Quick Asian Dinners
These are the recipes I actually cook on a Tuesday. Not the ones that take three hours and four components — the ones that get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less with a fridge that's only half-full. Fast doesn't mean boring. Some of my most-cooked recipes live in this category.
The Pantry That Makes Fast Cooking Possible
Speed in the kitchen comes from preparation, not rushing. If you have the right things in your cupboard, a satisfying Asian-inspired dinner is always 20 minutes away. These are the non-negotiables:
- Soy sauce — flavour base for almost everything
- Sesame oil — finishing oil; goes in at the end
- Gochujang or chilli oil — instant heat and depth
- Rice vinegar — balances rich sauces and marinades
- Oyster sauce — one spoonful thickens and enriches any stir-fry
- Frozen noodles or cooked rice — the fastest base you can have
- Eggs — protein that's always there, always fast
- Spring onions and garlic — the aromatics that start most dishes
With these in your kitchen, you're never more than one pan and 20 minutes away from dinner.
The 20-Minute Formula
Most fast Asian-style dinners follow this structure:
- Cook your base (noodles, rice, or frozen udon — all take under 10 minutes)
- Make a quick sauce (soy + sesame oil + one flavour element, mixed in a bowl)
- Cook your protein or vegetables in a hot pan (5–7 minutes)
- Combine and season
The key is doing steps 1 and 3 simultaneously, not sequentially. Put the water on first, then start the sauce and protein. By the time noodles are done, everything else is ready.
Techniques That Actually Save Time
Batch cook rice: Leftover rice fries better than fresh (it's drier). Make a big batch on Sunday and you have the base for fried rice, bibimbap, or rice bowls all week.
Keep a jar of sauce ready: Mix up a batch of all-purpose sauce (soy + sesame oil + vinegar + honey + garlic) and keep it in the fridge. Lasts two weeks and eliminates measuring every night.
Buy pre-sliced frozen meat: Korean supermarkets sell thinly sliced frozen beef and pork specifically for quick stir-fries and bulgogi. It defrosts in 10 minutes and cooks in 3.
Frozen dumplings as backup: A bag of frozen mandu or gyoza in the freezer means you always have a protein-forward meal 10 minutes away. Pan-fry from frozen, no defrosting needed.
Five Quick Dinners Under 30 Minutes
- Soy butter udon: Frozen udon, butter, soy sauce, a fried egg on top — ready in 8 minutes. Embarrassingly good.
- Gochujang chicken rice bowl: Sliced chicken thighs marinated in gochujang glaze, pan-fried, served over rice with sesame oil and spring onions.
- Egg fried rice: Day-old rice, eggs, soy, sesame oil, spring onions. Done in 10 minutes. Add kimchi to make it Korean.
- Peanut noodles: Cooked rice noodles tossed in peanut sauce (peanut butter, soy, lime, sesame, honey) with whatever vegetables are in the fridge.
- Miso soup with tofu and rice: Not glamorous, but genuinely restorative. Miso dissolved in hot water, soft tofu, seaweed, spring onions. Five minutes.
Recipe Inspiration For You...
5-Min Tangy Carrot Ribbon Salad
The Ultimate Congee (Chinese Rice Porridge/Jook/粥)
Vegan Peking "Duck" Pancakes
Nasi Lemak: Malaysia’s National Dish
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the fastest protein for a weeknight Asian dinner?
Eggs are the fastest — a fried or soft-boiled egg on rice or noodles is dinner in under 10 minutes. After that, thinly sliced chicken thigh or beef cooks in 3–5 minutes in a hot pan. Frozen gyoza or dumplings (cooked from frozen) take about 10 minutes and need no prep. Tofu cubes (pre-pressed) take 5–6 minutes to crisp up in a hot pan.
Can I use microwave rice pouches?
Yes — and for weeknight cooking, there's no shame in it. A 250g pouch of jasmine or short-grain rice takes 90 seconds and is perfectly fine as a base. The texture is slightly softer than freshly cooked rice, which means it's less ideal for fried rice (where drier rice works better) but works fine for rice bowls and soups.
How do I get stir-fry vegetables to stay crisp and not go soggy?
High heat and small batches. Crowding the pan steams the vegetables instead of frying them — the moisture can't escape fast enough and everything goes soft. Use the highest heat your pan can handle, work in two batches if needed, and keep the vegetables moving. Most vegetables only need 2–3 minutes in a properly hot pan.
What's a good substitute for oyster sauce?
Hoisin sauce works in most cases and is widely available. For a gluten-free option, a mix of soy sauce and a little sugar (3:1 ratio) approximates the sweet-savoury quality. Fish sauce with a pinch of sugar gets closer to the umami depth. None are perfect replacements but all get you in the right direction.
Is it worth buying a wok?
For stir-fries specifically, yes — a carbon steel wok gets hotter than a regular pan, has sloped sides that make tossing easy, and develops seasoning over time that adds flavour. A good carbon steel wok costs £20–30 and lasts decades. That said, a large stainless steel or cast iron frying pan works fine for most quick dinners if you don't have one yet.
Have You Eaten?
My first cookbook is now available to purchase and I couldn't be happier to share it with you! If you like what you see here, please go and check out my book for even more food for you to try!
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