Impromptu home cook after foodpanda cancelled last minute!
Labour Day lunch backup plan — foodpanda order cancelled last-minute, pivot to home-cooked impromptu meal from whatever's in the fridge.
Labour Day lunch with BB — had a foodpanda order placed and tracking nicely, then the restaurant cancelled at the last minute. Both of us were already hungry by that point, so we pivoted hard and put together an impromptu home-cooked meal from whatever was in the fridge.
We made:
- Stir-fried rice (with whatever protein and vegetables were on hand)
- Soft-boiled eggs
- Quick pickled cucumber on the side
The fridge-clearing dinner is a real cooking discipline. You start by opening the fridge, taking stock of everything that’s about to expire, and improvising a dish that uses it all. We had: leftover rice from yesterday, half a stick of Chinese sausage, a few prawns from the freezer, a wedge of cabbage, some scallions, and a couple of eggs.
The rice went into the wok with diced sausage and prawns, plus the cabbage shreds and scallion whites. Beaten egg was poured in at the end to coat the grains, dark soy and oyster sauce for seasoning. Came out of the wok looking like a respectable fried rice in 12 minutes flat.
Soft-boiled eggs on the side — 6.5 minutes in simmering water from cold, then dunk in ice water for 30 seconds. Yolks still gold and runny, whites set but tender.
Quick pickled cucumber — sliced cucumber, splash of rice vinegar, pinch of sugar, pinch of salt, ten minutes in the fridge. Crunchy, sour, the right palate cleanser against the heavy fried rice.
Foodpanda owed us a refund, which they processed without drama. The impromptu cook ended up faster than waiting for the redelivered order would have been anyway.
Overall: 4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Lockdown improvisation win — would absolutely do this again.
