Breakfast on a Certain Day

In Korean homes, there were always banchan.

When I opened my mother's refrigerator, small bowls were lined up in a row, and at mealtime, she would take out a few of them and arrange them on the table.

Banchan refers to the small side dishes that accompany the main course on a Korean dining table. They are similar to what are called 'jobisai' or side dishes in Japan.

In my home, too, I make various banchan once every week or two. I take out the small side dishes packed in containers one by one in the morning or evening, transfer them to small plates, and arrange them on the table. That is the scene of meals in our home.

To be honest, I am not good at meal prepping.

The biggest difficulty with meal prepping is having to eat the same thing every day. There are days when my mood doesn't keep up, and days when I get tired of it.

That is precisely why 'semi-prepared meal prepping' is my ally.

Just rubbing salt into cucumbers.
Just parboiling spinach.
Stopping before mixing, and doing the final seasoning right before eating.
Just mixing the seasonings and storing them.

If you stock them in an unfinished state, you can change the seasoning according to your mood that day, or develop them into different dishes. You are freed a little from the confinement of having to eat the same thing.

In the morning, everyone has limited time, and it is a difficult time to have a carefully prepared breakfast.

On this day, I cooked white rice, made soup, fried an egg, and for the rest, I just took out the pre-prepared food from the refrigerator.

Even so, when I divided them into small plates and lined them up, it became a proper meal.

On mornings when I don't want to try hard, having the table set like this is thanks to the little bit of effort my past self put in.

I'm not good at meal prepping, but helped by mornings like this, another day begins.