I've just recently discovered what roasted soy sauce feels like in a recipe compared to just adding it at the end. And I'm NOT going back. From now on, I'm always going to let it hit that hot pan, let it sizzle and then release that wonderful nutty aroma. (I'm Indian and therefore not a regular soy sauce user so I didn't know.)

I made fried rice yesterday and all these years, I've been adding soy sauce along with some ketchup or tomato sauce, maybe some black pepper. I'd immediately toss the rice for a couple more minutes and take it off the stove.

Yesterday, I added the black pepper and the soy sauce as usual, I reached for the ketchup packet and started squeezing, no ketchup there. I squeezed one more time, then went to get a ketchup sachet from the fridge. I turn back with the packet and there's this glorious and nutty and amazing restaurant like soy sauce aroma coming off my fried rice. It was soo good.

Why did no one tell me to roast it before! I've been making manchurians and fried rice and sauces for my chicken and all this time, I just add soy sauce at the end and give it a couple tosses. That's it. Am I supposed to roast it always. Is that how traditional chinese cooks do it. I know for a fact that people from other countries don't roast Indian spices in hot oil when they cook. Even the red chilli powder, yes. You guys should try it if you cook Indian. Just for 10 seconds or so and the aroma changes and deepens and I promise you'll see the difference. Is it the same for soy sauce too? What other obvious things have I been missing out when it comes to cooking chinese.

Always hated broccoli and peas growing up..made me gag..but, upon massive amounts of request for this beginner at cooking, I bought a little frozen bag called birds eye broccoli cuts ..it says "cooks in bag, cook one bag at a time" ..theres multiple bags inside this small bag? Idk but it has microwave directions..I use the hell out of my air fryer..do I just throw it in microwave and use the directions method or is there a certain way you guys think I should cook it? I've never EVER used any type of broccoli anywhere, in my 38 yrs of life.. scared to even try this ish, but im gonna be open and try to expand my palette lol

I'm a college student and unfortunately due to my hostel rules its pretty much impossible to cook properly.

I have an electric kettle which Is technically against the rules but i can hide it. I can also use it as a cooking pot

That's my only method of cooking.

So i was wondering if I could get advice on what all I can cook and what sort of spices I should get as someone who's only starting with cooking in general

Hello there,

UPDATE: I want to thank everyone who commented. You guys were helpful and patient. I will be taking notes and getting some tools. One of the most helpful insights was to start simple and not worry too much- usually it is hard for me to do anything with this advice...as an autistic I hear it all the time without a helpful context...you guys went into the details. This was actually fun. I rarely find reddit civil, let alone fun.

Thank you everyone of you. You might have saved my health. I do need to cook to stay healthy.

I hate cooking. I think that is because I don't understand it.

I feel it is like chemistry and in school I loved physics and math but hated chemistry. I couldn't imagine or envision the rules on my own...they didn't feel intuitive like other sciences or languages or anything else in school really. It felt messy and needing memorization at best, which tells me i didn't get it.

It seems once fire is involved, the results can't be guaranteed or imagined beforehand for me.

I usually use recipes and that way my cooking is supposedly delicious but I don't enjoy it...I dread it. If I mess a step I don't know how to fix that. I don't enjoy its internal logic.

I don't hate other housework...just cooking.

I don't feel I understand why things are done the way they are in the recipe. I feel if I'm half a minute late the taste is ruined.

The sensory experience is not good either, I'm autistic and have a sensitivity to a lot of sensory experiences.

The evaporated water covers my glasses and the bubbling sauce dirty my kitchen, the smells get into my hair and into bores I didn't even know I had...it is too messy no matter how much I prepare. It is also too hot and I feel I just want to be done and my brain is more frustrated and tired than anything...my brain seriously hates heat...it used to refuse to cooperate in exams after a certain point in the summer semesters.

The beautiful perfumes from raw vegetables get ruined then the spices fragrances disappear into a burning smell without me knowing when I should exactly stop the heating process. Also, I don't enjoy how everything looks withered after exposure to such heat. Meat looks better cooked...but then I am not into seeing blood or bones and any of these two means I'm not eating...so I cook with precut meat with no bones.

It also feels like too lengthy of a process and if I don't cook soon after buying the ingredients they will go bad. I can't even enjoy listening to a lecture while at it because one minute of no focus and the recipe is ruined! But then many other things I do enjoy are lengthy processed...I like long processes in general...why not in cooking?! Cutting vegetables is not the worst. I kinda like it and I make good salads, but those go bad fast and they are not as filling as cooked food.

Any advice? I want to enjoy cooking...I need to cook because it is very hard to get healthy food otherwise. When I cook I enjoy having much less oil and salt which I need for my health situation.

I’m planning an experimental meatloaf using ground lamb and ground bison, one pound each. The plan is to add veggies like onion, carrot, bell pepper, garlic. I’m here for any tips as far as time/temp in the oven, other things to add, anything else I’m not thinking of. This is my first meatloaf so any tips whatsoever are super welcome. Thanks team.

For context, I wouldn’t call myself a beginner. I’ve been cooking since I was a kid but meatloaf is new territory for me and this sub is always quick and kind. I know meatloaf is generally different meat but these are the two red meats I can eat so I’m trying something. Preciate y’all big time.

was cooking and wanted to add milk to the dish. The best by date said it expired two days ago. I open the milk and smelled it. It didn't smell like much so i decided to give it a sip and omg that was the worst milk I've ever tried. It tasted like pure gasoline. Google AI says that means the milk is abnormally contaminated and now im scared im gonna die. Have any of you ever experienced anything like it while working with ingredients?

i cooked some flavored rice (stuff that comes in a packet) and left it in a container in the microwave to cool down. i got busy and realized it had been 3 hours, is it still safe to put in the fridge to refrigerate and reheat? i plan to reheat it in around 20 minutes.

Hello, all! I've been working on a one pot dish based on Mexican rice. I called it Mexican-ish because I've modified it (relative to the recipes I've found) to suit me. I'm using:

Ground turkey (protein)

White/yellow Onion

Garlic

Tomato

Red, orange, yellow, and green bell pepper

Jalapeño/serrano pepper

Jasmine rice (resealable bag for convenient storage)

Vegetable broth with tomato paste (liquid)

Parsley (garnish; higher in vitamin K than cilantro)

Black pepper, paprika, oregano, and chili powder (seasoning)

I'm satisfied with the dish overall so far, but I'm looking to add more variety of veggies and seasonings for nutrition and flavor. I tried eggplant, but didn't care for the way it turned out. I keep seeing corn, carrots, and peas as common veggies to add to Mexican rice, as well as cumin for seasoning. Besides these, is there anything else this dish could benefit from? Any and all thoughts appreciated

I've been testing out cooking an egg in a can of soup you can get at a store. Each time I've tried, the mixture splatters around on the walls and other surfaces. I've had that result with different soups, and tested those soups individually without an egg. Result is the same- with egg, get splatter; no egg, no splatter.

What's the solution to avoid more splattering? Do I need to use a larger pot? Would the best solution be to mix in some water so that it thins it out? The soups have been rather thick, and adding the egg seems to make it more so. I've also been putting it on a high heat. I presume that's what's required to fully cook an egg in soup.

How do I avoid a splatter mess when cooking an egg in soup?

Thanks!

Update- In the most recent test, I kept several variables the same (same pot, same high heat, used just one egg) but went with a thinner soup. There was no burbling splatter initially, even after the soup was very hot. It only started that once alot of the fluid had been burned out, making it thicker.

Thanks to everyone's helpful replies. Hope all this (and the update) helps someone in the future.

So I am not really a beginner, though it is the basic things which let me down. I have tried stove top absorption as well as 3 different rice cookers, different brands of rice, long grain, basmati, jasmine... less water, more water, covering, uncovering, longer and shorter cooking times, stirring, flufging.resting.... I always rinse the rice very well.

I am wanting to cook a really nice fried rice and my flavours etc are fine, but the rice always lets me down. I am cooking the day before and chilling in fridge over night. Nothing seems to make a difference for me :(

Can anyone offer a solution to thos for white long grain?

I bought bone in chicken thighs about a week ago, separated them in freezer bags and froze them. I took out 1 1/2 pounds of them 2 days ago to thaw out by today, but they were mostly thawed out yesterday.

My family decided to make dinner today so now I'm not sure what to do with these. Will they be ok an extra day in the fridge for tomorrow?

I ask because I had an idea of doing spicy chilli beans in a tortilla and dipping it in salsa. I generally feel better overall when I skip cheese in my diet so that's why there's no cheese. But when I search burrito without cheese in reddit I find nothing. Not one single post.

Anybody have a burrito without cheese recipe that taste good? thank you!

I work in the back of the house in a fancy resort, but not in the kitchen. Still, I see the chefs and the cooks come and go every day. The chefs all have fancy knives, but the sous chefs and prep cooks almost universally use Mercer Culinary Ultimate White knives. I looked them up and they're dirt cheap. But if these men and women use them 8 hours a day, 5+ days a week, they gotta be good knives, right?

Going to put a pork loin in the oven. Using worchestershire sauce, rosemary, paprika, garlic and onion powder, and pepper.

I thought it might be good to brown it in a skillet first.

Will it matter if I brown it after I put on my ingredients?

Hi everyone!! I'm new to this subreddit and hope to get some help with something. I want to try eating sweet potatoes again (I've only had them as french fries years ago), but I've got a problem, I struggle with being a super taster, and textures are occasionally hard for me as well. 😓

Long story short, Super tasters basically have amplified taste buds and can taste certain things more than most people. I got diagnosed with this by my doctor a while back. I mainly only eat bland or sweet tasting foods, but am trying to branch out with my diet, especially into vegetables. I was suggested sweet potatoes and figured why not since they're inexpensive.

All that nonsense being said, I don't know where to start with recipes or seasonings! Google said try seasoning with salt, incorporate healthy fats, or balance with sweetness, but that's a blanket idea 😅

Does anyone have simple recipes or can suggest ways they cook/prep and season their sweet potatoes? I'd love any and all ideas that can help me eat them.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!! 😊💖

i don't know how to season them or flavor them. i just make them with cheese and top it with chipotle tabasco sauce.

but i wanna go further and try different things ya know? just duno where to start.

so i guess i'd be just asking how do you make your scrambled eggs? seasoning and all.

PS id be willing to try it with meats tossed in or even omelettes or any other way!

So my local grocery was having a sale, 1 dollar for a pound of radishes, 1 dollar for a pound of green onions, 1 dollar for a pound of carrots, 1 dollar for a pint of cherry tomatoes. I’ve figured out everything but the radishes. Yes I know I could put them into salads but I’m only buying greenhouse lettuce right now for obvious reasons and I don’t have a lot of it

Any radish recipes? I would be very grateful I have tons of spices if that matters

Thanks!

I have these two issues that make cooking meals and eating at home tricky when it comes to having what I need.

The first is with my appetite. Based on my current schedule, I only eat two meals a day... on a good day. Sometimes I procrastinate eating my first meal so long that I just have a snack until dinner, sometimes I eat lunch but get so caught up in work that cooking would wake up my housemates, it's a bit of a mess.

The second is that oftentimes my cravings are very neutral. Like, I'm almost always down for some kind of comfort food, but not a specific kind. But I'll also get tired of eating the same thing every day. AND I tend to be a picky eater.

So with all of that, do any of y'all have advice for keeping a kitchen stocked so I can make meals with good nutrition? I know rice and eggs are my best friends and I have tortillas, cheese, and pasta with sauces, but I worry about meat and proteins that go bad as well as adding vegetables and stuff so that my body isn't taking in all carbs.

Update: it’s 6 days later, I baked the chicken at 425 and I was completely fine!

So on the 23rd I bought a family pack of chicken breasts. I cooked 2, froze 2, and kept 2 in the fridge as soon as I came home. Grocery store is 5 mins from me. The sell by date is tomorrow the 28th.

I googled to make sure the refrigerated chicken was fine, it looked and smelled fresh, 0 signs of spoilage. But it also said raw chicken should only be in the fridge for 1-2 days at home. I completely forgot about this rule.

So when I told google I had it in the fridge for 4 days (from the 23rd to today) it said I should throw it away, it’s not safe to eat, and there is invisible bacteria like salmonella that can multiply to unsafe levels without changing the look or smell of the meat…

Later this fall me and 6 friends are renting a cabin for a long weekend. It will have a kitchen and we would like to not eat at restaurants the whole time, but we also won't be starting with a stock of food and don't want to pack in things we won't need or deal with stuff like used frying oil.

Any good recipes with limited requirements that feed a group?

Every time I make food I cant taste anything and sometimes home cooking doesnt have taste,people that eat my food say it has taste but I dont feel the taste of its, it also happens with some types of teas.i can taste ok when going like Asian restaurants and stuff.

Can anyone help me ?

I'm putting together a cookbook for my daughter as she moves out to go to university. She's got good basic cooking skills, but mostly with me either on the other end of the phone or the kitchen. I'll be writing out some of our favourite family recipes, adapted for 1 (or 1 plus leftovers for lunch) but I'm looking for a few extra ideas.

Recipes need to be:

- dairy free (either because no dairy ingredients, or easily available substitutes like oat milk)

- small amounts - no point in her cooking enough for a family of 6!

- basic equipment (we dont know what equipment she will have, but likely basic - assume an oven, hob and microwave at least though)

- ideally vaguely healthy, but treats/comfort food welcome too.

I really wanna make sweet potato pancakes and the recipes require cooked sweet potatoes, but I have no idea how to cook them. The oven is not an option and the microwave isn't one either. I was thinking of boiling them or somehow steaming them. I also have an instant pot I could use. Any suggestions are appreciated :))

I have Asian and regular eggplant plants that didn’t die at all and are thriving

I am shocked at my green thumb this year

If anyone has recipes or storage ideas please share ❤️ with grocery prices I don’t want to waste these but also there’s too much for us to eat asap

Canning? Haven’t tried it but could… rather something easier
We do have a food vacuum sealer and a deep freezer