figuring out how to feed myself is harder than it seems. while i had plenty of practice with cooking at east campus, i still have a hard time with planning out meals and gathering the motivation to cook regularly. nonetheless, i enjoyed the food i consumed last week so i wanted to share!
saturday: i made a large quantity of kimchi fried rice using leftover rice and kimchi for a late lunch. it was glorious—tep’s kitchen makes it very easy to cook large quantities of food (in this case the industrial stove and the massive woks came in handy), so i unintentionally made several servings. not that i’m complaining!
i learned a kimchi fried rice recipe about two years ago and i’ve been going off of memory since then. i made kimchi fried rice a lot during the school year so i’ve tried to make the process as efficient as possible.
usually i start with chopping an onion, and then chopping the kimchi (if necessary). i then heat up and oil the wok, beat the eggs (i add vinegar to the eggs; this supposedly makes them more fluffy), and then pour them into the wok and cook just until they start to brown. then i take them out and put them back into the same bowl (to soak up any of the uncooked egg to avoid wasting it!), and then add in onions and kimchi to cook. when the juice from the kimchi is almost dry, i add the eggs back in, stir, and then add in the rice, season, and mix until it’s all combined.
i also fried some slices of spam on the side; it was very good!
sunday: my boyfriend and i went to the mad monkfish to celebrate his birthday! he got the vegetarian sushi deluxe, which came with a miso soup. the mad monkfish has very good vegetarian sushi offerings with interesting ingredients like mango and pickled daikon radish. i got a roast duck lychee curry, which was quite scrumptious. the roast duck was very tender and flavorful, and the skin was nice and crispy. i’ve never had lychee cooked in a savory dish before, but it worked very well with the curry! unfortunately, i found a piece of metal wire in the dish, but the waiter removed the cost of the dish from the bill (so maybe it was fortunate after all?).
i also made a donation to the massachusetts audubon society afterwards as payment (not serious lol, this was mostly a joke between my boyfriend and me) for eating the duck.
monday: i had some leftover kimchi fried rice with an air-fryer-roasted pork chop! i made a soy sauce/sweet chili rub to coat the pork chop and it turned out beautifully.
the air fryer is hands down my favorite piece of kitchen equipment. i cook literally everything with it, and it’s super fast, tasty, and even more healthy due to having less oil!
my tEp cook shift was also today; the kitchen was not very well stocked so we all kind of winged it. i tried cooking the rice, which was a bad idea since i am absolutely awful at making large quantities of rice (10+ cups of raw rice). this time there was some well cooked rice near the bottom and the middle, but the top was super dry. i added more water and kept cooking it until we served it, but it was definitely still subpar. i also stir-fried some bok choy and made a peach cobbler.
wednesday: my boyfriend brought back a honey chicken wrap from a trip he went on on tuesday. i normally hate wraps, but this one was really good. the chicken, while slightly bland, wasn’t dry! it was very well cooked. the honey seasoning was delicious, and there was also avocado, tomato, and lettuce that complimented the flavors quite nicely. somehow the raw onions (which i normally dislike) tasted good and didn’t have the sharp, pungent taste they usually do!
friday: my internship program got me free uber eats! i got 韭菜盒 (chive/egg pocket) and 夫妻肺片 (spicy beef tripe/tendon) from taiwan cafe. they were somewhat nostalgic because these were dishes i would get to eat during special occasions at home. it was also nice to get more “traditional” chinese dishes that i’m unable to make myself!
at night i got a too good 2 go surprise bag from cava. the bags are $3.99, and it’s a very sizable amount of food. usually the cava bowls cost $11-13, so it’s a ridiculously good value. if i had a list of boston food hacks, too good 2 go would probably be at the top of the list.
i’m moving out from tEp this week. there aren’t enough people to do normal cook shifts, so my boyfriend and i volunteered to do one tonight! we’re making an “all-american” dinner with roasted corn, potato skins, mushroom chowder, and crème brûlée (ok this one might not be american. but still!) i’m super excited!
lyricist 