Kitchen shortcuts How to save time and money
The most challenging facet of life as a fulltime foreign correspondent was feeding five kids and a husband with meals that they had grown to expect. After all, as a food writer, I am supposed to know what I write about, yes?
Here is something I learned from many chefs: They all have shortcuts that cut time and energy demanded in the kitchen.
Chopped garlic Many recipes begin with chopped or minced garlic, which entails peeling the garlic cloves, then chopping them by hand on a chopping board or mincing them with a mortar and pestle. Whatever method you use will definitely leave greasy mortar and pestle, chopping board, and knives.
Not a few would-be chefs decide to make fried rice without garlic after facing a sink full of greasy utensils. Here is a brilliant solution: Mince a peeled head of garlic in a blender or food processor with one cup of vegetable oil. Use the oil with a little garlic when cooking.
This will keep for many days as long as the garlic stays submerged in oil.
Stir the mixture once in a while. Add more oil when necessary. The mixture stays potent as long as there are a few traces of garlic left.
Maximize freezer use Except for adobo, most Filipino dishes entail a lot of steps. They also don’t take well to being served as leftovers. The solution? Cook and freeze in stages.
For example: fish sinigang. Cook a concentrated broth with onions and tomatoes. Freeze in small batches. Prepare the vegetables, such as okra, sitaw, and kangkong, and keep in the ref until needed. Freeze the cleaned fish individually. Ten minutes before the meal, boil the sinigang broth with the vegetables and fish.
Two from one dish
There are some dishes that are almost identical in the first stages of preparation. Bopis and dinuguan are