Three-Sauce Braised Pot: The Ultimate Lazy Cook’s Hack

This week’s dish is, without a doubt, the easiest recipe I’ve ever posted. I say this with full confidence because it involves exactly two steps: 1) throw everything into the rice cooker and 2) press the button. That’s it. No stirring and no precise seasoning balance. Just dump, braise, and eat.

The beauty of Three-Sauce Braised Pot is its simplicity and adaptability—a dish so versatile that I’ve successfully made at least eight different versions of it. Swap chicken wings for ribs? No problem. Replace sweet potatoes with pak choi? Still amazing. In fact, I’m convinced this is the single best way to clean out all the random leftovers in your fridge before they enter their final stage of decomposition.

It’s almost painful to recall how many things I had to clear out of my kitchen that were used just once and then left to rot forever

Leftovers have been the eternal struggle of my cooking journey. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to throw away sprouted scallions, slimy ginger, or suspiciously green-tinged meat. Sometimes my fridge looks less like a food storage unit and more like a petri dish in a biology lab. I still remember the time when I left the mystery liquid under the trash bag in my apartment lift. The horrified looks from people as they stepped in, covering their noses glaring at me. The walk of shame back to the lift with a mop in hand? Peak humiliation.

So now, rather than attempting complicated new dishes and forgetting about the expensive specialty ingredients until they rot, I start forcing myself to follow the three principles:

• Cycle through the eight dishes I actually know how to cook.

• Use whatever I have on hand.

• Stop making my fridge an unintentional science experiment.

And here it is—the easiest, most forgiving dish in my cooking rotation.

Ingredients You’ll Need (Serves 2)

For the sauce (these are essential):

• ketchup

• sweet bean paste

• hot broadbean paste

• soy sauce

• oyster sauce

For the main ingredients: literally whatever you have in your fridge, but here’s my version

• 4 fresh chicken wings just bought today

• 4 chunks of pork ribs from last week

• 1 single mushroom that has been waiting for its turn for… a while

• 1 shriveled ginger that’s been in my fridge longer than I’d like to admit

• 1 red bell pepper that I don’t even remember buying but was in the drawer

• 1 perfectly fine potato that miraculously didn’t sprout

• yesterday’s onion, still crisp and full of potential

• half a bag of broccoli tips that I thought I’d already used up but actually hadn’t

Step-by-Step Cooking Guide

Prepare

1. Cut everything into pieces that will cook easily: dice the potatoes, slice the onions and peppers, make shallow cuts in the chicken wings and pork ribs, etc.

Make the Sauce (This is the most crucial step! This sauce, as we Chinese like to say, ‘could make even shoes taste delicious’)

2. Directly in the rice cooker, mix together one tablespoon each of ketchup, sweet bean paste, hot broadbean paste, soy sauce, oyster sauce

3. Scoop out half of the sauce and set it aside for later

Start Building a Food Tower: from Base to Top 

4. Add all your vegetables into the rice cooker first, mix with the remaining sauce in the pot until evenly coated

5. Place the meat on top of the vegetables, pour in the reserved sauce and spread it evenly over the meat

6. If you have ginger like I do and garlic which I don’t, you can place them on top of the meat to help eliminate any fishy smell

7. Close the lid and set the rice cooker to "Cook" mode, leave it to do its work

Serve & Enjoy

8. Once the food’s ready, open the lid and give everything a stir

9. Serve over rice and feel proud that you just saved half your fridge from being wasted!

   

   
   

Final Thoughts

I used to think that being a ‘good cook’ meant constantly trying new recipes, mastering complex techniques, and creating Instagram-worthy meals. But after too many failed experiments and too many expensive ingredients left to rot, I’ve realized that for me, cooking is about sustainability—not just for the environment, but for my sanity.

So now, my cooking routine is ridiculously simple. I rotate between the same eight dishes, rearrange the ingredients, and call it a day. Maybe that sounds boring, but to me, it’s a sign of balance. It means I’ve figured out what works, found my footing, stopped stressing over daily survival, and started using my time to explore life beyond my kitchen in this new environment.

If you try this recipe, let me know in the comments what unique ingredients you used—I’m genuinely curious about the odds and ends lurking in everyone’s fridge!

Happy cooking and till next time!!