- 8 hours ago
The Cook Up with Adam Liaw Season 9 Episode 39
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00:00MUSIC
00:21Hello, I'm Adam Liao and welcome to The Cook Up,
00:23a hidden camera prank show.
00:25On tonight's menu, chorizo lentils and rice,
00:27tom yum fried rice and cheats spaghetti bolognese.
00:30Let's meet our guests.
00:32Chef Lil Kaskutis worked in commercial kitchens
00:34for a couple of years before realising
00:35that her love of chit-chat and socialising
00:37was better suited to the world of hosting and catering.
00:40She is now an in-demand private chef and social media favourite.
00:43Hi, Lil.
00:43Hey, Adam.
00:44Great to be here.
00:45Brisbane-born, Melbourne-based comedian Nick White
00:47is known for his impressions and sketch comedy.
00:49He's also known for making the pavlova
00:51at every single family Christmas since 2011.
00:54Welcome, Nick.
00:55Nick, is there a signature to the Nick White pavlova?
00:59What do you do?
01:00I would say I put the most effort and focus into the structure of it.
01:04Oh.
01:04Because I feel like you really need to get a good balance of diameter
01:08but height to get a good texture inside and outside, you know.
01:12Nice.
01:12Good tips.
01:14Lil, if you used to get in trouble in commercial kitchens
01:17for standing around and chatting,
01:18I think moving into private chefing and hosting
01:21is kind of like the best fit for you.
01:25Absolutely.
01:26I think I've been cooking since I was a kid
01:28and I've been entertaining since I was a kid.
01:30So naturally, it was the best fit for me.
01:32And I've always wanted to be my own boss.
01:33So now I can just call the shots and yap as much as I like
01:37to whoever I want to.
01:38And you get to entertain all the time in somebody else's kitchen.
01:41Absolutely.
01:41Absolutely.
01:42The best.
01:43Step aside, 30-minute dinner,
01:45because tonight we are making 20-minute dinner.
01:49That's 10 minutes faster.
01:51Yeah.
01:51Nick, as a comedian who probably doesn't have time to cook,
01:55what does an average, say, Tuesday night dinner look like for you?
01:57Well, I get out my phone, Uber Eats app,
02:03and then it's a kind of rotation of dumplings.
02:07Yeah, OK.
02:07Like a Thai curry, maybe once a week, a pizza.
02:11Yeah, I have my go-to places.
02:13And then if I actually am going to cook,
02:15I'll make like a toasted sandwich.
02:17Yeah, sure.
02:19Lil, cooking quickly, is it a necessity in your line of work?
02:23At work, yeah.
02:24Yeah.
02:25I do enjoy taking my time, which is why I cook at home.
02:28I live with my family, there's six of us.
02:30Wow.
02:30So that's when I get to enjoy the process a little bit more,
02:34not have so much urgency.
02:35Like, cooking's supposed to be fun, right?
02:37Yeah, it's supposed to be.
02:38You know, even if it's not fun,
02:39it's supposed to be something that you can do to relax or...
02:42Well, it can be meditative if you want it to be.
02:44Yeah, strong agree.
02:45Yeah.
02:46Well, my 20-minute dinner is chorizo, lentils and rice.
02:55All right, chorizo, lentils and rice.
02:58I'm not...
02:58I'm just trying to avoid the...
03:01You know how sometimes you feel the urge to say chorizo?
03:05I think I need to avoid that.
03:07Like, to me, I'm sure that's how they say it in Spain,
03:10but I'm not Spanish and...
03:13Bit wanky.
03:13Yeah, we are not...
03:15Yes, yes, definitely that.
03:17But also, you know, kind of inauthentic.
03:19It's just not what I would say.
03:21And we're not in Spain right now.
03:23Oh, that's also true.
03:23I'm Australian to call it chorizo.
03:26Although, when you say it, it sounds actually quite nice.
03:29The reason I want to do this is because lentils, I feel,
03:33we are absolutely missing a trick when it comes to lentils.
03:36They've been such a part of Indian cuisine, Pakistani cuisine,
03:41French food, all through Africa, it is like the go-to.
03:45And for some reason, they've just kind of dropped off,
03:48and they're just nutritious, affordable,
03:51and cook way faster than people think they do.
03:53This is a great dish because it's just all in the pan.
03:56So all you're doing is chopping, essentially.
03:59Which, as I said that, there's probably a lot of people who go,
04:01oh, chopping, I hate chopping.
04:03Lil, if you want to cook quickly,
04:05what would you say is the best thing that you can do?
04:08Because in my opinion, it's kind of if you can chop relatively efficiently,
04:14is that a good thing to speed up your cooking?
04:17Absolutely.
04:18But I think just for your average person,
04:21you need to just think about what you're doing before you do it.
04:24Just like mum and dad will say,
04:25think about what you're saying before you say it.
04:27If you are following a recipe, read the recipe first.
04:30Yeah.
04:30If you're just going to wing it,
04:32just think about what you're going to do first and every step after,
04:35before you actually do it.
04:36So you can have a rough idea of how it's all going to pan out.
04:39That's actually a really, really good tip.
04:41Because I always think that if somebody is following a recipe,
04:44it's going to take them, the first time they make it,
04:47probably three times as long.
04:49So if they're cooking a 30 minute recipe, they're like,
04:51why did that take me an hour and a half?
04:52And I'm like, it's because you followed the recipe.
04:53The next time you make it, it will take you 45 minutes.
04:56And then the time after that,
04:57you'll be down to that 30 minutes that it says in the recipe.
04:59Nick, how long does it take,
05:01if you are ordering Tuesday night dinner in,
05:04how long does it take for that to arrive?
05:07Hmm, maybe like 20 minutes, 25 minutes.
05:10Oh wow, you live there.
05:12I was expecting you to say like an hour and I was like,
05:15ha ha, well, I can make this faster than you.
05:17And I actually knew that's where you were going at dance.
05:20So maybe I'm stretching the truth a bit.
05:22No, yeah, around that.
05:24Well, I just think that I get it.
05:26It's very popular and people do it all the time.
05:28And I've done it myself and it's fine.
05:31Like I'm not trying to shame you into doing it, but if it becomes a habit,
05:34I think you're losing a trick because you're not going to eat as well.
05:38And some people might think they eat better because they're eating stuff
05:41from restaurants all the time.
05:42You're not going to eat as well.
05:43You're going to eat stuff that, I don't know.
05:46Now I feel judgmental.
05:47I feel like I was starting on a rant there and you should stop doing that.
05:49No, I agree.
05:50I think, I think because I live on my own as well.
05:53Like I think when I do cook something and then I have a lot of leftovers of it,
05:58I just get sick of the leftovers of it.
06:00And then I'm like, this didn't go how I wanted it to go.
06:03So then I, yeah, I probably cook a meal more than I'm pretending at the moment.
06:08Like every now and then.
06:09Cooking for one is hard.
06:10Cooking for one is hard.
06:11That's why I don't do it much.
06:13Yeah.
06:13And then like the cleanup process and all that.
06:15I'm like, I'd rather not.
06:17Why me?
06:18I'd rather not.
06:18I'm like, yeah, why is my life like this?
06:21Does it take six times longer to cook for six people than just to cook for one person?
06:24No, I think I've been cooking for my family since I was a kid.
06:28So I'm just used to cooking in larger quantities.
06:30And we have the appropriate pots, the pans, the chopping board.
06:34Everything just gets done in the same amount of time.
06:37We just cook very relaxed food.
06:39Usually a lot of Greek food, things that are very ingredient focused and simply cooked.
06:45Amazing.
06:46That's the thing I think, you know, and recipes are kind of to blame for this a little bit
06:49as well, because the best cooking, if you're not having to follow a recipe, is just to cook
06:54ingredients, like to put something into a pan and then take it back out again.
06:58Ta-da, you've cooked that thing.
07:00You know, you don't need to do anything more elaborate than that.
07:04Essentially what I'm doing is just throwing a bunch of ingredients into this pan that are all
07:07going to cook together.
07:09So I've got my chorizo cooking in there.
07:12I'm also going to put in some paprika and some turmeric as well, just because I like those two
07:15spices.
07:15So chorizo has paprika in it?
07:18Yeah.
07:18Yeah.
07:19That's why, you know, you have that lovely red oil that comes out of it when you fry it.
07:23Yeah.
07:24You can see it's just starting to change the colour of the oil there.
07:29And this one is, I'm going to do this quite simply.
07:31You could throw this in the oven if you wanted, but you don't really have to.
07:34You know, this is something that you can just do on the stove.
07:38Lil, why did you want to become a chef?
07:39Now, you are a qualified chef, worked in, you know, some great restaurants.
07:43Yeah, I've always wanted to eat.
07:47I wanted to be in control of what we ate at home.
07:49I think I just wanted to choose exactly what was going to be on the dinner table.
07:53And I loved that it just brought everyone together.
07:56We can have a laugh and talk about food.
08:00Did you love it immediately?
08:01Yeah.
08:02Yeah, okay.
08:02Yeah, I've always loved it.
08:04I've been throwing dinner parties for my family since I was probably six or seven.
08:09I'd print little menus and kind of be prepping all day, getting my sister to be the kitchen hand.
08:15And it's just something that brings me a lot of joy.
08:18And it's an extra way to connect with the people around you.
08:21Right.
08:22So it's just been a special part of life for me.
08:25So I've thrown in my tomatoes, like lentils.
08:29I'm using tin ones here because this is a 20-minute dinner.
08:32If you're looking for affordability though, dried lentils.
08:36Absolutely, so much cheaper.
08:38I mean, it's not like tin lentils are expensive, but dried lentils are going to be a lot cheaper.
08:43You've just got to soak them.
08:45And then I'm using some rice.
08:47Oh, I forgot to put my spices in, but luckily this is a very forgiving recipe.
08:51So I just throw them in there.
08:51Just some paprika and turmeric.
08:54The rice I'm using is actually sushi rice.
08:59Because sushi rice is very similar to like Spanish bomba rice, things that you might use for paella or something
09:06like this.
09:07And then stock, one cup of rice, roughly three cups of stock.
09:12Because we've got other ingredients and things in there as well, we're going to need some stock for the lentils.
09:17That goes in.
09:19Don't forget to give it a good seasoning of salt.
09:24And then some herbs to go in there as well, some thyme, a couple of bay leaves.
09:30And then is this just simmer?
09:31Yeah, we'll throw the lid on it, simmer it for, I don't know, 20 minutes or so.
09:35And that is about all we have to do.
09:38Nick, do you think cooking is something that you would like to do in the future?
09:41Yes.
09:41Like there's an interest there, but they're just not me.
09:43There is.
09:44I mean, MasterChef was my favorite show.
09:46Huh.
09:47Like when I was younger.
09:48And then I buy cookbooks and like, I just, I think it's because, I know I do.
09:54Yeah, right.
09:54I do have an interest, but I think it's because.
09:56You're a non-practicing food lover.
09:58Kind of.
09:59Because I always lived in share houses.
10:01I used to hate making small talk in the kitchen while I was like trying to lock into what I
10:05was cooking.
10:05Sure.
10:06And now I live alone.
10:06So I'm like, oh, I just don't, I could be using this time to like do other things.
10:10That's fair.
10:11Because I'm not very good at it yet.
10:12Hey, hey, hang on a second.
10:14You should, don't be too down on yourself.
10:16No, I'm not.
10:17I'm not good at it.
10:18Guys, tell me I'm good.
10:20Incredible.
10:22But no, I think, I think in the future, also my kitchen's tiny,
10:25but it's definitely something that I know I will do more when I get older.
10:29So this, we let that sit for a little bit for the rice to absorb,
10:33and it should be a really nice plate.
10:37Yum.
10:39Some parsley on top, a little olive oil just to give it some gloss, a crack of pepper.
10:48Invite your friends around.
10:50Chorizo, lentils and rice.
10:56I think situationally, this is the kind of thing like you could come home, throw everything in
11:01the pan and have dinner ready in 20-ish minutes.
11:05If you wanted an affordable thing, you're cooking for a share house.
11:08This is something you could make.
11:08Like that's, that's where I would do this.
11:10Yeah, this is amazing.
11:11It's so easy.
11:12Yeah, this hits home for me.
11:14My grandmother makes lentils for us almost every, every week in winter.
11:17And just brings it in a Tupperware.
11:19Oh.
11:20Yeah, we love them.
11:21Does she have any leftover?
11:22Yeah, I'll fly it down to Melbourne.
11:24Modern life is sleeping on the lentils.
11:26When we return, it is time for Lil and Nick's 20-minute dinners.
11:41Welcome back to The Cook-Up.
11:42I have put 20 minutes on the clock and asked Chef Lil Kaskutis and comedian Nick White to make dinner.
11:47Now, Lil, what's your 20-minute dinner?
11:49Tom Yum fried rice.
11:50Ooh, lovely.
11:51And Nick, what are you making?
11:52I'm making cheese spaghetti bolognese.
11:54Yes, you are.
12:03Nick White.
12:08What makes this a cheese spaghetti bolognese?
12:10It's a cheese spaghetti bolognese because these are pork and fennel sausages.
12:14So they already have like a lot of seasoning in them.
12:17Yeah.
12:18Yeah.
12:18So once you add them, oh, that's the trick.
12:23So you've taken them out of the screen.
12:24So this is basically just the sausage interior.
12:27Yeah, it's like the mince inside, yeah.
12:28Oh, gorgeous.
12:29So it's kind of idiot proofs the seasoning of your bolognese.
12:34Yeah, and even I can do it.
12:36I always just shortened bolognese to bolognese, but I've never done that before.
12:40Bolognese until now.
12:40Let's not do that.
12:41Let's not do that.
12:42No, okay.
12:42I would have supported you.
12:44You're a very supportive man.
12:47You have some incredible characters, Nick, that makes me wonder.
12:52Like where do these characters come from?
12:55They just come from people I see in real life.
12:57So I might leave today with some new ones.
13:00Oh God, that's terrifying.
13:01But like, for example, like I had to get a dog trainer for my dog
13:03and she was just such a character and I was obsessed with her.
13:07And now I have a dog trainer character and she's part of my live show now.
13:10So do I have to worry that there is going to be a very stressed TV chef in one of
13:19your shows
13:19that can't stop saying the word of mummy?
13:23Maybe you might have to come to my live show.
13:25I would love to.
13:26Google Nick White live show 2026.
13:30Don't talk to my audience.
13:31Oh, I take it back.
13:33Uh, tomato paste.
13:35Yes.
13:35Sock.
13:35I love this part.
13:37I think stock's a really great addition into bolognese.
13:40Should we add it now?
13:40Yeah.
13:41Let's do it.
13:42You've broken up the, the, um, the sausage all nice.
13:48That's, that's not great as a visual.
13:56Is this great as a visual?
13:58Yeah.
13:58Yeah.
13:58Oh yeah.
13:58Yeah.
13:59Get a close up of this.
14:00Yeah.
14:00I like, I like the stock.
14:01Oh, sizzle.
14:03Mm-hmm.
14:03And then of course you've got the, the crushed, crushed toms.
14:06Crushed toms.
14:07Yeah.
14:07Why am I abbreviating everything today?
14:09That makes.
14:09It's something about me that makes you abbreviate stuff.
14:12Yeah.
14:12Genuinely.
14:13I don't know.
14:13I'm going to think about that later to figure it out and I'll message you.
14:17I'll analyze your psychology.
14:18Yeah.
14:18I must make you feel like you can just.
14:21Yeah.
14:22Unwind a bit.
14:24You put me at ease and when I'm at ease I abbreviate.
14:27Yeah.
14:27All right.
14:28Tomatoes going in and it's all going to come together.
14:30Let's do it.
14:31Lovely.
14:34Lil.
14:34Hey.
14:35How are we doing?
14:36Tom Yum fried rice.
14:37This sounds fantastic.
14:37Yeah.
14:38I mean, it's a classic.
14:39Mm-hmm.
14:40Really easy.
14:41What are we doing?
14:41Well, this is, the wok's already on.
14:43Things are happening.
14:44I'm about to oil blanch my prawns.
14:46I've cut my gailan up, all my veg prep ready to go.
14:49And I'm just going to just blanch these in the oil.
14:54Where did you learn oil blanching, Lil?
14:57At work.
14:58Okay.
14:58We fry a lot in Cantonese kitchens.
15:01Yes.
15:01So I did a lot of fry section, salt and pepper.
15:05So you worked at Queen Chao and various places?
15:07Yeah, Queen Chao was for a while, a couple of years.
15:10Yeah.
15:10Mr Wong, when I was a first-year apprentice.
15:13Yeah, right.
15:13And that was fun.
15:14I'm just going to give these a flip after 30 seconds, because I don't want them to cook
15:17all the way through.
15:18Sure.
15:19Oil blanching is a really popular, I would call it a Chinese restaurant tactic.
15:24It's not as commonly used in home cooking, but I do it quite a lot, just because, particularly
15:30for things like beef stir-fries and stuff, where you might want to cook the outside of the
15:37meat or the prawn to stop it from sticking when you're stir-frying, it's a really, really useful
15:40tactic.
15:41Absolutely.
15:42If we've been velveting anything that's velveted, definitely oil blanch it, and just keeps things
15:48nice and juicy and firm, I think, when it comes to prawns as well.
15:50Amazing.
15:51Would you have grown up eating much Asian food?
15:55Um, I did, yeah.
15:56My parents are really adventurous eaters, they'll give anything a go.
16:00Yeah.
16:01I also grew up very close to Marrickville in Sydney.
16:03Okay.
16:04So, a lot of Vietnamese food.
16:06This makes perfect sense.
16:07Like, you have great heritage and, like, that's really interesting to me to see, like,
16:13Marrickville is essentially, you've got Greek and Vietnamese culture coming together like
16:18almost nowhere else in the world.
16:19It's gorgeous.
16:20It's beautiful.
16:20It's gorgeous.
16:21I have so much fun and we're constantly, um, we're constantly exploring.
16:25A lot of my friends are Vietnamese as well, so I learn a lot from them.
16:28We were making banh bao the other day at home from scratch.
16:31So, it's, um, Vietnamese food's become a massive part of my life.
16:35It's, uh, that's amazing.
16:36So, oil blanched prawns.
16:37What are the other ingredients that go into this?
16:39Um, I've got some gai lan.
16:40I've cut the stems on an angle, on a bias, and just the chop, roughly chopped the leaves,
16:46just so they cook, um, evenly.
16:48I've got some onion, bit of chilli and coriander for garnish, for seasoning, just the classics, MSG,
16:54sugar, white pepper.
16:56Lovely.
16:57Um, I don't like to put liquid seasonings in my fried rice and also the tom yum
17:01paste is already seasoned.
17:02Amazing.
17:03So, if I do need to add salt, I can just add a pinch of salt later.
17:06Oh, looking forward to this.
17:07This is going to be fun.
17:07Me too.
17:10Hello, hello.
17:11Hello.
17:12Wow.
17:13I say that genuinely because it has been not three minutes since I left you here,
17:19and the way that that smells, it smells, it's almost marinated sausage in there,
17:25like, because the sausage has had the seasonings that have been sitting there for, you know, days.
17:28Mm.
17:29The aroma that you get off that is as if you've been cooking that bolognese for hours.
17:32Right.
17:32That's such a great tip.
17:33What a shortcut.
17:34What a shortcut.
17:35And I thought of it.
17:36Yes.
17:37Yes, you did.
17:37You invented it.
17:39Um, pasta's gone in, classic spaghetti.
17:41Mm-hmm.
17:42Wow, I'm amazed at the aroma of that actually, genuinely.
17:45I think that's a, that's, that's a great tip.
17:47Yeah.
17:48Uh, and then just finishing that with some parsley.
17:50Yeah, I'm going to chop up some parsley.
17:52What makes a good comedian?
17:55Whoa, what a big question.
17:57Um, I think you just have to have something wrong with you,
18:04because you need validation, you know what I mean?
18:06Yeah, right.
18:06You need to be chasing that.
18:07Nah, I think you just have to find joy in making people laugh.
18:11Yes.
18:11Can I give you what I think?
18:12Yes, please.
18:13I think comedians are easily the most observant people that I've ever met.
18:18Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:19Because unless you know how somebody thinks, you can't make them laugh.
18:23Totally.
18:24And if you don't, if you know how a whole room thinks, you know, like,
18:27sometimes you'll say something, and the feeling that I have in my head is like,
18:31oh, I didn't even realise that that was a funny thing, but that is actually funny.
18:35Well, I think I was such a quiet kid, really quiet, and I would just sit at school like,
18:41just watching everyone.
18:42Yeah.
18:43So I think it, yeah, I think we are quite observant.
18:45Yeah.
18:46Yeah.
18:47You see how observant I am?
18:48I made that observation.
18:49I know.
18:49The comedians were observing.
18:50Get on the stage.
18:51LAUGHTER
18:54OK, Lil, fried rice is happening.
18:57Yeah.
18:58It's nice and quick once everything's prepped.
19:02Scramble.
19:03I like to do the egg first.
19:05I feel like it keeps everything else from sticking.
19:07Yeah, I think so, because, um, and also you get it to break apart quite nicely.
19:14Yeah.
19:14In there, I guess, you know, most often for me with my fried rice,
19:17I'll probably stir fry the other ingredients first, and then bring them out,
19:21and then put it in there.
19:22But there are so many different ways to do it.
19:24I just do what I'm told with fried rice.
19:28So, Tom Yum paste, uh, this is, I guess, you know, obviously a Thai-ish fried rice.
19:35Yeah, I'd say so.
19:37It's, um, I can't remember where I had this dish for the first time.
19:40Maybe Spice AM, I'm not sure.
19:41Sure.
19:42I mean, you can't go wrong with these flavours, and you can make a homemade paste if you want to,
19:46but I just find that that's not really necessary.
19:49Add a bit of oil.
19:50Absolutely.
19:51I think that's one of the real, I guess, pressure points for fried rice,
19:55is people don't often use enough oil.
19:57You know, you essentially want the oil to coat every grain of rice that's going in there.
20:02Absolutely.
20:03That takes, that takes a bit.
20:05And I'll add more later.
20:06Yeah, good.
20:07Yeah, once the rice is in, I find myself usually adding a sprinkle more,
20:12just on the edges of the wok.
20:14I think one of the really fabulous things about growing up in Australia is
20:20our exposure to so many different cuisines.
20:22You know, I remember the first time a Greek friend gave me his homemade Galactoburikos.
20:27Oh, wow.
20:28Yeah.
20:28That was, that was a formative moment for me.
20:30When it's homemade, it's crazy.
20:32I think, you know, because it is such a, a luxurious dish when it doesn't have enough,
20:38as much creamy, like the commercial ones tend to not be quite as creamy or, you know,
20:43maybe a bit too heavy on the semolina or something.
20:45But I was just like, where has this been all my life?
20:49Yeah.
20:49Literally, I was blown away.
20:50Sometimes it's very thick and very starchy, the custard.
20:54My grandmother makes it, it's really runny.
20:56Mmm.
20:57So some people are like, it's not set enough, it's not cooked enough.
20:59But no, we like that really runny, kind of luscious texture of the custard.
21:04But again, it's all my preference.
21:06Everyone likes things made the way that they like it.
21:09This fried rice is smelling very good.
21:11Yeah, I'm just gonna let it go, let it get a bit of a char.
21:14Yeah, nice.
21:14And yeah, good to go.
21:16Amazing.
21:17After the break, it's dinner time and I'll share the freezer foods
21:19that can take you from zero to hero in 20 minutes or less.
21:34Welcome back to The Cook Up.
21:35We are making every minute count tonight as Lil Cascutas and Nick White
21:38finish up their 20-minute dinners.
21:40Lil nearly ready?
21:41Yep.
21:42Lovely.
21:43And Nick, this is...
21:44Wow, that's a good-looking bolognese.
21:45Yeah, you like it?
21:46Yes.
21:47And I took some sauce out before so I could put it on top at the end.
21:51Oh, that is a pro move.
21:52Aren't I a genius?
21:53That is an absolutely pro move.
21:54Thanks.
21:56Oh, more of the parsley.
22:01I really do feel that there is going to be some kind of celebrity chef character that is...
22:06Yeah, okay, I'm just gonna walk away.
22:09No, I'm gonna come back.
22:10It looks great.
22:10Oh, thank you.
22:12Lil, that smells wonderful.
22:14It tastes even better.
22:16Oh, wow.
22:18Yeah, lots of prawns, lots of veg.
22:20A bit of lime to finish off if needed.
22:23Yeah.
22:25I always like a squeezing lime.
22:26Yeah.
22:27Tom Yum fried rice and cheat spaghetti bolognese.
22:37I really do think the addition of the sausages in here is an inspired decision.
22:43Mmm.
22:44Mmm.
22:44The fennel seeds.
22:45Mmm.
22:46You're a smart guy.
22:48Mmm.
22:48Stop.
22:50As someone who's pretty militant on having to cook bolognese,
22:53bolognese for three hours plus.
22:55To be able to achieve that in 20 minutes is...
22:58It takes three hours plus.
23:00Well, not anymore.
23:01Not anymore.
23:05Lil, the fried rice smells amazing.
23:09Mmm.
23:09Oh, yum.
23:10It's so good.
23:11Too spicy?
23:12Not too spicy.
23:13It's pretty spicy.
23:14Okay.
23:15Be careful.
23:16Oh, God.
23:17Protecting.
23:17It's a slow burner.
23:21That's delicious, though.
23:22Yeah.
23:22Absolutely delicious.
23:23Really well balanced.
23:23Pretty banger.
23:24Of course, if you're trying to cook dinner in 20 minutes or less, one of the easiest ways
23:27to do that is to have a bunch of stuff ready to go.
23:30So I thought I'd take you through the things that I literally always have in my freezer.
23:35If these things were not in my freezer, they'd be trouble.
23:37I'm going to start with frozen dumplings.
23:40These ones happen to be homemade, but any frozen dumpling, I think, is a good thing to have
23:45in the freezer.
23:46People think that dumplings have to be steamed.
23:48I, to be honest, rarely steam dumplings.
23:5190% of the time, I'm boiling dumplings and it's just the fastest, easiest way to do that.
23:56The other thing I would keep is peas.
23:58Frozen peas are the best.
24:00They're amazing.
24:01I have three children, so having something that is a vegetable, highly nutritious,
24:06very cheap, ready in two minutes and they'll actually eat that, you know, when you get
24:11a combination of that, there's almost nothing else that is as good as, yeah.
24:14I'm learning so much right now.
24:16It literally says it on the back.
24:17You don't have to come on a TV show.
24:18Sorry.
24:20Um, ends of coriander.
24:21Oh.
24:22Every time I have coriander, I'll chop them up and I'll freeze them.
24:26The ends there, because this is sort of part of the basis of Thai cuisine.
24:31This plus garlic plus pepper, pound that together, start of
24:35so many different Thai dishes.
24:36In Thai, it's actually called the three friends.
24:38It's kind of like the miripoia of Thailand.
24:40And then I love chili.
24:41So any kind of chilies I have, they last for a while in the fridge, but I find that particularly
24:47with a lot of meals, I just have a bit of sliced chili with a bit of soy sauce on
24:51top of it,
24:52straight out of the freezer.
24:53Slice, don't have to defrost it in, just slice it up frozen.
24:56Put it in there by the time it gets to the table, it's ready to go.
24:58So these four things are always in my freezer.
25:02And if I run out, I don't feel right about myself.
25:04Yeah, right.
25:05Hopefully that helps you with a couple more decent shortcuts for your meals.
25:09Honestly, yeah.
25:10Yeah.
25:11Nick, Lil, thank you so much for joining me.
25:12This has been quick and delicious.
25:14Pleasure.
25:15That was so fun.
25:16When there's 20 minutes till DINs, you know where to find your inspiration right here.
25:21If you want more of The Cook Up and more delicious food ideas,
25:22follow SBS Food on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
25:25I'm Adam Liao, thank you for watching The Cook Up.
25:44I'm Adam Liao, thank you for watching The Cook Up.
25:45I'm Adam Liao, thank you for watching The Cook Up.
25:45I'm Adam Liao, thank you for watching The Cook Up.
25:45I'm Adam Liao, thank you for watching The Cook Up.
25:46I'm Adam Liao, thank you for watching The Cook Up.
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