How to Finish Cooking in One Pan with Fewer Dishes
Seeing pots, cutting boards, and strainers piled up in the sink can instantly kill your motivation to cook. The key is to add ingredients to the same pan in stages, starting with the ones that take the longest to cook. A single 26cm pan is enough for one serving, and if you choose ingredients you can cut with scissors or tear by hand instead of using a cutting board, you will not need a knife either.
| Section | Key summary |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Main context in brief |
| The order you add ingredients is everything | Go from firm ingredients to soft ones |
| Memorize the water and oil amounts and you can adapt it | Use water up to only 1/3 of the height of the ingredients |
| Try changing it like this | Short key point |
| How to store leftovers | Practical method in brief |
The order you add ingredients is everything
Go from firm ingredients to soft ones. Firm vegetables like potatoes and carrots go in first for 5 minutes, onions and mushrooms go in midway, and leafy greens and eggs go in during the final 1~2 minutes. For protein, judge by thickness: chicken thigh meat can go in from the beginning, while thin ham or fish cake should go in near the end so it does not become tough.
Memorize the water and oil amounts and you can adapt it
Use water up to only 1/3 of the height of the ingredients. 100ml is the baseline, and if you reduce it at the end into a sauce, you do not need a separate bowl. 1 tablespoon of oil is enough to prevent sticking in a nonstick pan, and as the liquid reduces at the end, the bottom of the pan naturally cleans itself.
Try changing it like this
- Pasta: add the noodles directly with 250ml of water, boil, and reduce, and you can skip the pasta pot
- Fried rice: stir-fry vegetables and egg, then add cold rice directly and finish everything in one pan
- Soybean paste base: replace soy sauce with 1 tablespoon soybean paste + 120ml water for a stew-like bowl
How to store leftovers
Let the pan cool as is, cover it with a lid, and refrigerate it; the next day, you can reheat it in the same pan without using a storage container. However, leaving food in a nonstick pan for more than 24 hours may damage the coating, so if you have more than a day’s worth, move it to a glass container and eat it within 2 days of refrigeration.