3 Creative Ways to Turn Your Leftover Food into New Meals

3 Creative Ways to Turn Your Leftover Food into New Meals

Not sure what to do with all your leftover soups, rice, or mushrooms? From Kimchi fried rice to mushroom & broccoli stir-fry, read on to find out 3 nifty ways you can turn them into another delicious meal. 

Some Things Get Better with Age!

Did you know that leftover foods contain more umami? 

  • By reheating your food, it will break down the protein and release more of the umami compounds from the mushrooms, meat, or vegetables. 
  • It allows the food flavour umami to mingle and fuse together! 

Of course, one of the keys to delicious leftover meals is storing them properly to keep them fresh and away from harmful bacteria. Check out the following recipes and instructions on how to store and cook them properly. 

1. Udon Noodle Soup Recipe

    Whenever you’re having a simple steamboat dinner, or ordering takeouts, the table is often left with leftover soup. 

    What is wonderful about soup is that you can freeze it without any problems and then reheat it when you need it. But before we can repurpose the leftover soup, it's important to store them properly until you're ready to cook

    How to Store Leftover Soup?

    • Simply cool the soup down to room temperature (avoid letting soup sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours! Leaving food out too long at room temperature can cause bacteria to grow at dangerous levels that can cause illnesses).
    • Put it in a tight container before putting it into the fridge
      • If you’re planning to reuse the soup in 3-4 days, put it in the chiller.
      • If you’re planning to reuse the soup in 1-2 months, put it in the freezer. 

    Ingredients:

    Recipe Step by Step:

    Step 0. Before using the leftover soup, check if there are any common signs of spoilage that include the following:

    • Off-odours
    • Slimy texture
    • Colour changes

     Step 1. Reheat the soup until it’s hot and boiling for at least 3 minutes 

    Step 2. Add udon to the soup and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes

     Step 3. Add in your preferred protein such as fish, meat or poultry. In this recipe, we’re using our (leftover from steamboat) Wild-Caught Black Grouper Fish to the soup!

    2. Kimchi Fried Rice

    The secret to making excellent fried rice is leftover rice! But first, it’s very important to know how to store your leftover rice. It's not the reheating that affects its quality, it’s the way the rice has been stored before it's reheated. Here’s how to store them properly! 

    How to Store Your Leftover Cooked Rice?

    • Let the rice cool ideally within 1 hour
    • Put your leftover rice into a sealed container for 1-6 days in the fridge 

    Ingredients:

    Recipe Step by Step

    Step 1. Add cooking oil to a heated pan. Next, add in the minced garlic. 

    Step 2. Add the beef and kimchi to cook for about 3 minutes. Cook it together with the kimchi juice for a spicier, tangy flavour. 

    Step 3. Add and cook the ​​enoki mushroom thoroughly for about 2 minutes (Do not eat raw enoki mushrooms!)

    Step 4. Finally, add in the leftover rice for about 5 minutes. Stir the ingredients well to mix.

    Tip: Distribute the rice evenly across the pan and let it sit for a while to let the bottom crisp for an extra crunch!

    Step 5. Serve your Kimchi fried rice on a plate and we love to top our rice off with a sunny side up!

     

    3. Broccoli and Mushroom Stir-Fry

    Have some random leftover veggies and mushrooms in your fridge? Leftover vegetables and mushrooms are easily combined into new dishes. Check out this broccoli and mushroom stir-fry in oyster sauce that you can make at home in 10 minutes! 

    But wait, having leftover broccoli and mushrooms means you would need to know how to store them properly before cooking it! 

    How to Store Your Mushrooms? 

    • Store your mushroom in the fridge in the original package after purchase. 
    • Alternatively, you can store the mushroom in a paper bag to keep them fresh and dry 
    • Do check the expiry dates on the packaging, but mushrooms usually can stay fresh for 5-7 days if you keep them refrigerated.

    Ingredients:

    Recipe Step by Step

    Step 1. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly and only cut them right before cooking to minimise mould growth and other deterioration during storage. 

    Important Tip: Never wash or soak your mushrooms! They are highly absorbent like a sponge. You can brush the dirt off with a soft brush or rinse them quickly and pat dry. After rinsing, cut your larger sized mushrooms like King Oyster mushrooms into smaller cubes. 

    Step 2. Heat up your pan, add oil and add your minced garlic and mushrooms to the pan. 

    Step 3. Stir-fry your mushrooms for 1-2  minutes while adding the soy sauce and oyster sauce 

    Step 4. Finally, add in your broccoli and crab chunks. Stir it well and cook it for 2-3 minutes. 

     

    Source: 

    Leave a comment

    Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.