Easy One-Pot Filipino Dishes For Small Living

Here are some Filipino dishes that can make cleaning easier and dining more fun at home

The unfortunate problem with cooking Filipino dishes is that there’s so much prep that we end up using too many things. We have around two knives, three different sandoks, two different pans, and two different burners—that’s a lot to clean and not even including the rice cooker!

It’s why most young professionals who leave home to pursue a better career often have worse diets. Without home-cooked food, their diets go down the toilet from all the fast food they eat.

So, to make sure they survive, here are some one-pot Filipino dishes that they can cook without much cleaning.

Chicken Binakol Rice

Sometimes, Tinolang Manok just doesn’t cut it. So, we amp it up a little with Chicken Binakol rice. Instead of using plain water to steam the rice, we add coconut water instead. Same ingredients, except with some additional coconut meat if we get it fresh. The best part is, this one can be done in a pot or a rice cooker for the next 45 minutes. Just dump everything in and let it cook!

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 3 chicken parts of choice
• 1 cup of coconut water
• 1 stem of malunggay
• Half an inch of ginger
• Half a head of garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

Ginisang Monggo

Munggo has both fiber and carbohydrates, making it a complete meal in a stew. It’s only time-consuming due to the softening of the munggo, which can be done overnight by soaking them in water. Sautée the onion first until they turn translucent, then toss in the ginger and garlic. After that, pour in the monggo and add a whole branch of malunggay. For protein, buy a cut of pork that’s already been sliced small, like menudo-cut, so it doesn’t take too long to cook.

Ingredients (serves 1)

• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 kilo of pork menudo
• 1 cup of monggo
• 1 stem of malunggay
• Half an inch of ginger
• Half a head of garlic
• Half a head of onion
• 1 tsp of bagoong (optional)
• 1/2 bouillon cube (if no bone broth available)

Chicken & Pork Adobo Rice

It would be criminal for the traditional Filipino dish, chicken and pork adobo, not to make the list. A stew that can be cooked in a pan, pot, or rice cooker, the Chicken and Pork Adobo recipe is a home staple—especially when we don’t want to think. Soy sauce, vinegar, chicken, pork, garlic, onion, black pepper corns, and bay leaf—that’s all it usually takes. Brown the chicken and pork in a hot pan, then use the rendered fat to sautée the garlic and onion. After that, add the soy sauce and vinegar with the bay leaf and black peppercorns. Toss the chicken and pork in it and then set aside.

And to clean up the pan, add water to steam the rice. White rice can take up to 30 minutes to cook. So, to make sure the chicken and pork are cooked through, add them on top of the rice.

Ingredients (serves 1)

• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 kilo of pork menudo
• 2 pcs of chicken cut of choice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• Half a head of garlic
• Half a head of onion
• 1/5 tsp of black peppercorn
• 1 bay leaf

All Silog Dishes Really

What’s a Filipino without their all-day breakfast? Silog is composed of three components: rice, egg, and an ulam. But what makes this a one-pot (or pan) dish is more on the order in which the components are placed. Pan-fry the meat and egg first. Once done, set aside and use the remaining oil to make the rice.

While most fried rice is made with leftover rice, if we don’t have any, it’s okay—toast the rice in oil and garlic before adding the broth. In a way, the rice turns into a pilaf. The method may be Persian, but it is still Filipino by component and execution.

Pancit

Every pancit can turn into a one-pot meal. Components are simple: veggies, meat, aromatics, and noodles. Sautée the meat and aromatics first, then the veggies. While cooking, add the noodles. No, we’re not talking about pasta noodles. We’re talking about those pancit canton noodles that look as big as floor tiles. They’re easy to cook in the sense that they absorb oils fast and just need steaming to soften up.

After that, the sauce is our choice: soy sauce, oyster sauce, or whatever makes anyone happy!

One-Pot Meals Are Such Time- and Space-Savers

A dirty kitchen means potential bugs, which, let’s be honest, is totally gross. Nobody wants to squash ants and kill cockroaches every time before they cook. But, for those living in condos, pests are sometimes unavoidable. We don’t know how clean our neighbors are, nor do we know how efficient the garbage system is. It’s especially worse when the canals around the area are just poorly managed.

But let’s be honest, cooking at home is probably the most cost-efficient and healthiest. It’s just the cleaning that’s such a turn-off. But once we master the art of one-pot cooking, then it’ll be a lot easier to dine and have a hearty meal at home.

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