From marketing to homecooking

Saturday is usually my marketing day. I only wake up after I have had enough sleep, unlike working days where I reluctantly crawl out of the bed after several rounds of alarm clock snoozing.

I will usually do marketing in the morning. Since the opening of TESCO, I hardly go to the wet market though they sell practically everything you need for cooking meals. It is very hard to find parking in the town. Since this is the only marketing in the week, I buy enough supply to last for several meals cooking at home.

I clean the chicken, prawn and fish, put them in separate containers before keeping them in freezer. As for vegetables, I usually just keep them in the fridge without removing them from the plastic bags. Leafy vegetables like sawi, siu pak choy, kailan can last for 3-4 days in the fridge. Broccoli, cauliflower, long beans, french beans, carrots and potatoes store well, and can be kept till the end of the week. As for kangkung, bayam and shoot sprouts, I will cook them within a day or two.

Other ingredients that come in handy are eggs, fresh mushrooms, fish balls, fish cake, wanton skin and tomato. Also, always store some canned food or ingredients like canned mushroom, black bean fish, baked beans, braised peanuts, cucur udang flour, dried mushroom, and chinese sausages. With clever combination with fresh ingredients, you only require a little time to prepare a tasteful dish. This is particularly useful when you come back from work with a growling tummy and when you are running out of resourses in the fridge.

fried bee hoon

wanton mee

Of course I don't religiously cook every meal, everyday. It's been almost three years in Kampar, and I have started to feel boring eating out everyday. That's when I started to cook. With a bit of planning and labour, simple homecook meals aren't too difficult to prepare. Homecook meals are healthier, less oily, cleaner and very often are cheaper than outside food. But that doesn't mean we should just stay home and eat all the time, because eating out occasionally gives us more ideas what we can cook at home!