TRY AGAIN!
I spent this week deep in the rabbit hole of induction stoves and pans. Did you know that whether a pan has flat or a concave surface actually makes for a different cooking experience? And that the difference between a 24 cm and a 20 cm pan isn't just its size, but how much oil you will end up needing? Of course you probably know all this, just like some of you knew that "basil" wasn't really "kemangi" — though I remain confused on the subject! (still)
But I digress.
I spent the last week deep in the world of stoves and pans and here's why: Last Friday night while attempting my first-ever grilled-ish chicken, I dropped our dinner — two pieces of chicken breast — by the toilet, in a tiny pool of water.
It’s hard to explain how this happened without sounding ridiculous but let’s just say that attempting to cook daily from inside of the apartment has been a journey. While the apartment is pretty big enough and comes with a pantry and a kitchen, it has just a single sink, which was occupied by my roommate at that time, so I went to the bathroom sink. And so it was on this Friday evening that I found myself trying to balance a tray of grilled chicken on one hand while grabbing a newly washed knife by the sink with the other and inevitably failing. The chicken which coated in a glorious yogurt + garam masala + cumin + cilantro + garlic marinade — slipped.
My heart, you ask? It may as well have splattered on the bathroom floor, in a million gooey icky pieces. I felt the whole thing: knot in the stomach, heavy chest, head dizzy from hunger and disappointment. I sighed the sad, sad sigh of crushed hopes and expectations, before finally picking up said piece of chicken off the floor and sending it straight to the trash. It was a low point of my low point in life (though not the lowest, ;) ). Yes, I thought of popping it in the oven for another 10 or 20 minutes to maybe "kill the germs", but I'm trying to be a better person.
For emotional redemption, I proceeded to order us some delivery from my favorite chinese restaurant in a faraway place (not that far, really) — Chairman Mao. And while devouring the greatest dumplings I have ever known, I began my search, launching endless Amazon and ebay tabs and offering new information to the Google algorithm regarding my newfound interest as I typed in “what is a saucepan” on YouTube, hoping for visual answers. I watched the entirety of this saucepan test video and found this one incredibly wholesome and informative.
Up until this point, everything I learned about cooking I learned from never really helping out in the kitchen growing up. My parents never really go to the kitchen so it’s just Pak Reno, the chef. My grandma, she cooks, but never liked to have us kids around when she did her thing. So when I was suddenly interested, I got myself a toaster oven (bless this thing!) and a multipurpose digital rice cooker, two appliances I thought I could realistically use without wreaking too much havoc. I was right, for the most part. Sure, cooking took forever but it was doable, with patience, which I had a lot of apparently. I even grew to love the challenge, “sauteing” vegetables and making omelettes in the toaster oven (each takes about 20 - 30 mins). I was the mom pushing my multi-talented children to do better. HA.
Nearly a week in and I was ready to graduate. 1.5 hours spent frying chicken and then “grilling” them in the oven to perfection, only to drop it by the toilet while on an empty stomach? My patience ran out. I needed heat, fast and consistent.
Here’s to life.
To cook, to fail, and, most importantly, for a chance to quickly redo upon failure.