

Hack a meal in 10 minutes or less. No ramen allowed - rokhayakebe

what is your best Hacked meal in 10 minutes or less. No ramen allowed
======
brk
The options are endless... My wife and I both work, I do 99% of the cooking,
often late at night with a less-than-stocked selection of ingredients.

A couple of ideas... soak a cedar plank for 3 minutes. Heat on grill on one
side for 2 minutes, flip over and pour a good amount of rum on the now warmed
side, salmon fillet on top of that, more rum on the salmon, season to taste.
Cook for another 5-6 minutes. Grill some asparagus alongside the salmon
directly on the grill, seasoned with oil and balsamic vinegar.

Thin porks chops cook quickly, and can be flavored with a mixture of apple
cider vinegar, sugar and peppercorns for a sweet/peppery sauce. Cook the sauce
along with the 'chops.

Chop up some raw chicken breasts and saute light butter. Cook batch of egg
noodles at the same time, and heat some french-cut green beans in the micro.
Make a sauce of sourcream, onion soup mix and herbs. Once the chicken and
noodles are done, combine all the ingredients as an impromptu casserole. If
you're not limited to 10 minutes, add some bread crumbs on top and bake in the
oven for a bit to heat everything all the way through and let the flavors
combine.

~~~
ojbyrne
I'm sure it's a good recipe, but I couldn't stop laughing after "soak a cedar
plank."

~~~
wehriam
Worse, my first thought was "you have to soak a cedar plank for at least an
hour!"

~~~
brk
You really don't though, a few minutes is all that is needed for something
that cooks quick like fish.

~~~
foonamefoo
The laughter is coming from the size implied by "cedar plank".

------
pg
Ev's Improv: Heat olive oil, throw in a can of white beans, a small can of
green chiles, half a can of chopped tomatoes (minus the liquid), a vegetable
bouillon cube, curry powder, and black pepper.

(So named because I had to whip this up for Evan Williams when he spoke at YC
and we discovered at the last minute he was a vegan. It was better than the
official vegetarian dish I'd spent all afternoon cooking.
<http://www.paulmckellar.com/things/1684-?context=album_42>)

~~~
tel
Taking a look at that link (and then going to the YC main page again) made me
realize how cool that lecture hall you guys have is.

Any chance there are some photos around of the "YC Offices" just for the
curious?

~~~
strey
It'd be interesting to put handles with faces too.

Anyways, the get together looks like a lot of fun. All the best to the new YC
founders!

------
icky
No ramen allowed?

What about real ramen, starting with chuka soba and making your own broth
(this part would take much longer than 10 minutes, but bear with me), adding
in your own choice of meats, vegetables, egg, bamboo shoots, _negi_ , etc...

 _Edit: I realize I made it sound like you put the chuka soba into the broth
at the beginning, which would make for soggy noodles! You generally cook the
noodles separately, later, and put them in, still firm and chewy, toward the
end..._

Remember, ramen is a real food (and really, really good), that's served in
real restaurants (there are several good ramen restaurants in the Bay Area).

"Instant noodles" is the caricature that most Americans are exposed to (I,
too, was a victim of this ignorance for many years!), but for the sake of the
deliciousness that is Ramen, please stop calling instant noodles "ramen", even
if it says so on the package.

It would be like an entire country being exposed to the concept of "steak"
through frozen dinners, and developing a prejudice against "steak" as some
crappy packaged frozen food.

~~~
neilk
Extra-fancy buckwheat soba is a bit pricier, but insanely delicious. A complex
and rich taste all by itself, so you don't have to add much to it.

Soba takes eight minutes to cook, but the meal is even faster if you prep it
beforehand. It's best eaten cold, so just pop it out of the fridge.

Chop other stuff to put into it. Tofu, green onions, mushrooms, peas,
whatever.

Broth is awesome if you have it, but I can get by with a few dabs of soy
sauce.

Add some red pepper flakes. Done.

~~~
icky
> Extra-fancy buckwheat soba is a bit pricier, but insanely delicious. A
> complex and rich taste all by itself, so you don't have to add much to it.

My favorite local ramen shop (Ramen Halu in San Jose, near Saratoga Ave and
280) uses it to make Tsukemen (sort of a dipping ramen, with cold soba noodles
and hot broth and dipping sauce). Amazingly good. :D

~~~
neilk
I live around the corner from there. I can't eat there because they don't do
vegetarian though. Still that's the way with anything authentic.

------
patrocles
1) Write code.

2) Forget to eat.

3) Drink lots of water.

4) take an hour to eat someplace and think about what you're going to do next.

Repeat every 24 hours....

------
mtts
Somewhat off topic (this is certainly not cooking in ten minutes or less) but
the English chef Heston Blumenthal is something of a cooking hacker whose work
some of you might find interesting.

There's a whole bunch of his writings here:

[http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search?search_target=%2Fsearch&...](http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search?search_target=%2Fsearch&fr=cb-
guardian&search=heston+blumenthal+appliance+science&N=&sort=relevance)

(look for the links called "The appliance of science" - that's his weekly
column)

------
bootload
_"... what is your best Hacked meal in 10 minutes or less. No ramen allowed
..."_

For the time limit I guess it's _Rat packs_ only. Here's a selection that I've
hacked up. Each take less than 10m.

Cold:

\- toasted Turkish bread, fruit & nuts ~
<http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/208532380/>

\- croissant & salad ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/2348875312/>

\- salad ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/374445307>

\- popcorn ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/197013458/>

\- cold scones & filling ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/278756630>

\- cold beans ~ <http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/146521341/>

Hot:

\- boiled googs & soldiers ~
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/273680402/>

\- cannelloni, sauce & basil ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/2298155730>

\- left-overs & sliced veges as a soup ~
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/1144599851/>

\- focaccia ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/487694401>

\- heated beans, coffee & bread ~
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/201529926/>

Less than 20m:

Of course reducing the time to 10 minutes leave out even the simplest of
recipes:

\- boiled rice, chilli, garlic & chicken ~
<http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/2348875322/>

\- pizza ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/54271803>

\- any form of stirfry ~ <http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/434856726>

------
lisper
Take any fish fillet about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with the seasoning of
your choice. Stick it in a toaster over set to 400 degrees. (Put a sheet of
tinfoil in the baking tray and you won't even have any cleanup.) It will be
done in ten minutes. While you are waiting, boil 1 cup of water. Turn off the
heat and throw in 2/3 cup of couscous. This should put you at about the five
minute mark. Throw a veggie of your choice in the microwave. Everything will
be done, hot, tasty and nutritious at ten minutes. It's pretty foolproof and
east-cleanup too. This is pretty much our standard dinner most nights. (And
I'm not even doing a startup right now!)

~~~
llimllib
I like to broil whitefish, it's a similar effect. I tend to grill red fishes
(Tuna, salmon, etc) because the grill heats up hotter quicker. The cook-in-bag
vegetables are super easy and quick with no cleanup.

Oh! and this dish freezes well, you can make enough for a week in just a few
minutes and reheat a nice dinner all week.

------
SwellJoe
My "quick" meals are complicated by having an aversion to microwaves (I don't
even own one...they make food taste like crap, and I love food more than most
things in life, so I would never use it if I had one).

A rice cooker is a godsend. I finally broke down and bought one of the fuzzy
logic ones when I moved to California a little over a year ago. Many wonderful
things are possible with trouble-free rice. Takes only a couple of minutes of
prep time, though the cooking time is 20-45 minutes (depending on quantity and
type of rice).

My quick meals:

Fried rice - Scramble an egg, set it aside; dump in frozen vegetables (or
fresh, if you have an extra five minutes for washing and chopping) saute in
hot oil (as hot as your stove will go) until bright and slightly tender; dump
in the rice and some mushroom flavored soy sauce (the good kind from an Asian
market); stir it up; dump the egg back in and mix it up. Serve with a handful
of cashews, for an interesting texture and flavor.

Black bean burritos - Heat up a can of refried black beans with about a
quarter of a jar of good salsa mixed in. Roll it up in flour tortillas with
shredded cheddar and/or pepper jack, lettuce, and tomatoes (the veggies are
optional, as the salsa adds some tomatoes and onions and peppers). Optionally
add sour cream and/or guacamole. Also makes a great dip for tortilla chips.

But usually, meals take me longer than ten minutes, and I'm OK with that. I
like to cook most of the time.

~~~
mtts
Like you, I have an aversion to microwaves but recently I found a use for them
(thanks to culinary hacker Heston Blumenthal): use them to "cook" vegetables
of which the aromatics dissolve in water, like fennel, asparagus and broccoli.

What you do is you rub butter and salt and pepper on the vegetable of your
choice and wrap it tightly in two or three layers of microwave foil. Then you
zap it three times in one mine bursts at the highest setting.

Best fennel / asparagus / broccoli you've ever tasted.

~~~
SwellJoe
Hmmm...I have a nice stovetop steamer for vegetables which seems to work fine.
But maybe I'm missing something. Will have to try it next time I'm cooking at
a location that is microwave-enabled.

~~~
mtts
With a steamer you're still working with water so some aromatics will probably
get lost. A better alternative to microwaving would be stir-frying as you coat
your vegetables in oil so no aromatics would leak out.

------
delackner
1\. Start in a large pot 3cm of water to boil. 2\. in a fry pan, holding it
tilted, at very low heat, drop in well-chopped anchovies and garlic, in a bath
of enough olive oil that they are swimming. 3\. When the pool of stuff is
bubbling rapidly, dump in a 200g of ground beef. 4\. spread the beef around.
5\. Put 3 minute pasta in the boiling water. 6\. when the beef is brown, dump
in a can of diced tomatoes. 7\. kill the heat on the sauce when it starts
bubbling again.

I routinely do variations on this in roughly 10 minutes. It is satisfying and
vaguely healthy.

In 20 minutes though, you can have nirvana:

1\. Cut a pumpkin into 2cm square chunks. 2\. Steam for 10 minutes or so,
until mushy. 3\. in a fry pan mix a chunk of S&B dry curry and a can of diced
tomatoes with some water along with the pumpkin. 4\. smash everything together
until it is a puree. 5\. kill heat, add plain yoghurt.

Eat as a soup or on rice.

------
petercooper
I won't cook if it takes more than 10 minutes so this will be great for me :)
Anyway, my current favorite is..

Ingredients: 1) 1/2 jar of sweet and sour cooking sauce that has vegetables in
it (Uncle Ben's!) 2) Packet of microwaveable whole-grain rice (the healthy
stuff!)

Directions: 1. Microwave the rice for 90 seconds. 2. Put the sauce and
vegetables into a bowl and microwave for 90 seconds. 3. Blend the rice into
the hot sauce / vegetables.

This is what I eat for dinner every day my girlfriend isn't working the
evening shift. Takes 3 minutes. This can also be varied by using frozen
vegetables which you defrost first with the microwave on Low for 5 - 10
minutes. You can then blend in tomato ketchup, pickle, onions, and all sorts
of stuff to just get a rice + lotsa goodies type meal.

~~~
poppysan
rice, ketchup, pickles and onions. are you pregnant? My wife eats like this.
Hahaha.

------
poppysan
steak and potatoes

ny strip (bout half an inch thick) Salt, pepper, garlic, shallots, butter
potatoes (cut into chunks)

turn broiler to highest setting. put all ingredients in a ziplock bag and
shake, then put onto the broiler plate and broil. 8 mins late you have medium
steak and potatoes!

~~~
shimon
Don't forget to flip the steak to the other side halfway through.

~~~
icky
Or to remove the ingredients from the ziploc bag (at least, I hope that's how
he does it!)

------
astine
Refried beans, cheese, sour cream, 'salsa,' tortilla, and a minute in the
microwave.

------
dkokelley
Actually, Spaghetti can be pretty quick if you have enough people to eat it
all.

Put some noodles in water over the stove. Grab a can of sauce and put it in
another pot on medium.

It really depends on the size, but it could be ready in about 10-15 minutes
for a small amount.

If you're entertaining on short notice or limited prep. time it works too.
Give yourself about 20 minutes and then you're set for serving yourself and
guests!

(Note: Spaghetti done right will take significantly longer. This does not
include preparing meat or adding any spices)

~~~
ovi256
>10-15 minutes

You are overcooking it. Six to eight minutes is enough. If you ever go to
Italy, you will see what I mean. Their normal cooked pasta is 'al dente' for
non-Italians, and their 'al dente' is ... soaked in warm water. But good
anyway. And do salt the water generously.

~~~
tel
Italian 'al dente' is a trip. I hardly believed it at first, but it _is_
tasty.

------
daviday
Out-of-the-can salad: chickpeas, black beans, maize, lettuce, cottage cheese,
sunflower seeds and a diced avocado. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and olive
oil and eat with bread

------
papersmith
Tuna sandwich:

Mix canned tuna, diced celery and/or onion, and mayonnaise in a bowl. Serve
with sliced bread. You can store the filling in a jar in the fridge for about
a week.

Corn soup:

Boil canned corns in water with your favorite broth/bouillon and diced
scallion. Peas optional. Whip up an egg and mix it into the soup when almost
done. Turn off the stove and mix in a tea spoon of starch powder for a
thickened texture.

------
poppysan
If you aren't counting calories I have the best way to eat tacos.

1 bag of doritos. 1 bag Monterey jack cheese shredded 1 bottle pace chunky
salsa 1 lb ground beef 1 pack mcKormic taco seasoning 1 bag lettuce shreds

*optional sour cream, green onions chiles, avacado, etc.

Brown ground beef. usually takes 4-5 mins for a lb. Mix in taco seasoning. mix
all ingredients in a big bowl. Engorge yourself with delicious carbs.

------
hs
Nature's fast food (aka fruit) i like the no-wash needed like banana, oranges
- easy clean up too considered as vegan food too :D

for cooking: rice, water, meat, garlic put together in a small rice cooker use
the rice cooker's bowl - no need to transfer food to plates clean everything
in one swoop

oh yeah, you can put raw egg+shell too and peel later ;)

------
andr
Eggs, chicken breakfast sausage in 2" pieces, some salt, some cheese, frozen
stir fry vegetables (everything organic). Pre-heat a pan, mix everything
(break the yolks), pour it in the pan and start mixing with a plastic spatula.
Takes about 5 minutes, comes down to $2 for a hearty portion and has all basic
food types, sans dairy.

------
Tichy
Chop vegetables into small chunks, fry them for a little while (add apices at
will), then add some water (just enough to make them not burn and allow steam
to develop) and cover with lid. Let stew for a couple of minutes. Add tomato
sauce or soy sauce or coconut cream or... Combine with rice or noodles or...

------
wehriam
Can of black-eyed peas, pat of butter, frozen hamburger patty (read, bubba
burger.) Boil. Not fancy but good eating. And it keeps well.

Realistically though, we all owe it to ourselves to eat well. I've lost 10-20
lbs this year (depending on the day) by avoiding carbs and eating my
vegetables. Who knew?

------
pkaler
Throw a scoop of protein powder in oatmeal. Microwave or (better) throw
boiling water on top.

Dump a can of tuna in a strainer. Heat with hot water in sink. Dump on top of
bagged salad. Top with a vinaigrette or salad dressing.

------
mtts
Quick and fairly good: some Turkish or Italian bread with a stew made of
canned tomatoes, canned tuna and lima beans (also canned). Add some fresh
basil and maybe some grated cheese.

Five minutes tops.

------
ivankirigin
Meals I often enjoy

1\. Can of chick peas + balsamic vinegar 2\. Huge pile of spinach or kale
wilted in a frying pan with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper. 3\. Cereal & milk
4\. PB&J

------
TrevorJ
Ok, this is the best one right here!! Take those biscuits that come in the
roll,, pop em in a toaster oven with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese on em:
instant mini pizzas!

~~~
SwellJoe
I much prefer the somewhat healthier alternatives of pita bread or thick
slices of fresh sour dough bread. Have you read what's in those canned
biscuits?

I also get pretty picky with my mozzarella. I've gotten hooked on mozzarella
fresca--the really soft, whole milk, kind. It makes me like pizza (which I've
never been a huge fan of).

------
markdionne
Scramble 2 eggs (teflon pan). Chop jalapanos. Put eggs, jalapenos and cheese
on large flour tortilla. Zap in microwave 33 seconds. Serve with beer and hot
sauce.

------
CHIEFARCHITECT
Wondered if we have enough for a cookbook.

------
wenbert
Egg and rice (from the fridge) :P I cook the bestest eggs in da whole world. I
cook it better than Chuck Norris. Seriously, I do.

~~~
mtts
Cooking eggs _can_ take 10 minutes (start from cold water, then at 10 minutes
the yolk is semi-solid), but to do it properly you need 20 minutes to half an
hour at least.

At 62 - 68 degrees centrigrade, that is.

If the temperature gets any higher, the egg white gets rubbery and the yolk
grainy. We think of this as the way eggs should be, but if you've ever tasted
a properly cooked egg you'll know those are much, much better.

(oh, and salmonella bacteria die at around 60 degrees so that's not something
you should be worried about with this technique).

------
ajkirwin
I tend not to make meals that quickly, as for me, cooking is one of the things
I do to relax and think. :)

And I usually end up spending near to an hour in the kitchen, most nights :D

~~~
strey
Agreed. Cooking up something inventive in the kitchen, chopping ingredients as
pans fry minced onions and garlic, throwing new spices together; it's a whole
lot of fun. Whenever I have the time, this is something I love to do.

~~~
ajkirwin
Same. And I don't even have a fully-stocked cabinet, yet. Need to hit up the
japanese and indian supermarkets. And any others that I can find.

I prefer to shop at places like that than places with an 'international'
section. You get better quality ingredients, at cheaper prices. And a wider
variety!

------
strey
If 10 minutes is prep time, you can do a whole lot with a crock pot. I also
like rice alot, so I include a rice cooker. But, prep only takes 5 minutes, if
that. Throw the meat, sauce, and veggies into the crock pot, and rice into the
cooker. A couple hours later when I get back home, I have a delicious, warm
meal waiting.

