Blog
Fast, fridge-friendly cooking ideas, ingredient swaps and weeknight time-savers.
20 Jun 2026
What to cook with chicken thighs: 8 fast dinners
Got a pack of chicken thighs and 20 minutes? Here are eight quick, fridge-friendly dinners for 1–2 — Thai, Japanese, Malaysian and more.
20 Jun 2026
What to cook with tofu: 7 quick ideas
A block of tofu and not much else? Seven fast, cheap, mostly-vegetarian dinners for 1–2 — from mapo tofu to a crispy teriyaki bowl.
19 Jun 2026
Cooking for one: smaller portions, less waste
How to shop, store and cook for one without throwing food away — buy flexible, cook in halves, and let a few staples do the heavy lifting.
19 Jun 2026
8 fast Asian dinners for an almost-empty fridge
Eight quick dinners — Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian — that need little more than eggs, rice, noodles and a couple of sauces.
19 Jun 2026
Fast meat-free weeknight dinners
Six quick dinners with no meat — built from tofu, eggs, noodles and vegetables. No special shopping, all under 20 minutes.
19 Jun 2026
5 quick Thai dinners you can actually make on a weeknight
Thai food is faster than it looks. Five weeknight dishes — pad krapow, pad thai, pad see ew, green and red curry — with the shortcuts that make them work.
19 Jun 2026
Stock these 8 sauces and you can cook almost any Asian dinner
The small shelf of bottles behind most fast Asian home cooking — what each sauce does and the weeknight dishes it unlocks.
19 Jun 2026
How to turn instant noodles into a real meal
Five minutes more and a couple of fridge odds-and-ends turn a packet of instant noodles into a proper dinner. Here's the formula.
18 Jun 2026
5 weeknight dinners from an almost-empty fridge
Down to eggs, rice and a couple of sauces? Here are five fast dinners for 1–2 that need almost no shopping.
18 Jun 2026
How to Chiffonade Basil and Herbs
Stack the leaves, roll them into a tight cigar, then slice into thin ribbons. Rolling stops bruising so basil and mint stay green instead of black.
18 Jun 2026
How to Chop Spring Onions (Scallions)
Separate the white ends (cook them like a mild onion) from the green tops (raw garnish), and slice on the bias for looks and more surface area.
18 Jun 2026
How to Cut a Bell Pepper (Capsicum)
Slice off the top and bottom, stand the pepper up, cut down the sides around the core, then trim the white pith and slice into strips. No seeds everywhere.
18 Jun 2026
How to Dice an Onion (Without Crying)
Halve the onion root-to-tip, keep the root intact so the layers stay put, then make horizontal and vertical cuts before slicing across. No-tears method.
18 Jun 2026
How to Hold a Knife Safely (The Claw Grip)
Hold the blade with a pinch grip and curl your guiding fingertips into a claw so your knuckles guide the knife, never the edge. Here's the full method.
18 Jun 2026
How to Get the Most Juice From a Lime
Roll the lime firmly on the counter or microwave it 10-15 seconds to loosen the juice, zest before you cut, then squeeze with the cut side up.
18 Jun 2026
How to Julienne Carrots (Matchsticks)
Peel the carrot, cut into 5cm lengths, square off the sides, slice into thin planks, stack them and cut into 3mm matchsticks. Easy julienne method.
18 Jun 2026
How to Mince Garlic Fast
Smash the clove with the flat of your knife to pop the skin off, slice it thin, then rock-chop fine. A pinch of salt turns it into a smooth paste.
18 Jun 2026
How to Peel Garlic Fast (3 Easy Ways)
Smash the clove flat with your knife and the skin slips off, shake cloves between two bowls, or microwave a head 10-15 seconds to loosen the skins.
18 Jun 2026
How to Prep Chilli and Control the Heat
Most chilli heat lives in the white membrane and seeds, so deseed to tone it down. Bird's eye chilli (chilli padi) is far hotter than big red ones.
18 Jun 2026
How to Prep Ginger (Peel, Slice, Mince, Grate)
Scrape ginger's thin skin off with a spoon, then slice into coins, julienne, mince, or grate. Freeze the leftover knob and grate it straight from frozen.
18 Jun 2026
How to Press and Prep Tofu
Wrap firm tofu in a towel and weight it 15-30 minutes to squeeze out water so it browns instead of steaming. Use firm to fry, silken for soups.
18 Jun 2026
Sauté vs Sweat: What's the Difference?
Sauté means cooking fast in a little fat over medium-high heat for light browning. Sweat means cooking gently on low heat to soften without colour.
18 Jun 2026
How to Sear Meat for a Golden Crust
Pat the meat bone-dry, heat the pan hot, add a thin film of oil, then lay it down and leave it undisturbed so the Maillard crust forms. Don't crowd it.
18 Jun 2026
What Does Simmer Mean? (Boil vs Simmer)
A simmer is gentle bubbling just below a boil, with small bubbles breaking the surface occasionally, on low to medium-low heat. Gentler than boiling.
18 Jun 2026
How to Slice Chicken Thinly for Stir-Fry
Firm the chicken in the freezer 15-20 minutes, then slice across the grain into thin strips with a sharp knife. Velvet it for a silky stir-fry.
18 Jun 2026
How to Make Smashed Cucumber Salad
Smash the cucumber with the flat of a knife so it cracks, tear into chunks, salt 10 minutes and drain, then dress with garlic, soy, sesame and chilli.
18 Jun 2026
How to Wash and Cook Rice (Foolproof Ratio)
Rinse jasmine rice 2-3 times until the water runs mostly clear, then cook at about 1 part rice to 1.25-1.5 parts water, rest 10 minutes, and fluff.