Every home cook would have faced the problem of leftover ingredients.

A more practical approach is to shop responsibly and minimise waste. Ingredients such as peppercorns can be kept for long periods. Dry-roasting old peppercorns in a pan awakens their flavours. The same applies to other spices such as cinnamon and cloves.

And how often have you binned scraps such as coriander roots and garlic skin?

I saved these odds and ends and threw them into the stock pot with chicken bones for Khao Tom, a Thai rice porridge dish. The coriander roots and garlic skin, usually seen as waste, added incredible flavour to the stock.

In Thai cooking, coriander roots are an important ingredient. You can even freeze them for future use.

Clean the roots by soaking them in a baking soda solution and rub with your fingers to remove the dirt. Scraping with a paring knife gets them extra clean.

Save chicken bones for boiling chicken stock - this minimises waste and saves money on store-bought stock.

The broth, with the punchy flavour from the coriander root and garlic skin, goes a long way in transforming leftover rice into a delicious one-dish meal.

• Follow Hedy Khoo on Instagram @hedchefhedykhoo

• Follow Straits Times Food on Instagram and Facebook @straitstimesfood for more recipes and the latest food news.

KHAO TOM (THAI RICE PORRIDGE)

INGREDIENTS

1 tsp baking soda

5 litres of water

5 coriander roots

500g chicken bones

30g garlic, peeled (keep the garlic skin)

1 flat tsp white peppercorns

20g fresh coriander, chopped (keep 3g to use as garnish)

250g minced pork collar

2 Tbs light soya sauce

½ tsp cornflour

2 Tbs fish sauce

2 fresh brown button mushrooms, sliced thinly

380g cooked rice

15g preserved radish

1 tsp fried garlic

METHOD

1. In a bowl, mix 1 tsp baking soda and 1 litre of water. Soak the coriander roots for five minutes.

2. Discard the mixture. Clean and rinse the coriander roots. Set aside.

3. Bring 1 litre of water to a boil. Add the chicken bones and boil for three minutes until there is no visible blood. Turn off the heat. Drain the water and rinse the chicken bones.

4. Boil the remaining 3 litres of water in a clean pot. Add three coriander roots, chicken bones and garlic skin. Cover and boil over medium heat for one hour and 15 minutes.

5. Turn the heat off, strain and reserve the chicken stock.

6. Chop up the remaining two coriander roots.

7. Using a mortar and pestle, crush garlic, chopped coriander roots, white peppercorns and fresh coriander. Pound into a paste and set aside.

8. Place the minced pork in a bowl.

Add light soya sauce, cornflour and 1 Tbs of fish sauce. Mix well.

9. Add the coriander mixture and mix well. Place in the fridge to marinate for half an hour.

10. Shape minced pork into balls of 25g each.

11. Bring the chicken stock to a boil.

Add pork balls and boil for one minute.

12. Add brown button mushrooms and boil for one minute.

13. Add cooked rice to soup and boil.

14. Add preserved radish. Season with the remaining 1 Tbs of fish sauce. Cook until pork balls float to the top.

15. Garnish with fried garlic and coriander leaves before serving.

Serves four to five