Sick of eating the same dishes at Kampar new/old town everyday? Tired of wasting money on
外卖? Then this advice is for you: go and buy yourself a rice cooker today!
With a rice cooker, you can cook almost anything and everything that you might fancy to eat (Exaggeration). It is also better to stock up on canned foods or food stuff that can last- canned beans, tuna, sardines, pickled lettuce, packet/canned chicken, dried mushrooms etc. If you can get some, especially during pasar malam nights, fresh veges - my favourites: french beans, long beans, cabbage, carrots, young corn, onions, potatoes, eggs and others (but note that the vege that you choose must be easy to cook, or it won't be cooked even after your rice is already cooked). You might want to get some seasonings such as parsley, 'chiang mai' (I forgot what it is called in English, will edit this as soon as I find out :P), mint leaves, garlic, ginger, pepper, soya sauce or raisins as well. Last but not least, rice! (Or mee, mihun, porridge, steamed foodstuffs [like mantou, paos, xio mai/ dim sum/ dumplings, sweet/normal potatoes etc], corn (chopped into segments to fit in the rice cooker), soups, spaghetti - yes, you can even cook spaghetti!) Note that you'll need a metal stand and a metal plate small and flat enough to fit into your rice cooker for steaming stuff.
First of all, put in the amount of rice that you want to eat. Half or 3/5 of a cup of rice (the cup is usually provided when you buy a 5kg/10kg of rice but since you won't be eating that much rice before it spoils. It is better to get a cup from your mum or buy a plastic cup that has the height of about the length of your middle finger), for always-on-diet eaters, is usually enough for 2 meals. For moderate eaters, 1 full (up to the brim) cup can provide enough rice for 2 meals. For heavy eaters (those that like second helpings for every meal), then you might need 2 full cups. Next, wash your rice! (Taking rice cooking as an example) I usually wash it for about 3 rounds (you must change the filtered/ distilled water used to wash it, per round).
The easy way with only one rice cooker is to dump everything into the pot after you have washed the rice. But you will have to cut them into small, easier-to-be-cooked pieces before dumping them. That's one of the main reasons I choose french beans, flat beans (those peas in the pods), long beans, cabbage and carrots as my few main vege choices - you can cut them horizontally or even slanting but for carrots and potatoes, you must cut them into very thin pieces - if you want to make them into strip-style (like those found in salads), go ahead! :) Don't throw whole bulbs of onions into the rice - slice them up as well into cloves/ strips. Young corn may be a slight problem though - it is crumbly when it's cut into small pieces and, hence, I usually don't cook them :P For dried mushrooms, you'll need to dunk them in hot (preferably, because it's quicker) or cold water to soften them and let them bloat up before cutting - strips are usually the best way to cut mushrooms.
If you want to have a hard-boiled egg with your meal, then remember to boil it first before cooking your rice! However, we can easily replace that chicken egg with salted eggs (must also boil first) or 皮蛋 (can eat without boiling but ofc you must remove the shell first).
You can add some seasoning to your still-not-cooked rice! Add some sliced ginger/ garlic if you want or you can save them for later (put them after the rice is cooked).
While the rice is cooking (do keep an eye on it and not just fall asleep waiting lol), I'd suggest you open a can of foodstuff, preferably those with some kuah with them such as canned/ packet curry/black pepper chicken or canned beans or tuna/sardines/dace or pickled lettuce (this is more suitable for porridge but still, it's tasty ^^). Some people might like canned ikan bilis or prawns but I don't actually like the canned version of those - they just tasted funny. Open those cans or packets and put the contents in a separate bowl/ container. If you prefer your dishes hot, then you might want to heat them up using your rice cooker first (via steaming), before you cook your rice. Add some seasoning of your choice if you want - eg. pepper/ minced garlic/ ginger etc. A canned food can usually last me for 2 meals or more so that separate container should preferably have a cover of sorts for keeping in the fridge. You can also eat straight from the can but I do think that's not very hygienic (like eating food from a polystyrene container).
When you rice is almost cooked (you can see that the rice is semi-hardened/cooked and there are no bubbling water anywhere on the surface of your rice), add raisins, depending on how much you like raisins - they will help with flavouring your rice, but if you already have something else in mind, like soya sauce, then don't add them lah. You can also try putting in taufu (normal/ Japanese) but they break rather easily so you must be careful when putting them into the pot.
Furthermore, I've tried steaming those should-be-fried-instead meat products such as nuggets, fish fillets and I am sad to say they tasted horrible when steamed. Fish balls tasted weird too (they are proly not fully cooked when I've eaten them b'cause they are slightly slimy and had a very strong fishy scent... yuck!). Maybe you can try with xio mai (Dim sum sliced into pieces) - it may fail though heheh.
Lastly, when your rice is cooked, you can add any final seasonings, if you want, on top of the rice serving that you have taken from the pot. Also, if you can get your hands on some bak hu (pork floss), you can add them in as well but note that they are rather dry so I always eat them only when I have some other food that can provide lots of kuah (like canned beans). For petai lovers, you can buy a whole chain of petais and enjoy! :P
Voila! There you go! And all these steps will take, at most, 1 hour if you're cooking for only yourself and provided that you do not dilly-dally when chopping up the veges or when doing any of the steps. And, to top it all off, you can also get a glass/ cup of your favourite bevearage when eating your meal - fruit juices, iced lemon tea, Yakult/ Nutrigen/ Vitagen etc, isotonic/fizzy drinks (not advisable though coz they're gassy), boxed drinks, milk etc etc or perhaps just plain cold water!
For spaghetti, I have not yet really tried it out but, theoretically, you'll have to break them into halves at least so they can fit in your rice cooker, filled with hot boiling water. For pasta, it's simpler, you just boil them in hot water until they are soften enough then pile up a plate of pasta and add the sauce (tomato or mushroom, your choice. If you don't know how to make the sauce, just go buy them).
For mee/ noodles/ mihuns, you must cook the veges/ mushrooms/ anything that you want to add first, by boiling them in hot water until they are soften enough (thinner veges = easier to be cooked). Then, you boil the mee/noodles/mihun. If you want soup, pour away the water from the first boiling (I use the same boiled water for the veges and the mee/mihun but you must boil the veges first), and boil a new batch of water for the mee/noodles/mihun- so you can drink the soup (but still I'd advice against drinking it because maggie/any other packet noodles's seasonings are still not good for your health).
There are just so many ways to improve or, well, worsen your cooking and you'll have the enjoyment of trying them out! The varieties of ways you can cook and 'supplement' your meal are the fun part of this method of simple cooking. Be innovative and creative and I'm sure you can come up with something that is tasty, visually-nice and suitable for you!
Like what the French like to say, I wish you bon appetite for your first own-cooked meal! Good luck! ;)
On a side note, if you are a picky/meat-only eater, then this might be slightly difficult for you. Sorry ya! Though you might wanna try to take a step in curing yourself of the fear/ dislike of eating stuff that you don't eat by using this simple cooking method. hehe, but I'd say I'm too optimistic :P
* Also, stay tuned for easy tips on making sandwiches (special ones lah) :P
Edited 6/5/11: I tried mixing McD's black pepper with garlic as seasoning and I gotta say they are good! Today's meal - pi dan + pickled lettuce + rice + garlic + McD black pepper + French beans + mushrooms + raisins :)
