Ever since I started living in Dubai, I learned how to cook. I guess it’s a skill that you acquire when you want to save on costs and you’re tired of take-outs from fastfood shops and restaurants.
It’s actually quite a fun activity to be able to create something out of raw items. It’s even nicer when people who’ve tasted the dish I made would compliment me even if it’s a forced one. Still, I know I can get better in time. Besides, cooking should be a common exercise knowing how expensive it is if I were to eat outside all the time.
supposed to be Pinakbet, or sautéed veggies
I’ve rarely cooked back in the Philippines, and even so, I had supervision with me. But I guess cooking food for lunch or dinner came out naturally. Those days of helping my mother preparing the ingredients have finally paid off. Well, sort of.
preparing my Chicken adobo ingredients
I can’t help myself from putting so much herbs in the pan that I tend to confuse myself with the actual taste when the flavors have finally settled.
The first dish I cooked was our traditional Pinoy Adobo. I cooked it with chicken as the main ingredient. It was passable.
Pinoy Chicken Adobo (with so many herbs)
What else have I tried? Sinigang na Baboy (Tamarind Soup with pork), Tinolang Manok (Chicken in green papaya stew), Tomato Spaghetti, and Fettuccine Carbonara. Some of the dishes I’ve prepared were also my firsts. I’m getting used to the idea of Google-ing the instructions and following them step by step in order to create these meals. Even so, I can’t help but explore other options such as baking a cake.
overcooked spaghetti and burnt chicken
Surely, with the prices of meals in restaurants, it’s a lot cheaper if I prepare my own food. At least I’ll be able to practice buying grocery items and then cooking them for my own consumption. Saves me a lot of Dirhams in the process.
Oh, one more thing. You can’t buy pork meat in restaurants because they don’t have them due to the Middle East Islam culture. So if you want eat this type of meat, you have to prepare it yourself at the comfort of your own home.