Top five dishes that aren’t hard to cook at home

One of the most un-talked about issues of this pandemic is the food we have at home.  One must never live on cup noodles or hotdog or cookies alone. One must not rely on fried chicken or fried fish to get you by. Nor should you blow your money off by ordering out each and everyday. The truth is, we must be able to eat what we also want- even dishes that sound exotic or may sound too foreign to our usual “adobo” and “menudo”. To share, I am not a good cook. But I was able to prep the following dishes because of my love and craving for them- as well as my mission to serve something else in the house in this COVID-19 era. Without further ado, here’s my list of the top five dishes that aren’t hard to cook at home:

1. Beef Stroganoff

The name will actually intimidate you–but all it really is are deviously sliced beef with creamy sauce It’s actually very easy to make. It’s just a matter of coming up with a good sauce and seasoning it well.

2. Chicken ala King

I have always loved the Chicken ala king served in French Baker. The one which they delicately place in the middle of a hot bed of bread.  But I cannot, for the life of me, imagine ordering that everyday with the kind of portions they have (yes, i need more!). Having Chicken ala king a home is so comforting- specially when you know you can prepare big batches to last you days!

3. Beef Salpicao

I remember my friends ordering this, not just with steaming hot rice- but as the perfect complement to those “inuman” sessions. It is actually, also, very simple to cook as long as you know how to make the meat tender and balance off the spices that you put in the dish.

4. Pad Thai

If you do not have any Thai resto near you- or if you find one but find the cost off your budget, it’s time to make your own version at home. The secret to making a good Pad Thai is how to be able to mix the sweet, the sour and the spicy in one dish.  And the nice thing about Pad Thai is you feel like the earthy taste of the vegetables and the tofu plus the protein of the chicken and shrimp make for such a healthy meal.

5. Kung Pao Chicken

Though I love Yellow Cab’s Charlie Chan, the cost is something I detest. Which is why I learned to cook it myself–and surprisingly, making a few servings of this delicious Asian dish isn’t that expensive or hard when cooked at home. The nice thing about this is that you can control the spiciness that comes with the dish, specially if you have kids as your eaters.