Whilst life continues to be fun, I don’t have oodles of loot to spend. I can’t afford to eat out very often (and when I do eat out, I’m a bit picky about the sort of food I’m prepared to buy. I can’t stand the mass produced (if 'good quality’), uniform stuff produced by 'Harvester’, 'Beefeater’ and other similar chains). I’m actually quite happy preparing my own food.
Ideally, I’d go into a shop about once a day (or less) to stock up, saves on lecky and spend the rest of the time getting on with life. I have a fridge , but consider its main job is to keep the beer, gin and Dry Martini cold. Food storage comes a poor second. Over the years I have tried to simplify my basic diet. A requirement for (for example) milk is a big tie. There are parts of the world where fresh milk is not available and when it is available, it doesn’t last too long before it goes off so I don’t get too much of it.
Cooking I some time use a wok so a bit of instruction is below hope it helps.
Wok cooking has the advantages of being very fast (and hence not using very much fuel). I’m not very adventurous, believing in keeping things simple. The basic cooking requirements are:
Some cooking oil (I suggest corn or sunflower);
Some seasonings, such as sesame oil (for its taste), five-spice (bought ready mixed from a Chinese grocer), soy sauce, and chilli bean sauce;
Cornflour.
I tend to stick to veggies, and will make a meal from three or four, probably chosen from carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, chicory, fennel, leeks, mushrooms, lettuce, spinach, mangetout, celery, bean sprouts etc. Whatever veggies you use, they need to be finely sliced and shredded.
Pour some cooking oil (less than an egg cup full) into the wok, and put the wok on the heat. Keep it there until the oil starts to smoke. Then take the veggie that is going to take the longest to cook (probably the carrots) and chuck them into the oil. Add some seasonings, and add the other ingredients. Carrots need to cook for 3 or 4 minutes, lettuce and bean sprouts need 30 seconds to a minute. At the end of the cooking, if the mix looks a bit wet and watery, mix a teaspoonful of cornflour with a little water to form a paste, add it to the wok, reduce the heat, and stir things around until things thicken up a bit.
Serve with rice or noodles or even pasta so till next time good eating.
Magic
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