My home cooking has improved, but no thanks to YouTube chefs or food blogs – keeping recipes simple is the key
- Whether it’s cheeseburger salad or a goat’s cheese brownie, outlandish and complex dishes you find online are not all they are cracked up to be
- Sticking to tried and trusted recipes can be every bit as rewarding – and don’t be afraid to put your own twist on them
You can find recipes for practically anything now, even dishes you don’t think would exist. They are on the web. Try it – make up something and type it into Google.
Cheeseburger salad? There are pages and pages of them, including variations like a low-carb, gluten-free Big Mac salad. Goat’s cheese dessert? You bet. Now refine your search to be more specific. Do you want goat’s cheese cheesecake, brownie, pudding or mousse?
Interest in home cooking has exploded while much of the world has been stuck at home in coronavirus detention. I am no exception. I’m not big on too complex and time-consuming recipes, though. Give me something requiring less than half a dozen ingredients and that won’t take over an hour to make, and I will give it a shot.
This spring, I’ve attempted quite a few dishes I’ve never tackled before. Dan dan noodles is quite simple and easy to make. Kimchi cubano sandwiches are an awesome way to use up leftover roast pork and old cheese slices that are drying up and turning mouldy at the edges.
As we become savvy online searchers, certain things become painfully obvious if you browse enough sites. A lot of blogs wrap their recipes cloyingly around memories of their grandmothers and childhood tales. After reading a few, it becomes annoying to scroll past a preface that starts, “I remember coming home after school and being greeted by the wonderful smell as mom prepared one of our family’s favourite …”
Sorry, I don’t really care about your mother. I’m sure she’s a really nice lady, but I’m trying to cook in a hurry here. Excuse me while I furiously search for your ingredients’ list.
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Similarly, many YouTube chefs like to talk a lot before they get down to cooking. Some just like to ramble. If a video is longer than 10 minutes, I’ll click on something else first.
Another minor peeve: I don’t need to see people chopping and slicing. You might have excellent knife techniques but, again, I don’t care. If you’re dicing onion or chopping carrots, I’m fast forwarding. The main thing I’m looking for in online tutorials is the basic steps. Beyond that, I’m scavenging for different and interesting ideas for inspiration.
Not to sound like a brown-noser, but the good thing about my editor Susan Jung’s SCMP Cooking site is that she offers the basics of tried and true recipes all on one page. Most of her dishes are standard fare. In other words, don’t expect a cheeseburger salad recipe.
Whatever recipe idea you source online, the thing I’ve learned is to make it your own.
Most of the time, you don’t need to follow every exact step. For example, American recipes use way more sugar and salt than is necessary. There’s no need for soy sauce, salt and a beef cube.
Recently, my most satisfying effort was Coca-Cola chicken wings, a mythic Hong Kong invention I’ve long wanted to attempt. One day on YouTube, I saw about 10 different variations on how to make it. Each video was slightly different, but essentially you marinate some wings in soy sauce and spices.
Then you can pan-fry or deep-fry them. Next, simmer the wings for 15 minutes or so with the marinade plus enough cola to cover them, until most of the liquid evaporates. Or take it off the heat earlier if you like a bit of sauce.
You can also punch up the flavour with ginger, garlic, aniseed, cinnamon or chilli. Further, you can also replace cola with another sugary soft drink for a different taste. The point is, it’s easy as heck and wildly Instagrammable.
If you can’t impress followers with holiday selfies, a slick home cooking pic with cute stickers and a heart-shaped overlay might do.
