Cerita-cerita Zainur

It's Monday blues again...haiyyahhh... Nobody loves Monday rite? I used to look forward for this day but not anymore since it becomes a day with Mr Supa @ supervisor heh! Anyway, let's just forget that for a moment. Today, I would like to share my experience and two cents knowledge on how to cook in less than 45 mins? Woww... it may sounds impossible especially to those who are not 'yet' expert in cooking. Just like me!

Mari kita buka sedikit rahsia! Honestly, saya memang tak reti masak! But that is not the reason you can't get married, of course! Haha.. All you have to do is to know and learn the basic skill of cooking! Masa first time belajar masak dulu I take approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to cook rice with 2 dishes. Owhh.. sila la gelak kan saya! Seriously I'm not that expert! I always do thing step by step. But now since I'm able to do multi-tasking I can cook less than a hour. Sometimes within 30 mins aje! Acehh...gila riak! Siap lah kalau habibi baca statement ini. Haha..

So what's the secret? There's no secret at all. It's just a few tips and skills...

Fisrt, if you plan to cook chicken/fish/meat, you need to defrost them first unless yours are fresh from market. Usually on Monday, saya akan balik lewat. Time berbuka adalah jam 5++. So akan kelam kabut lah nak memasak and what so ever. So before I go to collage, I will take out the chicken out from the freezer. So by the time nak memasak, ayamnya sudah lembut dan mudah untuk dipotong and dikerat-kerat. But if you have microwave, than you can use it to defrost. In my case, I don't have a microwave (pity me!). But watch out ladies, jangan defrost sekali dengan plastik-plastik unless that plastik or tupperwares are microwave safe!

Secondly, get things ready. This will include the kitchen utensils and the cooking ingredients. Imagine kalau periuk belanga you tak berbasuh, you will take extra time to clean it first before you can use it unless you have a lot of others pots and pans. That is totally different case. But me, I have 2-3 pieces only. So haruslah I basuh siap-siap before going to collage. But if, I have lots of pans pun I tak suka tengok dirty pans bertimbun-timbun memenuhi ruang dapur, nanti terus hilang selera nak masak! Especially kalau dapur rumah kecil! As for cooking ingredients I takda lah nak sediakan satu persatu macam rancangan memasak pula. Tapi if you have stock bawang yang dah dihiris, cili yang dah siap di'blend' and etc it will make things easier. Trust me!

Luckily in OZ, the people here just love cooking and make things simpler and easier. For example they have their spices all ready in a bottle tube. All you have to do just picit-picit jer masuk dalam periuk. You just name it lemongrass (serai), garlic (bawang putih), ginger (halia) and a lot others. Takda la macam kat Malaysia nak kena kupas kulit bawang, blend sendiri, ketuk-ketuk batang serai and what-so-ever lah. Haha... this part memang I like it very much. It really help busy woman like me... Acheh! macam la busy sangat kan!

Another tips is you have to be multi tasking! Masa tengah tumis bawang tu sambil-sambil tu potong la sayur ker or tanak nasi. Tapi watch out jangan sampai hangit pula kuali uols! Tapi, kat sini sayur pun ada yang dah siap potong. Sangatlah senang! Ada duit beli saja. But for me, I don't need it. Semua benda nak mudah aje mana boleh nanti your skill memasak hilang pula!

Last but least, try to make it simple. If you have limited time janganlah berangan nak masak lavish dishes. From my observation, mat saleh ni dia biasa combine aje sayur dalam apa jua masakan. Meaning that, kalau masak sup ayam janganlah letak ayam semata-mata tapi you can add potatoes, carrots, cabbage flowers (bunga kubis), celery and others yang relevant lah. So, in just one dish you have all the diet balance. But if you have free time like weekends ker baru lah try recipe yang boleh kecur air liur.

All this tips is just for a beginner like me. To those yang dah expert tuh mesti awal-awal lagi dah close page ni. But if any of you have others tips please share it here. You are the most welcome. It might be useful to others and me.

Okay, I think that's enough. Next time I will share more. So girls, if you rasa tak tahu masak, don't be sad because I'm just one of them. But, as day goes by you will master it and be like a masterchef!

psst: Owh did I mention to you guys that most of the tv's programs here are all about cooking?

Cheers!