Monday, December 13, 2010

The Base

I am a lazy person. Oh yes I am. I know you might not believe it simply because I cook almost everyday.
But do you know that, with a helper (who cleans the dishes and prepare the ingredients), I am able to cook within 15 minutes?
Impossible you say? Well, if I can, so can you. :))

I am a simple person. And I am training my kids to live humbly too.
We can't be eating a 3 to 4 dishes meal every day. But we can certainly eat a dish that contains the same ingredient as 4 or 5 other dishes that I can whip up on other days.

Still confused?

I'm sure those who who have learnt to cook from their moms or grannies would agree with me. Because, for one, my granny taught me this.

Always have 'the base' stored in your freezer or fridge.

There can be many kinds of bases.

Base 1- GG Paste (Garlic & Ginger Paste)

Let me emphasise again that I'm actually lazy. So, I would get a packet of peeled garlic from the supermarket. And a ginger about 5cm long would be enough.

1.Clean the peeled garlic.
2. Put half in the blender.
3.Peel the ginger and cut in chunks.
4. Put half of the ginger in the blender.
5. Blend well. (With a lil bit of water)
6. Add in the rest and blend again.

That paste, will last you for 2 weeks if you cook heavy duty everyday. And thinking of frying chicken? Use this paste and add turmeric, corriander, cumin and salt. Voila! :D

Base 2 - SP (Shallots Paste)

As the name suggests, it's just shallots. They have peeled ones too in supermarkets. Blend them well with a lil bit of water. :)

Keep these two bases in the fridge if you know you'll be using it frequently. It saves the hassle and more than half the time of defrosting them everyday.

Base 3 - Multi-dish Paste (MP)

All you need:-

1. 2 tablespoons of GG.
2. 4 tablespoons of SP.
3. 6 red chillis.
4. 3 green chillies.
5. A handful of dried shrimps (washed and tossed)
6. A piece of belachan (palm-sized)

Blend all ingredients well.

This multi-dish paste can be used to cook many dishes as the name suggests.
For example:-
1.Sotong Hitam. Just add yellow ginger in the paste before frying it.
2. Bening Ketola/Bayam. No need to add anything else.(Besides salt/pepper) Just water to make it soupy.
3. Nasi Goreng Kampung. Add pounded green chillies and minced cili padi for that extra kick. Fry the paste and the extra ingredients, add in fried ikan bilis and a lil bit of salt, add rice and voila!
4. Lauk Celok Manis. Now, if you have a Boyanese family member, you would know what this is. Will cook this sometime this week. :D

I hope this helps some of you out there!

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