5 Vegetable-Packed Make-Ahead Dishes (Ginger Chicken Tsukune Patties, Lotus Root Kinpira, Carrot Rapee, Miso-Simmered Daikon and Carrot, Cumin Soy Sauce Lotus Root Stir-Fry)

Halve the smaller pieces of lotus root and cut them into slices on the thicker, chunkier side rather than paper-thin. Once cut, soak them in vinegared water.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the black tea bags, and add the chicken breast as the tea steeps. Since the pot is heavy-bottomed, turn off the heat once it boils, cover, and let the residual heat cook the chicken through.

Finely chop the leftover onion and ginger. Chop part of the lotus root a little larger for textural contrast and mix it into the tsukune mixture.

In a bowl, combine the ground chicken breast, the chopped onion and ginger, and the lotus root, then add the egg, a little soy sauce, sesame oil, and a generous amount of salt. Add all of the potato starch to hold it together and mix. Bag two portions' worth for the freezer, and cut one portion's worth into smaller pieces and sprinkle with salt.

Slice the lotus root on the thinner side, put it in a bowl, and soak it in vinegared water. Cut it to a thickness that tastes good when fried until crisp.

Peel the carrots and julienne them all, then dress them with vinegar, honey, and a good amount of salt, and add lemon. This makes a carrot rapee-style staple.

Rotate the carrots as you cut them into smallish rangiri chunks. Cut the leftover carrots that weren't julienned into pieces about 5cm long as well.

To the pot of tea-poached chicken cooked through with residual heat, add 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, and a generous amount of black pepper, dissolve them, and let the chicken marinate. Press the air out of the bag to make it close to vacuum-sealed and chill it in the fridge.

Heat oil in a frying pan, tear in the dried red chili pepper, and stir-fry the lotus root that was soaking in vinegared water. Turn off the heat briefly, add mirin, a small amount of soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar, then stir-fry everything quickly over medium to high heat to cook off the liquid.

Oil your hands and roll the tsukune mixture into smallish balls; since it's loose, drop them into the frying pan by the spoonful. Once nicely browned, flip them, cover, and cook through over medium-low heat.

Stir-fry the salted chicken breast, then add the rangiri carrots and other root vegetables and stir-fry. Cover and steam-simmer using sake and the vegetables' own moisture.

Add miso and sugar and simmer until dissolved; it's done once the whole thing turns glossy and bubbling. Spread this miso sauce over the finished tsukune patties.

Wipe out the frying pan used for the meat with paper towel, add the edamame, about 1 cup of water, and salt, and set it over the heat. Once it starts bubbling, cover and boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan and add a pinch of cumin seeds, letting the aroma slowly bloom. Add the lotus root and stir-fry, leaving it alone to sear, then finish by drizzling in soy sauce for a fragrant browned soy sauce aroma.