Cooking Disasters In Amsterdam
I lived with my parents until I moved to Holland. This made moving out a double shock. Not only was I going out into the world by myself for the first time but I was also doing it in a completely different country. I had to learn to cook for myself (or choose from less appealing options such as McDonalds or starving) but at the time I could hardly even boil an egg.
My early cooking attempts met with varying levels of success, including giving myself food poisoning from under cooking chicken. Since then my need for a stomach pump has reduced as my kitchen skills have improved. However there is one simple food item that I have not yet been able to master. Many of my attempts have met with bitter failure both figuratively and literally. For some unknown reason I am unable to cook rice properly. The mysteries of this simple ingredient continue to elude me and something always goes wrong.
During my first attempt I discovered that rice expands as it boils. Unfortunately this revelation came when it was too late to do anything about the oozing volcano of rice that was slowly pouring out over the kitchen.
One of my more recent attempts was awarded the title of worst tasting rice ever. At the time this statement seemed like an unfair over reaction. How bad can rice possibly taste? When I sampled it for myself I found nothing wrong. In fact it was light, fluffy and all the other things that rice should be. At least it was for the first few seconds before the hidden after taste kicked in. Suddenly it tasted as if a sickly rat with bad breath had decided to end its life by jumping into the boiling pot of rice when I had not been looking. Luckily it was only because I had accidentally let all the water boil away.
Rice is my kitchen nemesis and the source of much amusement for my friends (as long as they don’t have to eat it). The sound of rice boiling in water might as well be the sound of mocking laughter.
However, there can only be so many ways to get rice wrong. One day I will get it right even if I have to burn the kitchen down doing so. Then I’ll eventually be able to move onto the next challenge, boiling an egg.
I was joking about not being able boiling an egg :p
The strange thing is I’m not a bad cook (not great either but I can cook a few things quite well) but rice goes wrong every time somehow.
The first time I made Dutch uitsmitters was an experiment though. I think invented scrambled uitsmitters.
i kept mine in my uni room for 4 years – mainly because of lack of space but also because my skanky housemates kept using it but never washed it up afterwards :-@
It was my first attempt at cooking chicken and I had no idea what I was doing. I was very ill afterwards.
If I get rice wrong again after the amount of tips I have had now I’ll have to turn in my wok in shame.
The easiest way to boil and egg is to put in in a bowl of water and put it into the microwave for about 1 minute. It’s great! Try it, and let me know what happens…..
Take no notice of ChickyBabe, she obviously has never boiled an egg in the microwave. I have, and afterwards I had great fun cleaning out the microwave. Took me about an hour!
yep-
I (half korean nontheless) agree with tamara. get a rice cooker (I have one too… no shame in that ;) makes life soooo easy).
If he gets a rice cooker he will have to keep it in his room, the kitchen is a bit small :)
go get yourself a rice cooker. you can buy one for below 30 euros in a chinese store
A rice cooker would fill our whole kitchen. Even the cat can fill our whole kitchen. It’s very, very small.
I really can boil an egg. Honest. That was just a joke :p
But I have had a few kitchen related knife accidents as well.
This might be a rocord breaking number of comments for one post. Hey everyone, let’s keep commenting on rice or whatever! (I’m in a weird mood and I also need to go to bed…can you tell?)
I think I’m gonna buy a rice cooker. And I’m going to avoid boiling eggs in the microwave.
“This might be a record breaking number of comments”
… and yet. Not one Vanilla Ice ‘Rice, Rice baby’ joke.
thats the secret:1 cup rice + 2 cups water = one person . If you can remember that, your rice will be perfect.
Seeya
Hi!
My Madagascan friend cooks the best rice in the world – light, fluffy, the pieces don’t even stick together. She washes the rice first (soaks it for 10 mins or so and swills it a few times). She then puts it in a saucepan with boiling water, brings it to the boil and simmers for 12 – 15 mins. The trick is NOT to stir it as this breaks it up, causing it to get sticky and mushy. Just stir once when boiling, then leave it. My friend changes the water a few times which seems to really help. Then when it’s done, just drain it but then leave it for 10 mins with a paper towl under the lid, this will help the rice separate and not be so soggy.
I can never get it like her’s though, she is a magician with food.
Or you can do it the really easy way and buy the rice in bags- it’ll say ‘bultjes’ or something like that somewhere on the box. Boil water, add a dash of salt, throw in bag, boil for 10 mins, empty bag of rice onto plate. It’s foolproof, and a lot cheaper and quicker than rice cookers.