Cooking for dummies
One of my resolutions for 2009 is to be a better cook. Those of you who've ever been invited over know that S does the cooking while I clean...and maybe make dessert.
I'd really love to be able to cook more dishes so this year my target is to try 2-3 new recipes each week. To mark my progress, I've put a calendar on the fridge. For each day I make a new dish, I write it on the sheet.
So far (it's only been a few weeks), it's been going well. Admittedly, I've made only soups (basically boil and blend). But it's a great way to finish up leftover food, and S and I are trying to eat light in the evenings - we put on a few pounds during our last vacation.
Today, I tried to make rendang. It didn't turn out like rendang as I know it - but would've passed as Thai red beef curry. Not sure if it's just me but so far every recipe I've tried from Betty Saw's Rasa Malaysia cookbook has bombed...she seems to rely on 'a tsp of MSG' a lot.
Anyway, I won't be put off. For my next rendang craving, I'll try another recipe from a 'Visit Malaysia' brochure that I've had since my student days and is quite good.
Somehow I can't get Malay cooking right. I think you really need to learn it from someone. And most recipes are over-simplified - as if the authors don't really want you to get it right! If you look at Malaysian women's magazines, you'll see that some cookie recipes don't even tell you how many degrees and minutes for the oven - they just say, "Bake until brown."
And I've learned from experience that "soak 15 dried chillies" does NOT mean exactly 15 chillies (it depends on the chillies) and that you have to be really careful about not 'burning' your hands and face when deseeding and cleaning! Amounts of ingredients are not precise either - people seem to eyeball it, based on years of trial and error.
S is very intuitive about food. But as a kid he used to help his mum in the kitchen. My mum wanted us OUT of the kitchen when she cooked. It's funny how suddenly you're expected to know how to cook.
Anyway, the great thing about being in Yemen is that it's easier to get most ingredients. Some Southeast Asian things like asam keping, fresh galangal, turmeric leaves, fresh red chillies, pandan, etc. are harder to find. I haven't yet seen vegetables like sweet potato, pumpkin, parsnip, butternut squash - which you could get in Angola and which I miss (used to make baked sweet potato french fries...yum). But here with the fresh spices, meat in many forms (minced beef/lamb, chicken wings/drumsticks, liver, etc.) and more oriental/Asian ingredients available in the shops, I'm definitely going to try out all the recipes that I wasn't able to in Angola.
We'll check back in a year and see how far I get! :o)
I'd really love to be able to cook more dishes so this year my target is to try 2-3 new recipes each week. To mark my progress, I've put a calendar on the fridge. For each day I make a new dish, I write it on the sheet.
So far (it's only been a few weeks), it's been going well. Admittedly, I've made only soups (basically boil and blend). But it's a great way to finish up leftover food, and S and I are trying to eat light in the evenings - we put on a few pounds during our last vacation.
Today, I tried to make rendang. It didn't turn out like rendang as I know it - but would've passed as Thai red beef curry. Not sure if it's just me but so far every recipe I've tried from Betty Saw's Rasa Malaysia cookbook has bombed...she seems to rely on 'a tsp of MSG' a lot.
Anyway, I won't be put off. For my next rendang craving, I'll try another recipe from a 'Visit Malaysia' brochure that I've had since my student days and is quite good.
Somehow I can't get Malay cooking right. I think you really need to learn it from someone. And most recipes are over-simplified - as if the authors don't really want you to get it right! If you look at Malaysian women's magazines, you'll see that some cookie recipes don't even tell you how many degrees and minutes for the oven - they just say, "Bake until brown."
And I've learned from experience that "soak 15 dried chillies" does NOT mean exactly 15 chillies (it depends on the chillies) and that you have to be really careful about not 'burning' your hands and face when deseeding and cleaning! Amounts of ingredients are not precise either - people seem to eyeball it, based on years of trial and error.
S is very intuitive about food. But as a kid he used to help his mum in the kitchen. My mum wanted us OUT of the kitchen when she cooked. It's funny how suddenly you're expected to know how to cook.
Anyway, the great thing about being in Yemen is that it's easier to get most ingredients. Some Southeast Asian things like asam keping, fresh galangal, turmeric leaves, fresh red chillies, pandan, etc. are harder to find. I haven't yet seen vegetables like sweet potato, pumpkin, parsnip, butternut squash - which you could get in Angola and which I miss (used to make baked sweet potato french fries...yum). But here with the fresh spices, meat in many forms (minced beef/lamb, chicken wings/drumsticks, liver, etc.) and more oriental/Asian ingredients available in the shops, I'm definitely going to try out all the recipes that I wasn't able to in Angola.
We'll check back in a year and see how far I get! :o)
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