8 fall-back foods
It could be that you’re pressed for time, or just feeling uninspired and not in the mood to come up with something interesting to put on the dining table. Take heart, you’re not alone.

Sometimes, we just cannot decide on what to eat, much less what to cook. On days like that, most of us have certain go-to dishes that we fall back on to bail us out. Read on to expand your repertoire.

Silky taufu with light soy sauce.— Filepic

1. Taufu in soy sauce

Let me start the ball rolling by sharing my no-fail dish – taufu (beancurd) in light soy sauce. On days when I need that one more dish to add to the meal, a box of ready-packed taufu always comes in handy. Just whip it out of the packaging, stuff it in the microwave for a minute, then pour some light soy sauce and oyster sauce over it for flavour. That’s it, the lazy person’s taufu dish! I learnt this from my mum who didn’t even bother to warm it up, as she liked the taufu cold. You can jazz it up by adding spring onions, fried garlic in hot oil, and minced meat – just like what you get at a restaurant. — Patsy, editor

One-pot chicken rice is a no-brainer. — Filepic

2. One-pot chicken rice

Usually when my schedule’s really packed and I don’t have time to cook a full meal, my last minute go-to dish would be a one-pot chicken rice. Just stir in two tablespoons of Sing Long Hainanese Chicken Rice Paste with a cup of rice, add some smashed ginger and chopped chicken. Dump everything in the rice cooker and it’s cooked at the touch of a button. For variation, I substitute the chicken rice paste with dark and light soy sauce, smashed garlic, sliced Chinese sausage, sliced mushrooms and chunks of chicken for claypot-style chicken rice, but cooked in a rice cooker. It’s still a good nutritious home-cooked meal. — Alice, food writer

3. Leftover soup

When feeling uninspired, I tend to cook with whatever I can find and make leftover soup. The base is usually plain water seasoned with some leftover broth or stock cube. Then I’ll throw in whatever I can find in the fridge – it could be some leftover meat dish or vegetables. If I want to make it fancy, I’ll blend the lot to make it into a hearty thick soup and have this with garlic toast. You can’t go wrong with soups usually. — Fiona, marketing consultant

4. Rice-cooker porridge

My rice cooker has a congee option and it’s been very useful. My family loves porridge and I cook this quite frequently. I just grab a couple of things from the supermarket on the way home from work, such as fish, scallop, clams and other fresh seafood. Sometimes, I add shredded chicken or mushrooms. These days, everything is readily available at the shops anyway, so it’s no hassle at all. With a bit of seasoning, sesame oil and spring onions, I can whip up a complete meal within half an hour. — Kattie, marketing communications director

You can't go wrong with onion omelette. - filepic

5. Omelette

This is probably the easiest and most common dish to fall back on. On days when I am feeling lazy and need to cook something fast that’s protein-rich, I make an omelette. The number of eggs depends on my level of hunger! I usually throw in some tomatoes and onions. I’m quite careful with what I eat so this provides sufficient nutrition and fits my meal plan. — Kuan, entrepreneur

Steamed egg in a jiffy. - filepic

6. Steamed egg

We eat this almost every other week as my kids love it. I just crack three or four eggs, add in the right amount of water plus some seasoning and steam it. Sometimes, I add some salted egg and century egg to make it more interesting, or some springy fishball cut into small pieces, which my second daughter loves. Diving into the dish and coming up with egg that has some hidden fishball at the same time is like finding treasure! — Alex, retiree

7. Cekodok

When you mention cekodok, most people think of banana fritters which is sweet. But I usually do a savoury version and this is usually my go-to weekend meal when I’m too lazy to do anything serious. Normally, I’ll have the premixed batter at home which you can easily buy from the supermarket. I add some sliced cabbage as there’s always some in the fridge. If I’m feeling extravagant, I’ll add some beef or chicken bits too. The fried fritters are a meal by itself. It’s so easy to whip up and so tasty. — Rafina, marketing communications manager

8. Fried rice

This is the one thing I always cook when nothing else comes to mind. I rummage through my fridge for leftovers and cut everything I find from the fridge into small pieces before throwing them into the fried rice. What could be easier? The Koreans make it more exotic by calling it bibimbap, which is essentially their version of fried rice with sauce! But for me, it’s easier to just heat up the pan and fry everything together. And nowadays, you can add interesting flavours such as tom yum, kimchi, belacan, etc. — Shanti, nurse
StarExtra,foods,dish
That one dish you turn to when nothing else comes to mind.