Cooking global faves from my kitchen is literally the only thing keeping me sane in this suburban hellscape right now, okay? Like, I’m sitting here in Ohio, it’s November, it’s gray, the neighbors are already putting up Christmas lights and I’m over here crying into a pot of tom yum because the lemongrass at Kroger looks like it lost a fight with a lawnmower. But whatever, we work with what we got.
Why I’m Obsessed with Cooking Global Faves from My Tiny American Kitchen
Look, I’ve never been cool enough to backpack through Southeast Asia or whatever, but TikTok and a pandemic made me dangerous. One day I’m eating sad microwave quesadillas, next thing you know I’m ordering fish sauce in bulk and telling my mom “no, I can’t do Sunday dinner, I’m rendering beef fat for rendang.” She still hasn’t recovered. Cooking Global Faves
That One Time Cooking Global Faves Almost Ended Me (The Kimchi Catastrophe)
So I decided to make kimchi jjigae because I saw it on some K-drama and thought “how hard can it be?” Famous last words. I bought gochugaru off Amazon—arrives, it’s basically red glitter. Cool. I stuff an entire napa cabbage into a Target container that definitely wasn’t big enough, add like a cup of salt because “salted to taste” is apparently not a thing I understand, and then I left it on my counter for three days. Three. Days. In July. My kitchen smelled like a seafood market had a baby with death. My dog refused to enter the room. 0/10, do not recommend the salt ratio I used, but the jjigae I eventually made slapped so hard I almost forgave myself.
Pro tip from someone who’s still learning: Cooking Global Faves
- Taste as you go, unlike me who just vibes https://www.seriouseats.com/butter-chicken-recipe
- Fish sauce is not a personality trait (even though I want it to be)
- Your smoke alarm is not a timer, stop testing this theory Cooking Global Faves
The Recipes I Keep Going Back To When Cooking Global Faves Saves My Soul
These are the ones I make when I’m homesick for places I’ve never even been to, lol.
- Shakshuka – because dumping a can of tomatoes in a skillet and cracking eggs in it feels like cheating but also like I’m in Tel Aviv or whatever. I add way too much harissa because mild is for cowards.
- Butter Chicken – yes I use the Deb Perelman shortcut with garam masala and canned tomatoes, fight me. Tastes better than half the places in NYC anyway.
- Tteokbokki – those rice cakes from H-Mart are my emotional support carbs. I put an embarrassing amount of cheese on top and call it fusion. Cooking Global Faveshttps://www.koreanbapsang.com/kimchi-jjigae-kimchi-stew/
The Gear I Swear By (And the Stuff I Fake) Cooking Global Faves
I don’t have a $400 Japanese knife, okay? My $12 Kiwi chef’s knife from the Asian grocery sharpens like a dream and I will fistfight anyone who says otherwise. Also, a $20 carbon steel wok from Amazon that I still haven’t seasoned properly—seasoning a wok in an apartment with no ventilation is performance art, honestly. https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-season-a-wok/
Final Thoughts While My Kitchen Still Smells Like Curry and Regret
Cooking global faves from my kitchen is messy, expensive, and sometimes straight-up humiliating, but also… dude, when it works? When the flavors finally line up and you’re sitting on your couch eating something that tastes like a plane ticket? Nothing beats it. Nothing.
So yeah, grab whatever sad produce corporate America is selling you this week and make something that scares your mom a little. Worst case, you order pizza and try again tomorrow. Cooking Global Faves
What global dish are you attempting next in your own chaotic kitchen? Drop it below, I need new ways to ruin my security deposit.
