Cooking for one (person)

For the people who live alone, how do you portion everything out while cooking? I know things like rice may be pre-cooked and frozen for later use (though fresh is always best). But what about things like miso soup and curry (and other basic Japanese foods?) I only make things like miso soup when I know others will be around to eat with me. Other than that I use instant.

I'd like to know what some solutions to cooking for one person are. Is there a way to measure foods out and store them, or is it hopeless? Thanks~

Partly, I can understand your problem, but then again, I think that Japanese cuisine makes it rather easy to cook in small portions.

Starting with your examples: Well, sure, it makes sense to cook a bigger amount of curry at once, but it's well suited for freezing. Misoshiru, on the other hand, is the perfect dish to prepare in any quantity you like, whether for 1 or for 10 people; it doesn't take much time, and is so much better than the instant one.

All of the tsukemono stuff is good for completing a meal, and can be kept in the fridge for many days. Also, most leftovers make a good breakfast. And it's definitely easy to buy small quantities of vegetables here, so that shouldn't be a problem either.

I'm also living alone here (cooking nearly daily, mostly Japanese food), and I do feel that it's much easier to cook for one person here, compared to what I'm used to from my home country.

Say, are you simply not used to cook for one person (then, this would be a general question, not really Japan-related, and would need a different kind of answer), or do you see specific problems here in Japan, which I fail to realize at the moment?

I think the key to a successful cooking lifestyle is actually to cook enough to have leftovers for a 2nd or 3rd meal.

Miso, curry, stews, etc. should last for at least 2 days if properly wrapped and stored. Get the right containers, and homemade pasta sauce, dressings, hummus, and jams can last for several days.

Study the Mediterranean diet: you would be amazed how much use you can get out of flour, rice, beans (garbanzo, fava, etc) and olive oil, which require no refrigeration.

Keep ingredients like miso, dashinomoto, flour, rice, beans, in stock and buy your veggies every other day.

Also, if you don't have one, buy a deep frying pan that can double as a nabe. When all else fails, boil water and season with dashi, miso, chili powder and dump in veggies
(and meat if you like).
Delicious, healthy, quick, cheap, and easy to clean afterwards.

Start with breakfast. Eating breakfast at home will save so much money so this if the first habit to create. Once this becomes normal, then cook dinner every other night or so.

Living completely off outside food can get depressing and boring, so good luck!

kyototrans is right...in most cultures, at least nowadays and as long as one has a fridge/freezer, even a small one, it is easier for a single person the cook several portions of a given food at once and save the extra food for other meals.
Left over meat, fish, shrimps, cheese, tofu etc. can be mixed with plain or sauteed rice or made into a omelet (all you need extra are eggs) or a pizza (you need flour and yeast to make the dough and can refrigerate the extra dough).
Left over fresh vegetables can always be used in a soup or stew etc.

You can also add fresh fruits, nuts, and even some flowers to anything.

One of my French grandma used to say that cooking is the art of mixing all sorts of small leftovers to make interesting dishes.

Thanks for responding. I should have worded it better. I meant just Japanese food.
The reason why I never tried to make enough for leftovers (like miso soup) is because I was afraid it would come out right.
If I did make larger portions for leftover, what would be the best way to store it? should I refridgerate miso soup or freeze? And how long do you think it'll keep fresh?

Also, is it possible to wash rice for later use? When I make rice, I rinse it, strain it until it's dry, then let it soak in the rice cooker for about 30 mins before I cook it. I wanted to know if I could just store a few cups after I've completely rinsed and dried it for the next day or so instead of having to wash rice everyday ?(rice has become a staple in my diet, so it would save me some time). I've actually tried pre-washed rice from the store, but I like don't really like it.

If anyone has any tips or tricks to storing food please let me know! Since I'm alone, I'd like to have my food lasting as long as it can! Thanks again~

DePassiOn,

Most of the Japanese cooking I do is for one person and the only problem I have is with stew. I don't have a problem cooking rice for one bowl worth. All you need is a rice-cooker that is small. Or in fact, I just cook it with an ordinary pan.

Yes, you can leave the rice in the water for a day or so. But in warm and damp seasons like this, you should keep it in the fridge. You might start seeing bubbles by the second day, but you can still eat it if you heat it like you ordinary do. Of course, it's not very proper though :)

You might want to try mu-sen-mai (no-need-to-rince rice). It's surprizingly tasty and it definitely saves your time and trouble.

I've never cooked rice in anything other than a rice cooker. hehe
As I've mentioned before, I've tried pre-washed (musen mai) and I did not like it. But I'm not too worried about the rice.

I have more questions about miso soup.
Is it possible to make miso soup for breakfast, then re-heat the rest later in the day for lunch or dinner? I'm scared if I re-heat it to many times, it will become grainy. And what about soup that I've not eaten? Can it be refrigerated for the next day or so?

Thanks again~

No problem about the miso soup. I'm often doing it the other way around: Cooking some for lunch/dinner, then re-heating the leftover in the morning (to save time).
As with any other food, I probably wouldn't re-heat it too often, but once or twice is definitely no problem at all.It also depends on the ingredients beside miso.
In case you somehow have a larger amount, it would make sense to only heat the portion that you're going to eat at that time.

As for the rice (though you said this is not really a problem): For me, it's more the feeling of not *wanting* to go through the hassle of washing rice in the morning, at days when I'm running a bit late and don't have much time. However, realistically speaking, it doesn't really take much time.

BTW, does pre-washed rice taste so different? (I never tried it, so I cannot argue against it, but I'm a little surprised.)

Kai

I re-heat miso soup all the time, but keep in mind that miso soup is best when freshly made. I'm not sure what you mean by "grainy," but the flavor of miso will definitely get worse as time goes by. And it's not really right to serve un-fresh miso soup to your guests, btw.

Also, BE SURE to refrigerate your leftover miso soup. Rememeber, miso is fermented and therefore is likely to get rotten if you leave it in a warm room. If your leftover miso soup tastes sour than it should be, you should throw it away. In fact, it can be a good fertilizer for your garden's soil.

Maybe it was just the brand of pre-washed rice I bought(can't remember the name), but it didn't really have the same texture as regular rice. Maybe it's just me. hehe.

Also, whenever I have guests, I always serve fresh soup(I only used to make it when I was having guests). I think I'm going to try and measure out small batches for myself. If I tweek how much of what I put in, it may be just enough for once person.(should have thought of that earlier).

Pre-washed rice goes bad faster than normal rise because bran is already washed away.
I put leftover rise in fridge and will eat in a few days.Taste is OK if you re-heat it in a microwave with a plastic wrap.

I buy brown rice and polished it in a rice-polishing machine,it tastes yummy!I recommend that to you if you are a big rice lover and buying rice at supermarket:D

Miso-soup doesnt go "grainy" but will be salty,so I add some water when I re-heat it.