Oh Cooking

I don't know since when I started enjoying this hobby, but really, cooking is just the most wonderful art human has come to possess!

First I must admit I eat a lot, to a level that you may say I am gourmand (that's why I have to do so much sport to keep my weight’s balance!). I have been in Brussels for 5 years now and yet my cooking skill is really limited, it's like every 2 weeks I will have to repeat the same recipes again. I learned most of the recipes from Luc, so they are mostly western, except a few like chicken curries or fried noodles.

Anyway, last Thursday I just grabbed an Asian Wok cooking book during my weekly grocery shopping in Carrefour. Christmas is coming and thus I told myself I must be able to pamper Luc and me for a nice (gala) dinner. So the next day I went to a Chinese shop nearby and bought lots of Asian ingredients that I had always been neglecting. So with a book and all the ingredients, I was set to start my experiment in the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, I prepared San Choy Pao (生菜包), it’s a typical Cantonese dish with beefs wrapped around by a piece of salad leave. The beef was cooked with bamboo shoots, beans spouts, baby onion, garlic, ginger, and some seasoning sauces. That was a complete success for my first essay. The taste was really good that I didn’t even need to add any salt or pepper to amplify it!



Then in the evening I cooked another 3 new dishes – Lemon Chicken (with baby corn and pea), Caramel Prawns with Coriander, and Asparagus Beef. I stayed more than 2 hours in the kitchen to prepare these dishes! A little too long but I am sure I will be more efficient by next try. Anyway they were rather delicious! Except the Lemon Chicken that I thought it could be better, the other two were just finger-licking-good :) Normally the amount would be enough for a dinner and a lunch next day, but Luc and I just finished anything that was left on plates!

Yesterday again I tried 2 new Thai dishes – Tom Yam Scampi Soup and Phat Thai Noodles. There were enormous preparations for these dishes, so I spent again 2 hours in the kitchen. The soup was extra spicy, just suited Luc and me well. Miraculously the soup just unblocked the blocking nose of Luc that had troubled him since months! The Phat Thai noodle was quite a disappointment for me. I tried exactly the ingredients stated in the book but it ain’t the same taste like the one I ate in Thailand. Luc did like it but that still couldn’t convince me!

Then I had a HK friend visited me at night for dinner, so I spent another 2 hours again to do the cooking, but this time I didn’t try any new dishes, just repeating some dishes in order to further improve my new-learned skills. He is a cook here in Brussels and thus he gave me lots of valuable advices on how to ameliorate my cooking.

Tonight the school where I attend Dutch lesson will hold a small Christmas party, with everybody bringing a dish from their country. I will bring along the Phat Thai since I have cooked in a large quantity. I hope they don’t know the original Phat Thai and thus cannot judge on the taste! :P

Hope it is going to be fun tonight!