I realise not long ago that I am no longer terrible in the kitchen. I can throw ingredients together, add the right spices and seasonings, and voilà! I have a meal that I can actually swallow and not dread about having to eat regularly.

The Beginning of My Cooking Journey

I am chuckling to myself thinking how I was six years ago when I first came to New Zealand. Migrating here forced me to learn to cook for myself. I’ve never properly learned how to cook growing up as I was always told to focus on my education and not to worry about anything else. Occasionally my mother would ask for my help in the kitchen because she worried I would not be able to feed myself one day.

Well, I was only told to hold a spatula and stir things in the wok or mince garlic and onion which was obviously not enough training for me. So, there I was at 21 years old in a foreign country without my family, with limited funds and having to figure out:

• How to buy groceries and how much groceries to buy for one person,
• How to correctly use a knife and not cut my fingers in the process,
• How to not burn food while multitasking,
• How to cook delicious and nutritious food without breaking the bank.

I was helpless.

In the beginning, I was quite motivated to cook for myself to save money but that only lasted for a month. "Why?", you ask. No, it wasn’t because it took me two-three hours to cook a simple meal or the hassle of grocery shopping. It was because the food I made was boring, unsatisfying and just unappetising.

Dear reader, you must know that I’m generally someone who really likes to eat but during that one month I was only eating to fuel myself and not for pleasure. That was how bad my cooking skills were.

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Becoming a Better Cook

After my first year at the university, I slowly honed my cooking skills. My main motivation was to reduce spending on basic necessities so that I can save for travelling and any other big expenses in the future. I knew I needed to learn to cook proper meals because eating out was (and still is) expensive.

What’s challenging about cooking for myself was that I am so hard to please!

The food has to be delicious, satisfying and interesting or else I won’t enjoy it. I easily get sick of the same food so I can’t really cook food in bulk but if I do it shouldn’t last for more than three days. I sound so picky, aye? What can I do? I’m like this because I have really high expectations and standards when it comes to homecooked meals - all thanks to my mom 😒

Back then, I mainly followed recipes from Budget Bytes, and Azie Kitchen if I craved Malay food. I always cook by following a recipe and somehow along the way I realise that a good meal depends a lot on how good I am at following instructions.

This was me two years into my cooking journey. I was feeding a few people for lunch and made Malaysian Curry Laksa. It was a simple dish but I was stressed out while cooking because I can't even see the inside of my pot! So I ended up cooking while standing on a stool 😆

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No Longer Terrible in the Kitchen

Fast forward five years later, I still look up recipes online but I make things up along the way if I feel like it. Hehe, I’m a confident home cook now 😊

I even find it relaxing and an outlet for me to be creative! I love trying recipes from different cuisines to keep my meals interesting and to try something new. My favourites to cook include Malay, Indian and Chinese cuisines. When I cook, my flatmates would ask “Which country are we going to go to today, Anis?”.

Here is a quick photo dump of the food I made in the past. Hungry HIVERS, brace yourself!

Egg Korma with Potato and Carrots (Malay version)

Bao with Chicken Adobo filling

Capsicum, Mushroom and Caramelised Onion Pizza. The base is homemade sourdough 😋

Flaky Spring Onion Pancakes with Shallots eaten with Indian Spinach Curry with Tofu

Pan-Fried Salmon and Eggplant, Ensalada, and Stir-fry Bokchoy

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Cooking My Favourite Comfort Food

I only recently started cooking comfort food for myself. Comfort foods are usually very simple but I think one needs to have a certain level of cooking skills to be able to actually comfort someone with a meal they prepare. It's especially true if the someone you're trying to comfort is me because I am honestly even pickier when I’m sick 🤣

I need food that closely resembles the taste of Malaysia, something that reminds me of the food my mother would feed me when I’m sick. My mother would usually make chicken rice porridge for me but I eat more plant-based meals now so I looked for a plant-based alternative.

My current favourite comfort food is a vegan rice porridge! It really warms me up from the inside and reminds me of home because it uses lemongrass; a common ingredient in Malay dishes. I love it so much I've made it three times in less than five months.

This is the recipe for it if you’d like to try it for yourself. I usually add lots of different toppings to it such as half-boiled egg, spring onions, fried shallots, sesame oil, and the most important of all, Lao Gan Ma.

Y U M M Y!

Another comfort food that I have is what my family calls ke’eh. My mom made it up but it is basically a lazy version of the Kelantanese Laksam (i.e. Flat Rice Noodles in Mackerel Gravy).

I know it may not sound appetising to some of you. I can hear you thinking with disgust “‘What?! A gravy made out of fish???” but you have to believe me when I say the taste is out of this world! So so so delicious!!!

I have yet to make this dish for myself. Maybe I’ll do it when my flatmates are not home otherwise they’ll be horrified to see a fish in the blender 🤣

Do you consider yourself a good cook? What do you prefer to cook - simple or elaborated meals?

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@blackdaisyft I invite you to join the Ladies of Hive community!

Note: images are my own