Monday, June 18, 2012
Homesick
Maybe it's combined with post-magazine closing exhaustion that makes it a bit unbearable. Maybe it's post-travel depression, not my fault that KL food is seriously good. Maybe it's me programmed to come home in June and/or July as per tradition. Maybe it's me, here. And you, across the South China Sea and a three-hour flight away, there. And who am I kidding that this will go away soon?
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Domestic duties
I decided to renew my relationship with the kitchen this year. Blame it on the sudden disappearance of our TV (my landlord got it perhaps), which leaves me with no choice but to spend my weekends experimenting on Filipino dishes as an attempt to stay away from my computer. Add that to the fact that I have to go to the supermarket and buy ingredients other than ready-to-microwave pasta sauces and fresh milk.
So far, my afritada has been a hit to my two roommies (also known as "judges" to my culinary skills or lack thereof). They've already known how I could get away with pasta recipes. My pasta is always al dente: never soggy, never overcooked, just nice. But I couldn't just prepare tomato-based dishes on the weekends I'm supposed to cook for them. Hence, a culinary "learning phase" is in order.
Thanks to Panlasang Pinoy YouTube videos I was able to grasp the intricacies of Filipino cuisine. Back in grade school, we were taught that menudo should have cubed meat, and afritada should have onions and garlic julienned. But Panlasang Pinoy simplifies Filipino cooking! I love it. Forget about shapes, all that matters are "serving portions", and simply "garlic and onions" (not the complicated "crushed", "minced" or "julienned" garlic!) I'm a newbie at anything that involves sauteing and other cooking steps aside from frying, thus a website that would help me learn the ropes of cooking would be highly appreciated.
But no one warned me about supermarkets and the logic behind the arrangement of produce there. I was looking for string beans one night at NTUC so I came to the sections where all the greens are. I scoured the whole area but no trace of string beans. A staff passed by; I asked her and she directed me to the place where French beans are. I asked her again, and she realised that I was looking for their so-called long beans. She then pointed me to the directions where the green, yellow and red bell peppers are. "There?" I asked, confusion evident in my voice. She said "Yes", with conviction. I reluctantly walked to the area, and yes, the string beans are there! Whoever thought of placing long beans next to bell peppers has learned something in taxonomy that I could not grasp.
Beyond supermarket confusion, learning how to cook makes me rethink my music playlist. Every time I'm in the kitchen, the music in my iPod is in complete harmony with the splattering of butter in the frying pan or the rhythmic sequence of my knife. Or wait, probably not. A few weeks back, I have Adele playing on my phone, specifically Someone Like You, while I was slicing onions --- and as a newbie, I could not control my tears back then! Good thing no one saw my tears in sync with the sad song. But seriously, whatever kind of juice onions extract make newbie cooks (like me) weep like hell. But those were the days. Now, I don't play Adele anymore, 21 is just too sad an album. Now, the ultimate LSS, Call Me Maybe, is playing while I slice onions with no single tear shed! Huh. I've learnt a trick: every slice or two, you have to douse your knife with water or better, turn on the tap and place it under running water for about 15 seconds. Yup, to get rid of the juice. And no more tears from slicing onions. Awesome, right?
Now, I've got some adobo to prepare. This newbie cook's on a roll.
So far, my afritada has been a hit to my two roommies (also known as "judges" to my culinary skills or lack thereof). They've already known how I could get away with pasta recipes. My pasta is always al dente: never soggy, never overcooked, just nice. But I couldn't just prepare tomato-based dishes on the weekends I'm supposed to cook for them. Hence, a culinary "learning phase" is in order.
Thanks to Panlasang Pinoy YouTube videos I was able to grasp the intricacies of Filipino cuisine. Back in grade school, we were taught that menudo should have cubed meat, and afritada should have onions and garlic julienned. But Panlasang Pinoy simplifies Filipino cooking! I love it. Forget about shapes, all that matters are "serving portions", and simply "garlic and onions" (not the complicated "crushed", "minced" or "julienned" garlic!) I'm a newbie at anything that involves sauteing and other cooking steps aside from frying, thus a website that would help me learn the ropes of cooking would be highly appreciated.
But no one warned me about supermarkets and the logic behind the arrangement of produce there. I was looking for string beans one night at NTUC so I came to the sections where all the greens are. I scoured the whole area but no trace of string beans. A staff passed by; I asked her and she directed me to the place where French beans are. I asked her again, and she realised that I was looking for their so-called long beans. She then pointed me to the directions where the green, yellow and red bell peppers are. "There?" I asked, confusion evident in my voice. She said "Yes", with conviction. I reluctantly walked to the area, and yes, the string beans are there! Whoever thought of placing long beans next to bell peppers has learned something in taxonomy that I could not grasp.
Beyond supermarket confusion, learning how to cook makes me rethink my music playlist. Every time I'm in the kitchen, the music in my iPod is in complete harmony with the splattering of butter in the frying pan or the rhythmic sequence of my knife. Or wait, probably not. A few weeks back, I have Adele playing on my phone, specifically Someone Like You, while I was slicing onions --- and as a newbie, I could not control my tears back then! Good thing no one saw my tears in sync with the sad song. But seriously, whatever kind of juice onions extract make newbie cooks (like me) weep like hell. But those were the days. Now, I don't play Adele anymore, 21 is just too sad an album. Now, the ultimate LSS, Call Me Maybe, is playing while I slice onions with no single tear shed! Huh. I've learnt a trick: every slice or two, you have to douse your knife with water or better, turn on the tap and place it under running water for about 15 seconds. Yup, to get rid of the juice. And no more tears from slicing onions. Awesome, right?
Now, I've got some adobo to prepare. This newbie cook's on a roll.
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