6 Kitchen Hacks To Elevate Your Cooking And Eating Experience

Main image via bookstr

Think of stew and what comes to mind? For us, it’s a hot bowl of carrots, potatoes, onions, and our favourite meats swimming in delicious creamy gravy. Unfortunately, that picture of a satisfying meal is also accompanied by a realisation that we have no time lah to cook something like that – or anything for that matter – due to our busy schedule.

But while we can’t change the circumstances in our lives, we can apply some pretty genius hacks to hopefully make something as rewarding as cooking for ourselves and a loved one simpler and quicker without it being called instant noodles.

Here are 6 cooking hacks you should know of….

#1 Separating egg yolks

via GIPHY

Don’t even try to use a spoon to separate egg yolks from whites, it’ll take forever with disastrous results. Instead, crack the egg into a bowl or plate, then place the opening of an empty plastic water bottle over the yolk and squeeze the bottle. Doing so creates a suction force that will perfectly separate the yolk from the egg white.

#2 Prevent tearing up when chopping onions

via GIPHY

Onions will make everything better, but only after they make you cry. To prevent tearing up, simply pop the onion into a freezer or ice water for about 10 minutes before chopping them. By freezing the onion, you are also freezing the chemicals that causes your eyes to water.

#3 Quickly remove fat from soup

via GIPHY

After a cold rainy day, who doesn’t like to tuck in with a warm bowl of soup, right? But as you know, soup – especially those with meat – contains fat and grease that can be off-putting. To quickly remove them, just drop a few ice cubes into your pot or bowl. The ice cubes will cause the fat to coagulate into blobs that can be easily scooped out.

#4 The lazy quick way of sharpening your knife

Hopefully someday science advances to a point where we can make knives that never dull. But till then we’ll just have to sharpen them. However, if you don’t own a knife sharpener, then you’ll be glad to know that you can use the rough surface (usually at the bottom) of a ceramic mug as a sharpener.

#5 Quickly peel prawns

Removing the shell from prawns can be quite time-consuming without the proper technique. To speed things up, start by first removing the tail. Then, slide the back half of the shell off before removing the head. 

#6 Cook with blue fire

via GIPHY

Any form of fire can be used to cook food, but for tastier and healthier results, a blue flame is best. A blue flame such as that produced by Petron Gasul combusts completely, leading to higher (hotter) temperature and less soot (cleaner).

Speaking of Petron Gasul, PETRON has recently initiated a 2D1N trip to Penang and Ipoh with chef and artist Dato Fazley Yaakob, and actress and TV host Sazzy Falak in an effort to educate the public about the benefits of the blue flame while uncovering places for delicious food within Penang and Ipoh. Watch their food adventure below!

The good folks at PETRON is also giving one lucky winner the chance to have Dato Fazley as their personal chef for 12 hours in their #PetronGasulJaguhMasak contest running from now to the 4^th of December.

To win, simply:

1. Cook up your best dish using a gas stove.
2. Post a picture of your creation on Facebook or Instagram.
3. Hashtag your entries with #PetronGasulJaguhMasak and set your post to Public.

The lucky winner will be announced on Petron Malaysia’s Facebook page on the 8^th of December.

Not sure what to cook for the contest? How about Dato Fazley Yaakob’s prawn pasta with green sambal! We’ll even give you the recipe.

For the dish, you’ll need:

• 400g of boiled pasta
• 5 pieces of prawns
• 2 large onions
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 10 green chillies
• 5 birds eye chillies
• 2 green tomatoes
• 2 green brinjals
• ½ lemon
• ½ table spoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• ½ cup of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of butter

To prepare the green sambal:

• Quarter the large onions and soak in hot water with green chillies and birds eye chillies. Then dry in a colander.
• Slice the garlic, tomatoes, and green brinjals.
• Mix all the ingredients and pound into a rough paste with a pestle and mortar.
• Heat the olive oil in a wok. Once oil is hot, add the rough paste.
• Juice lemon, and add salt and sugar.

To prepare the meal:

• Melt butter in a pan, sauté prawns, then mix green sambal.
• Stir-fry to perfection then add boiled pasta.
• Serve.

Psst! This is the perfect time to try out some of those hacks we told you about! Good luck with the contest and happy cooking!