Kitchen Casualties: Things I Know I Did Wrong
And we're back in the kitchen (and on this blog) after a more or less three-year hiatus on cooking/wreaking havoc/playing with food (which we should never do, no).
Tonight's victim is a well-loved dish that people still find hard to identify: the afritada.
Tadah.
As anyone would easily notice, it does not look much like an afritada. But it is. You know why? Because the ready-mix sauce I poured on it said so.
So here we go with what went wrong.
First and foremost, I bought adobo cuts. It's not technically wrong, but it does deviate from the normal afritada.
Second, I did not buy Baguio beans or green peas. Honestly, it was just because my basket was too heavy already to go get more greens. (Excuses.)
Third, the instructions said "potatoes, in chunks." In my mind I was thinking of large cubes. In reality, I had diced those taters. And the carrots suffered the same fate.
Fourth, stir-fry. I Googled afritada. I Googled the sauce. I Googled the ingredients. What I didn't research was what exactly stir-fry meant. I guess I just assumed I knew. I did know. But reinforcements always help. So when I finally asked what stir-fry was, I found that it meant frying using very little oil. The "very little oil" part? That's where it all went downhill.
The potatoes took, like, twenty minutes to "stir-fry both sides until light brown." (Mind you, I was using an electric stove.) They didn't even turn brown I think. Or maybe I was getting colorblind because I was hungry and I haven't even started step 2.
Fifth, stir-fry the chicken in the same pan until light brown. That took me about thirty minutes to an hour. Because it just wasn't getting cooked. And I've decided to prefer having burnt chicken than uncooked chicken. So there. Fried chicken in afritada.
Sixth, simmer. I've cooked soup before and that had "simmer" in the instructions, but I've obviously never understood what it was. Simmer meant to boil then lower the heat but not to turn it off. What I did? I just turned it off and waited twenty minutes as instructed. Smart move.
Seventh, keeping the whole thing cooking in a pan that already had burnt potatoes sticking at the bottom. Now it tastes weird. Although the burn parts look like pepper so that'll do, I guess.
Eighth, me eating it. Well, there's no one I'd rather put in harm's way when it comes to cooking except me. Because a little Yakult, a little Coke, a little Lormide, and I'm good. But me eating this afritada is, well, a risk I probably shouldn't take (although I will because it's edible and cooked for sure but not share-worthy . . . and I don't like wasting food).
And there you have it. Eight things I know I did wrong as I tried my hand again in the kitchen. Good thing I'm still alive now after eating it so I can tell the tale.
Fair warning to the rest of the world: do not follow me. 😁
That's it. Happy reading and cooking amd eating!
Tonight's victim is a well-loved dish that people still find hard to identify: the afritada.
As anyone would easily notice, it does not look much like an afritada. But it is. You know why? Because the ready-mix sauce I poured on it said so.
So here we go with what went wrong.
First and foremost, I bought adobo cuts. It's not technically wrong, but it does deviate from the normal afritada.
Second, I did not buy Baguio beans or green peas. Honestly, it was just because my basket was too heavy already to go get more greens. (Excuses.)
Third, the instructions said "potatoes, in chunks." In my mind I was thinking of large cubes. In reality, I had diced those taters. And the carrots suffered the same fate.
Fourth, stir-fry. I Googled afritada. I Googled the sauce. I Googled the ingredients. What I didn't research was what exactly stir-fry meant. I guess I just assumed I knew. I did know. But reinforcements always help. So when I finally asked what stir-fry was, I found that it meant frying using very little oil. The "very little oil" part? That's where it all went downhill.
The potatoes took, like, twenty minutes to "stir-fry both sides until light brown." (Mind you, I was using an electric stove.) They didn't even turn brown I think. Or maybe I was getting colorblind because I was hungry and I haven't even started step 2.
Fifth, stir-fry the chicken in the same pan until light brown. That took me about thirty minutes to an hour. Because it just wasn't getting cooked. And I've decided to prefer having burnt chicken than uncooked chicken. So there. Fried chicken in afritada.
Sixth, simmer. I've cooked soup before and that had "simmer" in the instructions, but I've obviously never understood what it was. Simmer meant to boil then lower the heat but not to turn it off. What I did? I just turned it off and waited twenty minutes as instructed. Smart move.
Seventh, keeping the whole thing cooking in a pan that already had burnt potatoes sticking at the bottom. Now it tastes weird. Although the burn parts look like pepper so that'll do, I guess.
Eighth, me eating it. Well, there's no one I'd rather put in harm's way when it comes to cooking except me. Because a little Yakult, a little Coke, a little Lormide, and I'm good. But me eating this afritada is, well, a risk I probably shouldn't take (although I will because it's edible and cooked for sure but not share-worthy . . . and I don't like wasting food).
And there you have it. Eight things I know I did wrong as I tried my hand again in the kitchen. Good thing I'm still alive now after eating it so I can tell the tale.
Fair warning to the rest of the world: do not follow me. 😁
That's it. Happy reading and cooking amd eating!
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