‘What’s in my lunchbox’ - Soba and Tofu in Miso Broth

My previous post talked about the background of this lunchbox series and I have posted a picture and recipe that I have cooked for myself to bring to work years ago. I hope this series can give some ideas to those who want to cook a simple lunchbox to bring to work.

This new lunchbox series will come with accompanying cooking video. My lunchbox won’t be those pretty looking ones that take lots of time, effort and skill to make but practical ones which I’ve made for myself for years.

Soba and Tofu in Miso Brother 

Lunchbox - Will it be an In-thing in the Covid Era

The Straits Times ran an article, ‘Beware the Aftershocks of the Covid-19 recession’. And I cannot agree more. While we rejoice the availability of the vaccine to more in the population and looking forward to life as per normal, we need to also be prudent and realistic. The slow down in economy during this past year will not bounce back so quickly. As said in the article, many companies and in turn employees may feel the impact after the end of this month when the government support ceases.

So it’s not the time to splurge. It’s time to stay prudent. Eating more homecooked meals is not just saving money but also healthier. We are very glad to see that there are more working adults started to cook more since the Circuit Breaker and even until now as the default mode of work is still WFH (Work From Home). But from April 5, this default mode will change as the government is allowing 75% of staff to return to office.

Those who have enjoyed cooking and eating homecooked meals all this while can continue to do so by preparing lunchbox. I prepared lunchbox almost every day when I was still working. And I’ve done that for years.

Lunchboxes and Bag

Home-cooked Superior Chicken Stock

I love to drink soup. But whenever we have soup outside, we will wonder what do they add to make the broth tasty. Many restaurants and eateries may add MSG or chicken powder to enhance the flavour of the broth. That is why sometimes we get so thirsty after drinking soup. And my body somehow reacts to an overdose of MSG. My cheek or lips will feel numb and it will normally take hours to get over the numbness.

Years ago, we used to buy packet chicken stock to cook dishes. But I have never use any chicken powder or chicken cubes in my cooking. Yes, they are convenient. But after we started to make our own stock, we don't turn back anymore. We know what we add into the pot of stock and we know how good it will taste.

We normally cook one big pot and store them in containers and freeze them. They can last weeks. No additional preservatives, just the refrigerator.

Superior Chicken Stock

Slow-cooked Soup

Most Chinese will have a soup dish on the dining table and hence the common phrase 三菜一湯. We don't cook 3 dishes and 1 soup all the time unless we have more people over for meals. For the two of us, we sometimes cook one big pot of soup and have just that for our dinner.

I love to cook soups using my beloved slow cooker which has been with me for about 20 years. When I was still working, I normally throw in the ingredients for the soup in the morning and set it to cook in low heat. When we were back from work, a pot of delicious soup was ready for us. Soups cook in low heat will be clearer yet have all the flavours from the ingredients added. This is the reason why we continue to cook our soup and even homecooked stock using our slow cooker.

Watercress Pork Rib Soup