BILA DAPUR BERASAP …

I haven’t been cooking much the past year or so. It’s not that I don’t have the time for it but it’s cheaper for me to eat outside. Cooking for one can be an expensive affair. It can lead to wastage too.

Nevertheless, when I do cook, normally weekends when I’m too lazy to go out, it would be simple dishes like the kerabu ikan bilis I read on LoubiLou. 

Only, I called mine ikan bilis goreng bawang dan cili api (tak creative langsung kan?) and I add a squeeze of tamarind juice in it, thus creating some gravy.

I swear I can live on this alone; eating it with piping hot rice, with kicap manis cap Kipas (somehow I like this brand the best!) and telur dadar (fried egg pancake with sliced onions and red or green chillies).

Or, sardines in tomato sauce (saute onions in some oil, add chillies, pour in the sardine with the tomato sauce and add a little water to thin the gravy), also to be eaten with rice and telur dadar.

Or just hot rice with a dab of butter, kicap manis and deep-fried fish (ikan kembong would be the best).

These are my comfort food. These are food I would turn to when I’m sick or on those “down” days.

But, given a choice, I would rather cook pasta than rice. It’s much easier. I consider pasta a one-pot meal (you dump everything in a pasta dish) while you have to cook the lauk-pauk sampingan to eat with white rice.

A favourite is pasta (macaroni, penne,fusilli, rigatoni or farfelle) mixed with tuna/sardine in olive oil and greens (snowpeas or spinach).

I would cook enough to deep-freeze to eat later during the week. All I need to do is to pop a portion of the pasta into the microwave oven. Add grated cheese and dinner (or late supper) is ready.

And of late, I’ve been experimenting on recipes for for one. Yes, food you can cook in a mug. Breakfasts, cakes, muffins … using the microwave, of course.
You may not see smoke spewing out of my kitchen (unless I burn the dish, of course) but dapur sudah mula berasap again, Alhamdulillah.

Macaroni with tuna in extra virgin oil and snow peas with a dash of lemon juice
(The black speckles are coarse ground black pepper, loads of it)