Cooking and Baking Skills Unlocked

First trial banana bread baked in the rice cooker. The picture was taken at 4 PM Bali times, golden hour when sunlight passing through my window and curtain.  

During 2020 I cook and bake a lot more than I did in the previous year. A lot of people told me that I can't cook. But I know that is not right. I just had no willingness to cook. When I moved to Bali, I started to miss the familiar foods in Java. My comfort foods. Although I eat everything Balinese cuisine was not that good for me the first time I tried it. It did not really satisfy my taste buds. But I realize it was just because I ate a not tasty Balinese food back then. Told ya first impression is important for me. Now I love it.

So I start to cook a lot more at home because I can't find tasty Javanese foods here. Yes, you can, but you need the journey to find the best one. It's a fun journey where you need to try a lot of things and decide which one is matching your palate. 

Aglio Olio. I don't fancy spaghetti but the simplicity makes it great.

First thing first, get your kitchen seasoning and spices right. Aside from garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and sugar, I started to buy candlenut, coriander, oregano, galangal, bay leaves, kafir lime, lemongrass, cinnamon, turmeric, and so on. You gonna enjoy cooking when all of these spices are there in your kitchen. The spices I bought are the powder one. Sometimes it is not as great as the original ones but you can keep it longer if you buy them in powder version. Besides, I love to make some drinks from spices. Kinda like jamu. Hated it but love it now.

They cover the needs of daily cooking. I started to learn how to make foods that involve more than salt, pepper, onion, and garlic. Find the recipes from people whose foods I like to eat (or match my palate). I never thought that I in my late 20s is about asking and sharing tasty recipes with each other. 

Bihun goreng. I was not so sure to make it, worried if it was too soggy or dry. It was not.

Then I want to make some cake. I started to bake. I don't have an oven and I try to find the substitution. I use a rice cooker instead. It worked! I am amazed by myself how I can bake very great in the first trial. That got me to realize tho, some recipes are the same but what makes it taste different is the technique. Cooking is nothing much different than mathematics. How to make it step by step. The timing. The formula and measurement. So you gotta learn that and familiarize your hands and mind to all those recipes.

Taste great but taking so much time to wait. I think I'll buy it next time 😃

When someone says "Huh you can't cook? At all? She cooks better than you!" You don't need to worry because everyone can cook. The only difference is do you want to cook? It's about willingness. Cooking is a basic skill for living. Everyone should be able to cook. But even if you don't cook, just rely on Grab and Gojek for that. They are created for that 😋 

*Only uploaded the presentable pictures I made and noodles family is the easiest cooking.