I’ve been doing a little bit of cooking lately, partly to keep my house feel like a home, not just where I come back to bathe and sleep.
You see, when you live all by yourself, you don’t even feel the need to eat, let alone cook. I only cook if I’m extremely lazy to drive and very close to dying of starvation (since I’m not a fan of instant noodles). But then again, sometimes cooking for one is depressing. That’s why I invited friends over to share my home cooked meals, and surprised my parents when they found out that their rarely-in-the-kitchen daughter actually cooks!
At home, I only work in the kitchen when it’s almost Hari Raya, and that is to bake cakes and cookies. On the rare occasions that I cook, my family will keep a steady stream of praises. Even DAD will help out in the kitchen. However, I knew that I must have done something right if my youngest brother and sister keep asking for more. They simply don’t know how to fake a food orgasm. Huhu~
Back in my university days, cooking means (a) we’re on a tight budget or (b) we’re tired of eating out. My housemates are not fans of Maggi mee as well, so breakfast for us was ‘roti canai’ or fried noodles in Pak Lah’s canteen or nasi lemak Mak Cik Sayang (a must on weekends), again to Pak Lah’s and the café at Alam Bina for lunch (sometimes we went to Perdanasiswa or Baktisiswa too). For dinner, it will be ‘nasi kerabu’ with salted duck eggs and grilled beef strips (daging bakar) yang dibeli daripada penjual² kat Vista sebaik saja kitorang turun dari bas…sedap beb dan murah RM2.50 sahaja. Diselang-selikan with ‘kuetiau kungfu’ or kampong fried rice from the stalls across the road (now the stalls have been demolished). Not to mention the stalls there is also where we buy our lunch during weekend…my favorite is ‘ikan percik’…daym, life was good even though takde gaji bulan-bulan and have to take the bus or walk everywhere. When Zue is still living with us in Vista, dinner will usually be at Pak Abu (6th college) or Sahur (3rd college). Then, late at night, if we’re still up studying and got the hunger pangs, (of course, we had dinner at 6)…there is always biskut Tiger gula dan Milo 3 in 1 with Kay and/or Lydeng. Siap stock-up on the 3 in 1 during J-Card Day coz it’s cheaper.
Those days, when we do cook…the menu will always be fried rice and eggs. Maybe because it’s cheap. Another one is the special sardine recipe by Kay. The sardine is separated from the sauce and fried. Then, sos sardine tu ditumis balik dengan bawang dan cili boh…meleleh air liur. Lagi satu, sambal kentang with ikan bilis…pun meleleh air liur sebab bahagia. There was this one time, where all of us stayed back for a special semester. Due to lack of resources, we cooked everyday….each of us have our own stash of food, that we cook at our own convenience…mostly it will be fried chicken, fish, sausage, eggs and vegetable. Ida and Irma even took the opportunity to go on a diet and eat cereal and oatmeal most of the time. In Ramadhan, my housemates need to eat rice for sahur. Lauknya pulak is just serunding daging and the occasional sardine and eggs. Lepas tu, buat muka bodoh sampai azan Subuh, solat then tidur balik.
After the Hari Raya holidays is the open house season. Friends from KL will invite us to their houses and all the yummy food are served. Every year, memang tak miss pegi rumah Muniza, Ciput, Kay, etc etc. Kitorang pun tak ketinggalan buat open house. It was a trend for students staying together tong-tong duit dan buat open house untuk menjamu rakan-rakan. Antara menu yang aku ingat kitorang pernah buat; laksa Sarawak, soto, nasi tomato. Rasanya mungkin kurang sedap sebab the future engineers at that time lagi rajin menengok buku sifir dari buku resepi, tapi at least sampai sekarang tak dengar cerita pasal orang kutuk belakang (maybe because those people don’t know who cook what, so can’t really point a finger on anybody).
Now, I can afford to buy a lot of things. Instead of a regular menu, sardine is something that I eat to bring back the happy memories. Instead of lepak kat gerai tepi jalan, sekarang nak lepak kat kedai makan sedap-sedap je…paling-paling pun Secret Recipe. Nak makan makanan Jepun, sanggup pergi luar negara (Brunei). Nak ambik lauk nasi campur for lunch pun dah tak payah agak-agak budget berapa. Mengada-ngada pulak rasanya, tapi Alhamdulillah di atas rezeki yang ada. Living in a town where lepak place and good food is limited, we always end up at same places and rotating them. We’ll go out when any of us need good food, good laugh and good company, a term that is coined by Suraya. But these sessions have helped out a lot. To my friends, thank you very much for your good company. I also enjoyed cooking for you all coz you don’t complaint, even if sometimes you have to sample my experiments.
So, why do I cook again? First, it started when my brother stayed with me and insist on home cooked meals so he can tambah the rice as much as he wants. Then, my sister who is hungry all the time came and she doesn’t like to eat out that much. I guess you can call it cooking with love. And I have a friend who loves me so much that she cooks nasi kerabu to see my HAPPY face.
P/S: Tomorrow is the 15th of Syaaban (Nisfu Syaaban)….hari tukar buku sedunia. Hopefully my good deeds outdo the bad ones. And it also means full moon…which is a good time to eat crabs. Time for chilli crab chin chai…can’t wait to sink my teeth into the crab’s succulent meat. Slurp!
You see, when you live all by yourself, you don’t even feel the need to eat, let alone cook. I only cook if I’m extremely lazy to drive and very close to dying of starvation (since I’m not a fan of instant noodles). But then again, sometimes cooking for one is depressing. That’s why I invited friends over to share my home cooked meals, and surprised my parents when they found out that their rarely-in-the-kitchen daughter actually cooks!
At home, I only work in the kitchen when it’s almost Hari Raya, and that is to bake cakes and cookies. On the rare occasions that I cook, my family will keep a steady stream of praises. Even DAD will help out in the kitchen. However, I knew that I must have done something right if my youngest brother and sister keep asking for more. They simply don’t know how to fake a food orgasm. Huhu~
Back in my university days, cooking means (a) we’re on a tight budget or (b) we’re tired of eating out. My housemates are not fans of Maggi mee as well, so breakfast for us was ‘roti canai’ or fried noodles in Pak Lah’s canteen or nasi lemak Mak Cik Sayang (a must on weekends), again to Pak Lah’s and the café at Alam Bina for lunch (sometimes we went to Perdanasiswa or Baktisiswa too). For dinner, it will be ‘nasi kerabu’ with salted duck eggs and grilled beef strips (daging bakar) yang dibeli daripada penjual² kat Vista sebaik saja kitorang turun dari bas…sedap beb dan murah RM2.50 sahaja. Diselang-selikan with ‘kuetiau kungfu’ or kampong fried rice from the stalls across the road (now the stalls have been demolished). Not to mention the stalls there is also where we buy our lunch during weekend…my favorite is ‘ikan percik’…daym, life was good even though takde gaji bulan-bulan and have to take the bus or walk everywhere. When Zue is still living with us in Vista, dinner will usually be at Pak Abu (6th college) or Sahur (3rd college). Then, late at night, if we’re still up studying and got the hunger pangs, (of course, we had dinner at 6)…there is always biskut Tiger gula dan Milo 3 in 1 with Kay and/or Lydeng. Siap stock-up on the 3 in 1 during J-Card Day coz it’s cheaper.
Those days, when we do cook…the menu will always be fried rice and eggs. Maybe because it’s cheap. Another one is the special sardine recipe by Kay. The sardine is separated from the sauce and fried. Then, sos sardine tu ditumis balik dengan bawang dan cili boh…meleleh air liur. Lagi satu, sambal kentang with ikan bilis…pun meleleh air liur sebab bahagia. There was this one time, where all of us stayed back for a special semester. Due to lack of resources, we cooked everyday….each of us have our own stash of food, that we cook at our own convenience…mostly it will be fried chicken, fish, sausage, eggs and vegetable. Ida and Irma even took the opportunity to go on a diet and eat cereal and oatmeal most of the time. In Ramadhan, my housemates need to eat rice for sahur. Lauknya pulak is just serunding daging and the occasional sardine and eggs. Lepas tu, buat muka bodoh sampai azan Subuh, solat then tidur balik.
After the Hari Raya holidays is the open house season. Friends from KL will invite us to their houses and all the yummy food are served. Every year, memang tak miss pegi rumah Muniza, Ciput, Kay, etc etc. Kitorang pun tak ketinggalan buat open house. It was a trend for students staying together tong-tong duit dan buat open house untuk menjamu rakan-rakan. Antara menu yang aku ingat kitorang pernah buat; laksa Sarawak, soto, nasi tomato. Rasanya mungkin kurang sedap sebab the future engineers at that time lagi rajin menengok buku sifir dari buku resepi, tapi at least sampai sekarang tak dengar cerita pasal orang kutuk belakang (maybe because those people don’t know who cook what, so can’t really point a finger on anybody).
Now, I can afford to buy a lot of things. Instead of a regular menu, sardine is something that I eat to bring back the happy memories. Instead of lepak kat gerai tepi jalan, sekarang nak lepak kat kedai makan sedap-sedap je…paling-paling pun Secret Recipe. Nak makan makanan Jepun, sanggup pergi luar negara (Brunei). Nak ambik lauk nasi campur for lunch pun dah tak payah agak-agak budget berapa. Mengada-ngada pulak rasanya, tapi Alhamdulillah di atas rezeki yang ada. Living in a town where lepak place and good food is limited, we always end up at same places and rotating them. We’ll go out when any of us need good food, good laugh and good company, a term that is coined by Suraya. But these sessions have helped out a lot. To my friends, thank you very much for your good company. I also enjoyed cooking for you all coz you don’t complaint, even if sometimes you have to sample my experiments.
So, why do I cook again? First, it started when my brother stayed with me and insist on home cooked meals so he can tambah the rice as much as he wants. Then, my sister who is hungry all the time came and she doesn’t like to eat out that much. I guess you can call it cooking with love. And I have a friend who loves me so much that she cooks nasi kerabu to see my HAPPY face.
P/S: Tomorrow is the 15th of Syaaban (Nisfu Syaaban)….hari tukar buku sedunia. Hopefully my good deeds outdo the bad ones. And it also means full moon…which is a good time to eat crabs. Time for chilli crab chin chai…can’t wait to sink my teeth into the crab’s succulent meat. Slurp!
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