Adventures in Domesticity
I just want to make something clear right now - when it comes to cooking rice, I am utterly incompetent. Sometimes I even screw it up even when I'm using a rice cooker. Don't ask me how, because I haven't a clue, but it must be sort of like those kids who manage to make an ugly fingerpainting. It takes a special brand of incompetence to accomplish that.
I moved into my own apartment on Saturday and, as such, no longer have the fabulous Leo and her cooking to provide for me. Thus thrown to the wolves and my own devices, I decided to take the advice of my traveler information packet and try to "discover the Latin American version of [my]self." This meant dragging my poor friend Ali with me to the Mercado de San Pedro, which is basically the big central market here in Cusco where you can buy everything from wheels of cheese to baby toys to dried llama fetuses. I bought a little green grocery-shopping bag to carry all my goodies with me, and then lugged them home to try and feed myself.
Okay, so I was pretty chicken the first night. I just made some soup and some coffee and figured I'd leave it at that. Hey, at least I figured out how to turn on my itty bitty stove. That counts for something, right? And this morning wasn't much better - just hot tea and some bread with jam. Still, dinner and breakfast are pretty paltry meals here. I skirted the issue of lunch for two days, eating out with friends rather than try and do the impossible.
But today, I got brave. I decided it was time to try and cook some rice. Since I don't have a rice cooker in my apartment, this meant doing it the old-fashioned way, in a pot. The last time I tried this, I ruined the pot I was using so, needless to say, I was a bit daunted. 45 minutes later, my friends, I had amazing pot of rice with onions and, although it was just the slightest bit soggy, it was ever-so-delicious and I was very proud of myself.
To celebrate, I bought empanadas for dinner.
I moved into my own apartment on Saturday and, as such, no longer have the fabulous Leo and her cooking to provide for me. Thus thrown to the wolves and my own devices, I decided to take the advice of my traveler information packet and try to "discover the Latin American version of [my]self." This meant dragging my poor friend Ali with me to the Mercado de San Pedro, which is basically the big central market here in Cusco where you can buy everything from wheels of cheese to baby toys to dried llama fetuses. I bought a little green grocery-shopping bag to carry all my goodies with me, and then lugged them home to try and feed myself.
Okay, so I was pretty chicken the first night. I just made some soup and some coffee and figured I'd leave it at that. Hey, at least I figured out how to turn on my itty bitty stove. That counts for something, right? And this morning wasn't much better - just hot tea and some bread with jam. Still, dinner and breakfast are pretty paltry meals here. I skirted the issue of lunch for two days, eating out with friends rather than try and do the impossible.
But today, I got brave. I decided it was time to try and cook some rice. Since I don't have a rice cooker in my apartment, this meant doing it the old-fashioned way, in a pot. The last time I tried this, I ruined the pot I was using so, needless to say, I was a bit daunted. 45 minutes later, my friends, I had amazing pot of rice with onions and, although it was just the slightest bit soggy, it was ever-so-delicious and I was very proud of myself.
To celebrate, I bought empanadas for dinner.
posted by Lauren at 7:59 PM
1 Comments:
You didn't know about the finger method in cooking rice with a rice cooker? You do have relatives of Filipino descent so they should be able to teach you.
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