Culinary Fun

When I was a teen, I used to watch my mom and my late grandma - I called her "Mak" - cook. Occasionally, I'd boil rice for the family using an electric rice cooker. Being the eldest in the family, I've just got to learn those little things, I suppose. Little did I know that these little things were vital later when I started work.

When I was posted to the rural school in Sarawak, it was the first time ever that I had to cook on my own. No mama, and certain no Mak to guide me as to what ingredients to put into the wok. I still remember having to use a kerosene stove to cook my first plate of rice. There was no electriciy in the village. The rice turned out half-cooked as I was unable to gauge the amount of water to use - hey, it's not an electric rice cooker, ok? And the rice was somewhat different. Nevertheless, I still ate the rice with a can of sardines. I survived. No stomach ache :)

Later, I learnt to fry vegetables using edible ferns which the locals call miding. I got more creative and fried them with sambal ikan bilis, and an egg. It wasn't long when I became an expert in cooking rice using the kerosene stove. I got so good at it that I could just leave the pot on the stove, go to class, then walk back to the house just in time to see the rice being almost cooked.

When I got married, I went much further. With the help of my ex-wife, I picked up recipes for nasi beriyani and chicken stew. I also got more creative by adding a concoction of sauces in the dishes that I cooked. Of course, I never inherited the culinary peranakan skills that Mak had, though. Still, for a man, the skills that I have is sufficient to please my FORMER parents-in-law. They tasted the nasi beriyani, and they liked it. Well, they can now have nasi beriyani at a mamak stall or an Indian restaurant if they want.  Bad me... hehehe.

The nasi briyani (taken from my other blog)

My chicken stew (also taken from my other blog)

Anyway, now that I'm all alone again, I've stopped cooking. It is more practical to pack food from the economy rice stall nearby immediately after work. Sometimes, it's cheaper that way. I spend an average of RM3.20 for three dishes per dinner, while on weekends, I'll stay at my parents' place to have home-cooked meals. If I'm just too tired or lazy to buy food, I'll cook instant noodles with eggs and vegetables. On some days, if I'm tired of Chinese dishes, I'd opt for "nasi kandar" from a nearby Indian-Muslim (mamak) 24-hour eatery. It costs about RM7.50 for meat and two types of vegetables like the one below which was  taken out of the microwave oven.

 This is what I eat sometimes - nasi kandar

Have to get used to being single once more. Psst...here's a secret. I don't know how to buy the ingredients but I could somehow visualise the taste, though not 100% accurate :-)