Hello all, you may remember me from my mouth-watering cooking column last year. I am overjoyed to tell you all that I have not abandoned one of my favorite pastimes during the pandemic. Instead, I have brought about a revolution in my kitchen. At first, I had to settle with limited ingredients, but around mid summer, I was able to go back into full vegetable steam and jump into the pan.
At the beginning, I would make simple dishes like goreng nasi, a typical Indonesian dish complete with stir fried chicken and rice glazed with hành phi, a traditional Vietnamese fried shallot  and lime juice. This is a relatively simple recipe that I even made for a few school lunches to make up for not being able to indulge in the famous Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community High School hot lunches. I would highly recommend this dish to anyone who’s not sure what to cook because of the versatility of this dish.  All you need to prepare is jasmine rice, thenstir fry it with chicken and kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), everything else is up to you. Want tomatoes? Go for it! Want eggs? Your dish! Want chickpeas? There is no wrong way to make goreng nasi!
Later, when ingredients were more easily accessible, I made one of my favorite dishes: Khmer style chicken amok. This dish is something I would recommend to anyone who enjoys Khmer or Southeast Asian cuisine in general. However, it is less malleable than goreng nasi and requires more skill. Additionally, it is harder to find the ingredients, which I am able to get at a local Asian market. Part of this recipe requires a special Khmer amok paste which I make by hand using a mortar and pestle.  While this task is hard, it is rewarding because it is always fun making food the traditional way.
Another favorite recipe of mine that I made during the summer is a West African style peanut stew (would not recommend for people with peanut allergies). At first glance, looking at common recipes for this one may feel woosey. I mean, tomatoes and peanut butter? But trust me, it is great! Using peanut butter on a slow burn with tomato, chicken or beef gives the stew a great texture, especially when the finished stew is glazed with roasted peanuts. Peanut soup is a very delicious and forgiving dish that you can mess around with however you want and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys West African cuisine and peanuts. The slight acidity of the sauteed tomatoes and other ingredients compliments the sweetness of the peanuts very wonderfully like a ballet of flavor.