food for the lazy ofw

Hi, friends! I haven't been posting anything here lately because I haven't been cooking recipes that are my own the past few days. I don't like to put up recipes here just for the sake of posting something so if I just get recipes from others and don't do anything to make it my own, it doesn't go up here (or at the very least I will credit it to whoever I got it from). :) But that doesn't mean I'm not doing any cooking.


Like as it turns out, I'm cooking something now but again, it's not mine so it's not going up here in the blog. However, in the middle of cooking, I realized something. I want to share the rules that I live by when it comes to cooking.










Five Commandments of Cooking

1. Don't be afraid to go with your instincts. 
• Good cooking, in my opinion, is all about what you feel is right. Yes, recipes provide you with the exact measurements that you need to follow in order to make the dish a success but be sure to taste it while you're making it. If you feel that the food doesn't taste right, don't be afraid to add salt, pepper, herbs, water or whatever you feel is lacking in the dish. Try to savor what you eat in restaurants as well. As you continue to start cooking, you will find that you are more observant of how dishes are cooked and what the outstanding flavors are and you start thinking to yourself, well if I have this and that, then I can try to recreate this at home.
2. Cook what you yourself will eat.

• Don't scrimp on your ingredients. Now this doesn't mean go and buy the most expensive items out in the market. This is not wise either especially if you're still in the experimenting phase. However, just because your food may not turn out ok, please don't decide to buy the cheapest ingredients then buy the better ingredients once you have gotten used to cooking something. Also, don't forget to maintain good hygiene. Wash your hands after handling meat and make sure you use clean knives, utensils, chopping boards, etc.
3. Be prepared to fail.

• Cooking is one big experiment. As much as it feels great to get it right the first time, this will not be the case every time. Do not be afraid to try new things and follow the old adage: hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Do not get disheartened if you don't get it correct right away. Remember, the only way for you to learn is to keep trying. Take it from someone who, 2-3 years ago, did not know how to do anything in the kitchen except to boil water and cook hotdog/egg/noodles. I'm still no expert now but I can say with conviction that people like what I serve in general. 
4. Have the basics in your kitchen. 

• Make sure you have the basics in your kitchen so it's easy to whip up something when inspiration hits you. I always make sure I have salt, pepper, sugar, flour, soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce, beef/chicken cubes, and dried basil. Of course I have some more ingredients stocked in my kitchen but the above are my basics. I may not have anything else but so long as I have these, I'm good with enriching my dishes with all sorts of flavor. :) On the other hand, this also does not mean that these are the only things you will keep in your kitchen. I like to search around the internet for new things to cook and every time I find that I keep running into a certain ingredient that I don't have, I try to secure that so I can learn how to cook with that. If it works, then it also becomes a staple in my cooking.
5. Clean as you go.

• Being a Pinay that works abroad, I do not have the luxury of a mother who cooks for me and then cleans up afterwards. Nor do I have a maid. In short, I do everything myself or my fellow roommates and I distribute chores among ourselves. So when it's your turn to cook, always put yourself in the shoes of the cleaner. Try to practice cleaning as you go so that whoever ends up cleaning is not overwhelmed with the amount of dishes to be cleaned. If you are waiting for stuff to simmer/boil, why don't you already start washing the chopping board, knife, bowls, and whathaveyou that you used while preparing the food? So that after everyone has enjoyed the food you prepared, all they need to worry about is cleaning the dishes that were used while eating. This way, people will not associate your cooking with a sh*tload of dishes to wash and they start cringing when they hear you tinkering around in the kitchen.

That's it! 5 simple rules that I live by that I decided I want to share. I hope that you pick up a thing or two things that will apply to you too after reading this post. And do share with me if you have your own set of commandment.

Please and thank you! :)