret to flavourful broth quickly is bone broth concentrate from the jar — two teaspoons and water is milky white like tonkatsu. The soup base is sooo far from authentic but I don’t care as long as I’m feeding myself, I count it as a win.

One pot wonders are my go-to no-prep meals in winter because it’s so easy to make and there’s very little washing up — I got a korean-style ramen pot that I can cook in and directly eat out of.

sukiyaki

1. soup base: soy sauce + mirin + sake + sugar + water, alternative: dashi / miso. I also want to try a soy milk base one day.
2. vegetable ideas: napa cabbage, enoki/shimeji/shiitake mushrooms, chrysanthemum greens, carrot, spinach, scallions, radish
3. protein ideas: firm tofu, thin beef/pork
4. carb ideas: udon, soba
5. fun stuff: shirataki/konjac noodles

kimchi jiggae

1. soup base: gochujang + gochugaru + fish sauce + soy sauce (um if you have anchovy stock you can replace the fish sauce BUT WHO DOES, if you have stock use that instead of water but I never have stock)
2. vegetable ideas: kimchi!!!, scallions, miyeok, onion, mushrooms, zucchini, bean sprouts
3. protein ideas: soft or firm tofu, thin pork
4. carb ideas: ramen, potato noodless, or eat with rice on the side
5. fun stuff: tteokbokki/rice cakes, cheese, spam, fish cakes

malatang

1. soup base: bone broth concentrate + soy sauce + peanut butter/sesame sauce + whatever else that I feel like (usually fish sauce and shiittake mushroom for umami, if I have garlic and ginger I will add that here). The peanut butter is the MVP because it makes the broth creamy.
2. vegetable ideas: bokchoy, spinach, napa cabbage, oyster mushrooms, cilantro, baby corn, carrot, all the mushrooms, chives
3. protein: literally anything that cooks in 1 minute hot pot beef/pork/lamb, tofu, fish balls, tripe, sausages, white fish, duck blood jelly (hwa’s malatang fave)
4. carb ideas: fresh egg noodles, wide potato noodles, vermicelli, knife cut noodles, rice noodles
5. fun stuff: omg malatang is all about the fun stuff *_____* I go wild here — konjac twirls, seaweed knots, lotus root, bamboo shoot, tofu strips, fried tofu skin, wood ear fungus, chinese sauerkraut
   
   (I usually serve with chilli crisp and garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.

cilantro lime rice with seared fish

1. Pan fry any fish fillet
2. While the fish is resting, fry some pre cooked rice in that delicious fish oil. To get it crispy, flatten the rice and let it sit against the heat (if your fish is a skinny bastard / cooked from frozen, please add oil and adjust the heat according to the oil)
3. Once the rice is fried and cooled a little, add chopped cilantro, lime zest, and lime juice. Mix well and top the rice with the seared fish.
4. Optional: slaw/salad/pickles

Sooo nice in the summer. This can also be done with prawns (shrimp) or any kind of meat really.

crisp gnocchi with brussel sprouts and brown butter

1. Halve brussels sprouts and place downwards in a fry pan
2. Add 1cm/half inch of water to the pan, high heat. Put a lid on and steam the brussels sprouts and gnocchi (if your gnocchi cooks in 2 minutes, add it later)
3. When all the water is gone, add oil and sear until golden, then lower the heat and add butter, cooking everything until golden brown
4. Season: pepper, chilli, grated cheese (parmesan optimally but who judges)

This is based off the NYT recipe but simpler and faster. I’m using the technique from making pot stickers / fried dumplings which steams and fries in the same pan. NYT also uses lemon zest but usually that is too much effort and I usually don’t have lemons when life is stressful (ironic — no lemons when life gives me lemons).

cold noodles: bibim guksu / taiwanese sesame noodles

bibim guksu

1. boil 1 egg and somyeon (thin wheat noodles — tbh ramen and soba also works). To get it cold I wash the noodles with running water in a sieve.
2. cut kimchi and add to a bowl with kimchi brine, gochujang, sugar, minced garlic and sesame oil (I also like to add vinegar and soy sauce)
3. mix the noodles with the sauce, top with sliced cucumber and the boiled egg. Garnish with sesame seeds.

taiwanese sesame noodles / ma jiang mian

1. cook thick wheat noodles (fresh ramen or egg noodles work well)
2. mix sesame paste or peanut butter with soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil and a little bit of noodle water
3. mix the noodles with the sauce, top with sliced cucumber, sliced carrot, shredded chicken (if you have it prepped). The cabbage/carrot slaw also goes great here and adds crunch.

Optional: lettuce, fried egg, thinly sliced ham, alfafa.

This is another summer favourite of mine and something I make whenever I work from home and want to eat quick and sneak out for a walk.

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(inspired by risa (locked post) and chats with jess about meal prepping). I love food and I love eating well *___* I think I actually get sad if I eat out too many days in a row because I love my own cooking and eating exactly what I want and facing a plate with multiple colours and textures! A meal without greens isn’t a real meal!!!111!!11!

These quick meals are one part of my process. I’ve been cooking for myself for 5 years now so I also have ingredient prep and meal prep and freezer prep ideas all whirring around — maybe for a future post!

Comments

[kumquat]

god bless you. may circle back around to leave a longer comment later on everything i want to try making but i am so desperately in need of new recipes + also have to restock my kitchen from scratch basically, so i'm making a grocery list right this moment based on your recipes!! what kind of frying pan do u have? nonstick or stainless steel or a secret third thing?

[hwarium]

<3 so happy for you and your stomach <3 I feel like my life is all-roundedly better when I have a meal that I'm looking forward to.

a secret third thing haha! carbon steel. They're like a cool hybrid between cast iron and stainless steel:
- lighter than cast iron but has similar properties (great for searing)
- requires seasoning but once it's seasoned it's non-stick
- not dishwasher-able because you can't use detergent but you also don't need to! Like cast iron you can just scrub things off
- I would recommend buying one that can also go in the oven! (frittatas... skillet cookies... I've even roasted shepherd's pie directly in the pan I cooked the filling in and it was SO Convenient)

[infrequencies]

this is a godsend ;___; i have terrible decision paralysis when it comes to making dinner which leads me to 1. giving up and going to sleep or 2. ordering takeout again (i need to stop doing this.) i also bought a HUGE jar of kimchi at costco a few weeks ago and this is going to help me get through eating all of it 💪🏽

[hwarium]

Double yay for kimchi (also you can make kimchi pancakes and they freeze well!!)

[chestnut_pod]

What a beautiful post! And the sorcery of that sandwich gimbap!

I am here to register my love of cabbage too. What has the humble cabbage never done for us? It shreds, it softens, it ferments, it chars and crisps and wraps. Perfect vegetable. Healthy, delicious, comforting vegetable, the vegetable of my people which links me to other right-thinking cabbage cultures around the world. And how beautiful it is! Red or green, smooth or crinkly, the beauteous cross-section of the cabbage reminds me that all is right with the world! *~Cabbage~*

I have a 15-minute cabbage recipe:

1 head savoy cabbage + stick butter/equivalent olly oil + adequate garlic + lemon + seasoning + toasted nuts/parmesan/capers/seed mix/etc
- Chop cabbage into 3/4 inch wedges, put on baking sheet, douse in half the melted butter or oil, bake at 475 for 15 minutes, flipping halfway, until lightly charred
- Meanwhile, mix grated raw garlic + all the lemon juice + remaining butter/oil + add-ins in a bowl
- When the hot cabbage comes out, douse it again in the punchy dressing and devour

I've eaten an entire head of cabbage in one sitting this way.

[hyojungss]

just got back from my trip and i am sooooo hungry. these recipes all look so good.... time allowing i want to do a grocery trip tn and get canned tuna and cabbage/carrot for the rice bowl *____* because that seems super easy and achievable and delicious. my downfall is i often can't use up fresh veggies in a timely manner so i have to come up with creative ways to use them in a short period... but you've listed so many versatile ideas!

the rotisserie chicken meal prep trick is also one i want to try! i like rotisserie chicken but end up wasting it at the end when i don't want to properly clean what's left so i think separating it all from the start will be really helpful for me. i definitely work better with doing the labor up front before i lose motivation... i do this to portion and freeze raw meat so i think that's the next step!

others i want to try later are the cilantro rice fish + i also want to learn to make sesame noodles... i recently developed a taste for these and they can be so refreshing and tasty!! thank you for sharing, the whole post will be a great reference to have when trying new dishes :D <3

[hwarium]

Thank you so much for this recipe because it made me even more excited to eat cabbage HAHA. I've had charred/grilled cabbage wedges in restaurants before and LOVED IT but never thought about making it myself at home. I love the possibility of eating a lot in one go!! I tend to get inventory anxiety when I have fresh food lingering in my fridge so this is a wonderful idea (goes and buys twice as much cabbage as I usually eat)

[hwarium]

Helloooo my recipe muse <3 hope you had a chance to rest up and sleep!

I love the rice bowl bc as soon as you put the mayo criss-cross on, it's beautiful no matter how little effort you put into it. And the crunch of the seaweed is so fun

Tell me about the anxiety of keeping fresh vegetables in the fridge as a girl living alone... Truly a battle between eating the same thing for 5 meals + things going to waste ;___;

Thanks for visiting risa!! Looking forward to your next recipe post too! (I'm gonna see if I can get a dutch oven for my birthday and then cook some italian wedding soup)