Grub

I am a lousy cook, but trial and error (and throwing out a lot of inedible concoctions) has led me to a few conclusions:

1. Chicken is better boiled than fried. When I fry it, it gets dry, brittle, and shrinks. I've started boiling it in a a mixture of water, soy sauce, and whatever else pops into my head (basil, white pepper, nutmeg, vanilla extract . . .). The result is strangely tasty, at least when I'm really hungry.

2. There is such a thing as too much seaweed. I finally bought the right kind of seaweed for miso soup, called wakame, but put entirely too much of it in. Makes the soup smell like a bowl of ocean.

3. Rice cookers are king. It's incredible; you just dump in the water and rice (they're supposed to be 1:1 by volume but that doesn't even matter that much), wait 20 minutes, and you have perfectly cooked rice! It even politely beeps when it's done cooking! Why don't we have pizza cookers that do the same thing?!

I'm gaining a weird sense of familiarity with my kitchen after only three weeks--I'm getting good at multitasking, starting the rice before my shower to save time, ordering the cutting so the meat is last, etc. Maybe I will attempt more difficult things--I have an awesome bilingual cookbook (which is essential--don't want to be asking the Japanese grocer for "glutinous riceflour" or "one burdock root" in English). There is an "Old Man and the Sea" quality to actually seeking out an ingredient and then making something edible out of it--man wins against the elements! Or, civility wins against the college lifestyle.

And finally, I am addicted to cabbage, but that is neither here nor there.

Je suis nul dans la cuisine, mais en tâtonnnant (et à travers beaucoup de plats versés dans la poubelle) je suis arrivé à quelques conclusions:

1. Le poulet est mieux bouilli que frit. Lorsque je le fris, il se dessèche et se rétrécit. J'ai commencé à le bouillir dans un mélange d'eau, de sauce de soja, puis tout ce que je trouve sous la main (basilic, poivre blanc, noix de muscade, extrait de vanille!). Je trouve les résultats bien délicieux--surtout lorsque j'ai très faim!

2. Mettre trop d'algue dans la soupe, c'est en effet possible (je l'ai constaté ce soir même . . .). On a l'impression de boire de l'eau d'océan.

3. Le cuiseur de riz est une invention incroyable--on y jette du riz et de l'eau et on l'oublie, jusqu'à ce qu'il émet un bip poli. Et pourquoi pas inventer un cuiseur de pizza?