itty bitty dishes

To save time and effort very often I cook in larger portions than I eat in a meal. Very often I cook enough for two meals. Recently however I have been cooking in portions for one meal. It is a trade off. Cooking fresh dish tastes better while cooking bigger batch save time. There is a happy medium, however.

The happy medium is prepare enough ingredients for more than one meal but only cook enough for one. For a lot of Asian dishes the preparation time is most of the work. This including washing,  cutting, and precooking of certain ingredients.

Here is one example of a dish I did the prep work for two meal but only cook enough for one. Here are the ingredients for my version of Thai basil pork.
these long beans has been washed and dried

i diced enough for two meals, however I only prepare the garlic, karffir lime leave, and chili pepper for one

 i minced enough pork for two meals

 first slice them into small pieces

 then chopping them into minced pork

 i prefer this method as cleaning a food processor is a pain

 all the ingredients ready for stir frying in a wok

I actually weighted the pork and it comes to just 3 oz. I also whipped up some morning glory with fish sauce. I estimate this meal cost $2 in ingredients.

i used the itty bitty dishes and bowl i brought back from thailand - the iPhone is for scale reference

Traditionally in most Chinese cuisines the entrées are served in oval plates. When I was in Thailand recently I found some very small oval plates. 

i just love the clean understated appearance of these plates and bowls without the typical ugly embellishment so often found in dishes from China