A Table for One

For six long years, I have been away from my family to work in a nearby place. Living alone taught me a lot of things: laundry, taking care of my stuff, washing dishes and several others that I must do or else I'd be living in a place called Garbage Home.

Among all the domesticating works I do, there's one thing that I love so much: COOKING.

I can say that I have unlocked the secrets in good cooking, and I learned that there's one more fun thing I discovered... mastering the art of cooking for one.

Usual menus include Filipino dishes like Sinigang for one, Adobo for one, Caldereta for one, Kare-Kare for one and many more other dishes. I also do any dish that I like as long as it doesn't require baking.

Well, if you live alone, and you have no one to share the meals with, you might as well cook the same way that I do. It needs skills though. I do not want to make it sound complicated, but I'm telling you, its not that easy.

Dinner from the other night. Pan grilled stuffed squid in Oyster sauce
served with singkamas (white turnip) on the side, for one. Yes sir, no rice.

So, what's the hard part about cooking for one? Well, to start with, you need to get yourself a big fridge. What's with the big fridge? Its where you keep the remaining ingredients when you cook for one. You can't buy a piece of fish, a chop or several slices of meat because things you see in the market or in the grocery are sold by kilos. Lucky if you can have them by half-kilos, or you have other plans using the same ingredient. Otherwise, you'll have to keep them in the cold storage.

Second, selecting dry ingredients that comes in small packages is a pain in the arse problem too. It's the same as buying stuff that needs the cold storage. You can't leave a small box of flour open for a long period of time, nor use an entire can of preserved fruit for a dish for one.

Finally, if at first you won't succeed... You'll have your official 'Adobo day' or whatever dish you just made. You'll think you cooked enough for one, but will end eating a dish for three. Save them, you can always have them later :P