It is one of the books that blown my mind. It's very well written and would probably relate with a lot of people who are in their journey to find themselves. So many people are talking about it but I did not buy it until a few months ago where I read the preview on the first pages. Easy for me to see if I want to buy the book or not. When the first pages hook me right away, I don't need to think twice. This book is one of them. This contains spoiler of course. Nora, the main character, like many of us, fall into depression and decided to kill herself. But she's not dead right away. She went into a kind of limbo between life and death. In that library she met a librarian, this librarian is a kind of a guide. Our guide that probably tasked when we were born. The librarian shows her lives that she could have had if she wants to. She is so depressed and thinks that no life will makes her happy enough to live it. I can totally understand her state. I was there....
Bakso
I have to admit that my love for cooking is growing. It's growing and I can't believe it myself. This feeling has been like this since probably two years ago. Before, cooking felt like a hard work that I had to fulfill. It still is, but the difference is I enjoy it now. So it does not feel like I am forcing myself.
Back then whenever I cooked, it's either wrong recipe or incorrect measurement. It never tasted right. So I gave up cooking just because I never found the right one. And then I started to feel that I wanna eat better. I don't want to just eat whatever, I want to know what goes into my body. If I prepare it myself, then I know it's good one.
I don't eat too much sugar, sometimes it is hard to buy one thing outside and has a lot of sugar in it. So cooking it myself will allow me to control the amount of sugar.
So I found recipes and I tried to make them. As to my surprise, they taste right! Exactly how they should have tasted. That made me happy. So I keep doing trial and error with lots of recipes. It's not always Indonesian dishes, but whatever dishes come to my mind then I'll try to find the correct recipes for that. We know that food is all about my style or not. So now I keep recipes that I think taste good.
When I started to feel happy while cooking, it feels like unlocking the new side of me. Turns out, I can cook. I am not bad at it, as long as I have the correct recipes. I woke up and curious to what to cook. I woke up excited knowing what to eat. Usually I plan my meals a day before. Not always but usually I am checking my fridge to see what I have and what can I do with it.
I saw videos about people who are feeling "full" after cooking and too lazy to eat their own cook. That did happened to me before. But now I am always excited to taste what I cook. Especially when I tried something new or something I never tasted before.
Of course, I still take out some food. I still go to the cafe or restaurant for a meal out, usually once a week. Some things are not worthy making myself lol.
I am currently using stainless steel pan, cast iron, and Korean type of pan. I am not frying always because I don't like the oil splashing. If I want to eat some deep fried things, I usually just buy it. The usual cooking I do is mostly stir fry using less oil, oven, grilling. I don't always cook Indonesian food, but when I do, I usually get the ready to use bumbu or just working out easy simple recipe with things I have.
So here's what I cook recently, my current obsession of food. I will attach where did I get the recipe from because it's crazy good!
(probably kimchi or tofu soup, not sure what is the name)
(I love her easy recipes!)
Hot and sour soup (had no dark soy, so the color is a bit pale but taste great)
Vietnamese roll - made it myself but usually the marinate beef I took from that beef broccoli above. The filling usually lettuce, this white noodles (bihun), carrot, cucumber, spring onion, mint, and beef or shrimp.
Madeleine (my fav site for baking, I made cookies from her too)
Cookies that stay soft inside even after an hour.
Terang bulan - Indonesian famous dessert. This is always sold in a bigger portion and I like to have only one or two slices. So I made it with my small new cast iron which I really LOVE SO much! Look at the bubbles! THAT LAST PIECES OF HAGELSLAG 😿
Breakfast sandwich or salad made it myself. Basically just throw everything on my plate with lettuce, some protein like egg or beef, sometimes avocado, fruit that day that I have. The dressing can be ready to have, or basic olive oil with salt pepper garlic.
Lalapan sambal. Of course, my native Indonesian tongue loves sambal. I made it simple with 3 cloves of garlic, one chili (I dont like it too spicy), tomato, shrimp paste, add red chilli or paprika for color, sugar, salt, a bit of msg if needed.
BAKSO. Bakso has to be tasty, it is a non negotiable for Malang people lol. I love it with bunch of noodles. I love cooking using this Korean type pot. It stays hot longer, and practical.
Cooking is like doing magic, using chemistry, physics, math, and doing it with heart. I love one quote that I saw last time, "Everything is learn-able. You can learn anything you want to."
So... what's your favorite meals to cook? 😉
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