Part of my usual activities during the past few months of idleness is cooking for myself. Living alone, this is a fairly easy practice, as there is no one to appease with my culinary creations and potential mishaps.
Unlike many my age, I do not take pride in them, even if they turn out palatable- which they usually do. Not that I am against those who post their ventures on social media, because those can be inspirational! But alas, I'm very insecure about these things. As I am about many things.
Now I'd like to say, kids (are you a kid? If you aren't, then nvm): It's never too late to start cooking, because it is one of the easiest things in the world. Perhaps owing to the fact that we need to eat to survive, after a while you will find yourself being compelled to cook something for yourself, giving into your hunger pangs.
An easy tip for those of you living pretty much on your own is thus: Buy the raw materials needed to cook the simplest things, with whatever kitchen appliances at your disposal, and avoid keeping packets of instant food. This is because those of us who are more lazy will not cook our own meals as long as there are easier ways to put food in our rumbling tummies. And what easier way than to just add hot water for a quick fix!
You may say you're too busy. I guess it's understandable, all things considered. But with the financial status of the country and most of the middle to lower income groups right now, self-made meals may be the cheapest way to go. Students mostly will have weekends off- utilize these days to cook your own meal or two, instead of going out to eat. In fact, this is probably when your friends aren't home, for those of you who are less confident about sharing your food. And even if they were, sharing is caring, and you could probably do with some input!
In the arsenal of student living, I find having a portable electric hob is useful especially for accommodation units that do not allow for gas cooking (most dorm-style accommodation). This, of course, should be accompanied by flat-bottomed pots that are compatible. If that is too much, we could also easily rely on the trusty electric rice cooker, too. Even if you are not partial to rice, the rice cooker can be used for a variety of creative cooking- including, surprisingly, cakes!
But for those with the privilege of cooking with a proper cooking hob, then all the better.
When I started my foray into cooking, about 7 to 8 years ago, I used this site at www.trymasak.my . I don't know how I ended up there; it might have been the recommendation of a family friend. Now, I found that it has been replaced/renamed to iCook Asia- at least that's where it redirects me when I input the trymasak url. Try it!
The good thing about the site was that I could easily look up recipes based on the ingredients I had, and the difficulty level I wanted. Back then, I obviously always chose Easy. These tend to have very simple cooking methods, like stir-frying, and very easy ingredients and preparation. Quite a few people who contributed recipes on the site also put harder dishes on Easy mode, probably due to their 1337 cooking skills, but they are easy to overlook. In the end, most things to cook are easy- they just require practice.
The only slightly hard thing about cooking is estimating ingredients or cooking times- which is often. Many Malaysian recipes do not have exact amounts of salt, sugar or any spices, and sometimes none of everything! That is where practical experience is important. Visit your mom/dad/sister/brother in the kitchen regularly when they cook, if they are adept at cooking. Watch what they do and try to help a little to make peace with them while you intrude in their space (heheh). This makes doing your own cooking easier, as it allows you to feel more at peace with the heat, sizzles, noises... The works. No matter how many youtube videos you watch, you cannot get this authentic experience unless you walk yourself into a 'live' kitchen.
Several things you have to frequently practice before you start cooking include peeling and chopping onions, vegetables and roots, and preparing chicken/other meat cuts. For most Asians, washing and cooking rice is paramount to a successful meal preparation, so get around to that, too. Cooking shows are made that much easier because most of the time, these ingredients come fully prepared to be thrown into their respective pots. In actuality, preparing these tedious things take up the bulk of even the easiest dishes.
What this topic has to do with my soon-to-be working life is that in my almost decade-long journey into cooking, only today did I learn to make rice porridge. And this is quite a useful and easy recipe to do, as it does not require much in the way of kitchen appliances or ingredients- especially when one is pressed for time! I used the rice cooker, and was unsure of how much water to put in with the rice. In fact, I wasn't too sure of how much rice to put in, either. But remembering the famous saying 'nasi menjadi bubur', I figured too much water and too little rice should work- and if it doesn't, merely adding water should do the trick to making the porridge as soupy as possible. For some reason, the saying makes the thought of cooking porridge an easy one. It does tend to happen accidentally, as the saying goes, so how hard can it be to put your mind to it and make it, right?
I put in slightly less than 2 rice pots of rice with thrice the amount of water I would usually put- or maybe four times, since I kept adding small amounts as it was cooking. When the rice seemed almost done, I tossed in a crumbled chicken cube and stirred the contents. steaming my right hand raw and red in the process- ouch. A healthier option would be to boil some chicken beforehand to be put into the porridge later, and subsequently use the broth for the porridge, but I did not have the luxury of doing that.
In barely no time at all, it was done. Just make sure to never let the rice cooker run its full cooking course, to prevent accidental bubur menjadi nasi (it happens- so stir frequently, as you would to anything cooking on the stovetop).
So, lesson of the day: Jangan biarkan bubur menjadi nasi. Be vigilant! What goes around, comes around!
Um, what?
Signing off!
Unlike many my age, I do not take pride in them, even if they turn out palatable- which they usually do. Not that I am against those who post their ventures on social media, because those can be inspirational! But alas, I'm very insecure about these things. As I am about many things.
Now I'd like to say, kids (are you a kid? If you aren't, then nvm): It's never too late to start cooking, because it is one of the easiest things in the world. Perhaps owing to the fact that we need to eat to survive, after a while you will find yourself being compelled to cook something for yourself, giving into your hunger pangs.
An easy tip for those of you living pretty much on your own is thus: Buy the raw materials needed to cook the simplest things, with whatever kitchen appliances at your disposal, and avoid keeping packets of instant food. This is because those of us who are more lazy will not cook our own meals as long as there are easier ways to put food in our rumbling tummies. And what easier way than to just add hot water for a quick fix!
You may say you're too busy. I guess it's understandable, all things considered. But with the financial status of the country and most of the middle to lower income groups right now, self-made meals may be the cheapest way to go. Students mostly will have weekends off- utilize these days to cook your own meal or two, instead of going out to eat. In fact, this is probably when your friends aren't home, for those of you who are less confident about sharing your food. And even if they were, sharing is caring, and you could probably do with some input!
In the arsenal of student living, I find having a portable electric hob is useful especially for accommodation units that do not allow for gas cooking (most dorm-style accommodation). This, of course, should be accompanied by flat-bottomed pots that are compatible. If that is too much, we could also easily rely on the trusty electric rice cooker, too. Even if you are not partial to rice, the rice cooker can be used for a variety of creative cooking- including, surprisingly, cakes!
But for those with the privilege of cooking with a proper cooking hob, then all the better.
When I started my foray into cooking, about 7 to 8 years ago, I used this site at www.trymasak.my . I don't know how I ended up there; it might have been the recommendation of a family friend. Now, I found that it has been replaced/renamed to iCook Asia- at least that's where it redirects me when I input the trymasak url. Try it!
The good thing about the site was that I could easily look up recipes based on the ingredients I had, and the difficulty level I wanted. Back then, I obviously always chose Easy. These tend to have very simple cooking methods, like stir-frying, and very easy ingredients and preparation. Quite a few people who contributed recipes on the site also put harder dishes on Easy mode, probably due to their 1337 cooking skills, but they are easy to overlook. In the end, most things to cook are easy- they just require practice.
The only slightly hard thing about cooking is estimating ingredients or cooking times- which is often. Many Malaysian recipes do not have exact amounts of salt, sugar or any spices, and sometimes none of everything! That is where practical experience is important. Visit your mom/dad/sister/brother in the kitchen regularly when they cook, if they are adept at cooking. Watch what they do and try to help a little to make peace with them while you intrude in their space (heheh). This makes doing your own cooking easier, as it allows you to feel more at peace with the heat, sizzles, noises... The works. No matter how many youtube videos you watch, you cannot get this authentic experience unless you walk yourself into a 'live' kitchen.
Several things you have to frequently practice before you start cooking include peeling and chopping onions, vegetables and roots, and preparing chicken/other meat cuts. For most Asians, washing and cooking rice is paramount to a successful meal preparation, so get around to that, too. Cooking shows are made that much easier because most of the time, these ingredients come fully prepared to be thrown into their respective pots. In actuality, preparing these tedious things take up the bulk of even the easiest dishes.
What this topic has to do with my soon-to-be working life is that in my almost decade-long journey into cooking, only today did I learn to make rice porridge. And this is quite a useful and easy recipe to do, as it does not require much in the way of kitchen appliances or ingredients- especially when one is pressed for time! I used the rice cooker, and was unsure of how much water to put in with the rice. In fact, I wasn't too sure of how much rice to put in, either. But remembering the famous saying 'nasi menjadi bubur', I figured too much water and too little rice should work- and if it doesn't, merely adding water should do the trick to making the porridge as soupy as possible. For some reason, the saying makes the thought of cooking porridge an easy one. It does tend to happen accidentally, as the saying goes, so how hard can it be to put your mind to it and make it, right?
I put in slightly less than 2 rice pots of rice with thrice the amount of water I would usually put- or maybe four times, since I kept adding small amounts as it was cooking. When the rice seemed almost done, I tossed in a crumbled chicken cube and stirred the contents. steaming my right hand raw and red in the process- ouch. A healthier option would be to boil some chicken beforehand to be put into the porridge later, and subsequently use the broth for the porridge, but I did not have the luxury of doing that.
In barely no time at all, it was done. Just make sure to never let the rice cooker run its full cooking course, to prevent accidental bubur menjadi nasi (it happens- so stir frequently, as you would to anything cooking on the stovetop).
So, lesson of the day: Jangan biarkan bubur menjadi nasi. Be vigilant! What goes around, comes around!
Um, what?
Signing off!
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