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11/30/2007: "Cooking!"
music: My Pace - Bleach ED by Sunset Switch (I am currently OBSESSED with this song)mood: Happy
Was trying to catch up with K's blog and after seeing her entry with the pics of all the yummy dishes she made, it reminded me of my own cooking skills.
It's funny, before I first had to cook for myself when I went to Uni, I'd always assumed that I'd never be able to cook unless I had a recipe to follow. It stems from how I used to love baking when I was a kid, since generally for baking you pretty much have to follow exactly what the recipe says in order for the cake/pastry/dessert/whatever to turn out well. My sis even pointed out that our cousin-in-law, who loves to cook and is very much a on-the-spur-of-the-moment and improvisational cook, will probably never make a good baker since he'd always have the urge to add a dash of this and a bit of that and end up ruining the dish. So I thought I'd turn out to be the exact opposite - i.e. someone who would be a horrible cook since I'd have to follow everything to the letter and not know how to adapt.
But then after a year or so of having to cook by myself, I realised I was dead wrong - at least with the recipe thing. As with so many other things, I am actually a very LAZY cook - so much so that when I actually bothered printing out recipes to follow, I couldn't be bothered to use measuring utensils and instead just splashed in whatever I thought looked "adequate". And I actually found it pretty fun to do so - sure, it may lead to the occasional mishap where something turns out too salty or too sweet or too bland or too burnt, but at the same time the whole thing about being able to make something off-the-cuff with nothing more than the basic idea of what you want to make is actually pretty fun and exciting.
Also, most of my friends will be pleased to know that now that I stay in the same flat as someone who loves vegetables, I've started making dishes with more veg in them. (Though Ga Mok claims I don't put QUITE enough vegetables as she'll like. :p) Of course, Ga Mok does most of the cooking since she hates doing the washing up, but for the few times I've cooked I've really enjoyed myself. I like cooking and as much as I like being able to cook with my friends, a recent experience made me realise that I especially like it when I get to do all the cooking by myself. Basically, Ga Mok and Dee Mok were playing catch in the flat's corridor while I was doing the cooking, and I kind of went into my own little world and didn't even realise when they were talking to me! (Though in my defense, the extractor fan thingy was on so it kind of drowned out their words when they talked at a normal volume. :p)
One bad thing about being a lazy cook, though, is that I think I'll never be able to make the more "fancy" dishes which require more time and effort to make. Maybe I should dig out some of my recipes and try making them properly, as opposed to substituting stuff here and there and cutting down on the steps. It's sad, really, because I think I'll never be a properly "good" cook unless I stop being so lazy - as it is, my food often tastes pretty ok, but it's not amazing either taste or aesthetics wise. Since I think cooking's a really important skill to have, I really should try doing it properly...
Thinking of making Oyako-don tomorrow; if I do end up making that maybe I'll take some pics to prove to myself that I can actually make good dishes if I bother to put in the effort. :p