Cookbook
I used to learn cooking at home with my family in my undergrad years. Since then, I have tried and developed many recipes. Many of them are cooked by me and served to my friends and family for many many times and received positive feedback. I have put them in the cookbook collection.
I’ve also summarised many general guides for cooking techniques. This can help those who don’t have much experience in cooking, or maybe didn’t cook at all before. They are also put in the cookbook collection.
Cooking Ideas
In 2023, I went to the UK for a visiting scholar year. I was living on my own for the first time without canteens that allow walking in to eat in a very low price. I needed to cook for myself to control the budget since my funding was just enough to cover my basic expenses. This time, without any help from family, I found fridge management becomes a tricky topic of my everyday routine in addition to cooking itself. At first few months, I often overbought ingredients and ended up throwing them away, which was a waste of money and food. I had to learn how to manage the fridge and use the ingredients efficiently.
On the other hand, the western food culture is so different that I had no idea how to cook at the beginning. I feel lost in front of the recipes in English. I discovered that at this stage I need some rough and handy inspirational ideas on what can be cooked with leftover ingredients in the fridge, rather than a bunch of detailed and perfected recipes.
That’s why I made the cooking ideas collection. Unlike the cookbook which is more like a recipe book, the cooking ideas collection is more of a quick reference on how to use the ingredients I have in the fridge.
The cooking ideas collection is organised by ingredients, each ingredient has its own page with the following sections:
- Simplest Cooking: The simplest ways to cook, particularly helpful in the case of feeling tired but need to fill stomach. There are always cooking instructions in the food packages here in the UK, which are the main reference of this part.
- Condiment: It is usually plain and boring if the ingredients are cooked in the simplest way. I offer some condiment recommendations to add flavour.
- Cooking Tips: Some might have additional cooking tips.
- Classic Dishes: The classic dishes using the ingredients. Try them out if you have no idea and don’t want to be “wrong”.
- Innovative Dishes: Some varied and innovative dishes using the ingredients.
- Varieties: The varieties of the ingredient and their nuances.
- Purchase Advice: Some information on brands and purchase advice if applicable.
I hope this collection will help those who are in a similar situation as I was, especially international students who are not familiar with the local food culture. If you feel lost in the kitchen, open your fridge and my cooking ideas collection,