Well, today was supposed to be my first day back in the Philippines for the Golden Week holidays. But of course, my flights have been cancelled and I’m not really allowed to leave the country, too. Well, I understand that everyone’s in the same situation, so at this point, I’m really just thankful that because it was the airline that cancelled my flights, I don’t have to say goodbye to the money I spent for my tickets.
Anyway, since all the schools are closed and we now have a lot more free time than we used to (Note: We do still have some work to do, but the work load isn’t as much.), I have finally learned how to cook. Only a few things. I’m hoping to expand my, um, repertoire (Can you use this term for cooking?) in the future, though. And well, perhaps, this isn’t really a big deal to you, but to me, who has become infamous for not knowing what to do in a kitchen, I think, it’s a groundbreaking accomplishment!
I read on a couple of places that a lot of people have been using this time to become master chefs in their homes, and I’m happy for them! But that’s not really my goal. I’m still just learning the basics. So, yes, I’ve definitely made a lot of mistakes (and I had to eat them, too!) but here are a few things I’m quite proud of (just for myself):
- Fried Chicken – This is something I really enjoy eating, so I have been quite frustrated lately as it seems that in Japan, fried chicken like this isn’t really a thing (KFC is the closest thing they have.) I mean, there is karaage everywhere, but that kind of chicken is breaded and boneless. It’s not like this one, which are called, I guess, pan-fried wings? Anyway, I like chicken better this way than karaage, so I’m really happy that I can now prepare this dish myself!
- Bangers and Mash – I’m not really sure why we never ate potatoes at home when I still lived in the Philippines. But we always had them whenever I visited my sister in New Zealand. Anyway, I’ve become quite a fan of this British dish in recent years, and mashed potatoes is so easy to make (and fun, too, when you have a proper masher), so here it is! Full disclosure: I bought the ready-to-eat sausage from the convenient store and just heated it up in the microwave. But I definitely peeled, sliced, boiled and mashed the potatoes myself!
- Spamsilog – Ah, the typical Filipino breakfast. I’d rather have tapa or bangus, of course, but those ingredients aren’t exactly available here, and this is just much easier to prepare. I mean, you just have to get the meat out of a can. But I did make the garlic rice myself, and fried the egg. It was all so yummy and with my sweet instant coffee, it really made feel like I was eating breakfast back home.
Well, there you have it. Three of the meals I’ve cooked for myself during this quarantine time. I’m really happy because before all this, I used to have to go to the convenient store to buy every single one of my meals each day. I’m serious! I would only ever go to the supermarket to buy laundry soap. But because I now have to limit the number of times I go out of the house, it’s just not feasible to go to the convenient store every day anymore.
Anyway, they say that when you come out of this pandemic, you ought to have learned a new skill, and I’m not planning on becoming a master chef or anything, but I’m glad that at least I can feed myself a little better now.
Oh, and before any of you mention the lack of vegetables in the dishes I’ve prepared, I just want to say that I had frozen vegetables, too. But because all I did to them was put them in the microwave, I didn’t bother to take a picture anymore.