So, as the title says.
I need to start cooking.
Last month I spent 100k on food.
That’s just way too much!
I want to make some obentos and stuff to bring to work. But tbh, I haven’t cooked in years. I can honestly say during my 8 years here, I’ve cooked a maximum of 20 times. So I feel lost.
I would like to make relatively cheap lunch boxes. I would like to keep my food expenses on weekdays at 1,000 yen at the most.
I eat most things.
The only thing I really don’t eat is oden. Can’t deal with the texture.
Any good Japanese websites you recommend (I know there’s tons of cooking sites out there but specifically aimed at someone living in Japan) or maybe your own cheap recipes?
6 comments
My go to cheap recipe: nametake. Enoki mushrooms cooked in shoyu and mirin (can add more ingredients but this is the simplest version). Quick to make, cheap, and lasts a week in the fridge.
As for websites.. I’m not sure what you are looking for? Do you want it in Japanese or English? Also idk if there’s such a thing as recipes aimed at people (foreigner?) living in Japan specifically. Regular Japanese food recipes should suffice, because they are made with accessible ingredients. For Japanese recipes in English, my go to is usually JustOneCookBook.
I generally find recipes by searching for the food I want to make and adding 人気レシピ. Then, I pick a recipe with a lot of user feedback, often from the site Cookpad. I’ll also search YouTube and go for a recipe with a lot of views and/or made by people who claim to be chefs in that genre.
This all sounds a bit obvious but that’s how I do it. For your lunches, riff off the concept of rice plus some main dish and a few veggies. For dinner, protein and veggies.
Another way to keep cost down is to make in bulk and then freeze. This works especially well for pasta sauce, curry, rice, etc.
I’ll look for some cooking subs you should check out. Here are a few.
r/EatCheapAndHealthy
r/seriouseats
r/MealPrepSunday
r/budgetfood
And after Googling, I see there’s a site called Japan food addict, which gives recipes in English for Japanese food. Probably can’t post the URL here so give it a look!
I don’t make lunch boxes these days but here are some recipes I make: oyakodon, shogayaki, curry, yasai-itame, gyoza (just by premade for cheap and fry), oven roasted whatever (veggies, meat, etc.), salad, udon, macaroni gratin, etc.
Don’t try to change everything at once.
Find a few times a week you have time/motivation to cook. Plan what you want to cook beforehand and shop exactly what you need. Unless you are really strapped for money, don’t be too hard on the “it needs to be cheap” and more one the “I need to cook without quitting after the first time”.
Master a few easy things that are easy to adapt. Sauteed vegetables, one pot pasta, etc. Things you can coook with whatever you have at hand and without checking a recipe.
For lunch boxes specifically, I would forget the many dishes japanese style for a “one main in a tupper, possibly from the previous day dinner leftover” style. Every meal prep channel/website can help with that.
Find a site whose recipes you like (my go-to is sirogohan but a quick search will probaly yield a lot of results) and follow them. It’s hard enough to cook things without failing because you had a bad recipe to start with.
Shopping at bulk places can help lessen the cost/open you to new products. I go to Gyoumu because I only have them and they have a nice range of frozen veggies and fruits at a decent price. Also meat and fish that I cut/prep and freeze.
Box meal kits are expensive but can be a starter to give you the confidence to cook without the hassle of having to think everything beforehand.
Again, i wouldn’t stress the cheap part at first but: what will set the biggest portion of your budget will probably be your protein source. Fish can be expense depending on your area, and chicken breast(lean, easy to overcook, really cheap) or thigh (dark, more robust to cooking errors) will be the cheaper animal option. Beans and pulses are easy to incorporate in dishes and are nutrient rich, macro friendly option.
Easy things to have as a bento: yakiudon, pulses salad, pasta, steamed/sauteed veggies with protein, anything donburi style, etc.
Delish Kitchen is a recipe app with videos and easy to follow instructions. You can search recipes by ingredient too. It’s all Japanese, but easy af to follow.
To start, I’d go out and buy soy sauce, cooking sake, mirin, sesame oil, dashi, salad oil, flour, sugar, salt and pepper so you have them on hand for whenever.
stir fry some chopped up meat & veg, and rice
Is 1,000 the budget for the whole day or just the lunch bento? If just the lunch bento, you have a lot of room to work with (especially if all you dislike is oden)!