Tools, What's the Chosen One?

You really don't need a lot of tools. You just need the right one.

Most of my recipes can be prepared even if you just have one knife (and cutting board), and one pot.

You may wonder if that works. Let me tell you, I use my go-to knife (mine is an utility knife) 99% of the time and the 1% time when I have to use another knife is when I am cutting raw meat.

It goes without saying that having multiple sizes of each tool and multiple tools for each purpose is more convenient, especially when you are preparing food for a family or a group of people. I have listed my suggestions as well.

Let me say this first, for different people, the right ones can vary. Tools of your own has to fit you, just like your food.

The most essential and important tool in the kitchen is the knife so let's start from there.

One Knife: Chef's Knife or Utility Knife

My utility knives

You want a knife that feels good and wieldy in your hand. Make sure you are comfortable with its weight and your knuckles won't hit or touch the cutting board when you cut ingredients.

There are many types of knives (My Knife Page). If I could only choose one with me, I'd opt for my utility knife (also called tomato knife or sandwich knife).

Ok, I do have two but they are about the same. The one on the left comes with a sheath which makes the storing and traveling easier. The one on the right, with a white blade is a ceramic knife that I use to cut tomatoes or for other delicate work. I put a graph paper with the inch lines to show you that the blades are about 5 inches long. Their length and weight are perfect for me.

As you can see, the space between the lowest point of the blade and the bottom of handle is not that much. For me, that is not a problem since I have skinny fingers. For people who need more finger space, a chef's knife (also called French knife) would work better. It's a general purpose knife with a blade that usually comes in 6 to 8 inches and would probably be most people's first choice.

My paring knives

I do have a chef's knife but I rarely use it. Also my chef's knife is closer to Japanese style (Western vs Japanese Styles).

Two Knives: Adding Paring Knife

When you consider to have another knife, I would suggest a paring knife.

I have two paring knives and their blades are around 3 1/2 inches as you can see in the picture. The one on the right is a Japanese Santoku paring knife.

More cutlery? 
I suggest to add more knives in the following order.

• Vegetable peeler.
• Chef's knife or utility knife if you don't have one yet.
• Serrated knife
• Boning knife

One Pot: a Four-Qt Stainless Pot
It is a great choice because you can use it to boil, braise, stew, fry or cook pasta for one to three people. You can also use it to pan fry or stir fry.

The second one to add would be a 10-inch non-stick frying pan, preferably with a tight fitting lid. (Sauteuse versus Sautoir)

More pots and pans?
I suggest to add the followings:

• A three-quart pot
• A non-stick 8 inch sauteuse just for cooking eggs
• Stock pot 

Note:

Santoku knife versus Western chef's knife illustrated:

How to Make a Double Boiler?

When you are melting chocolate, or making Hollandaise sauce, you often see the recipe calls for a double boiler (also called water bath or bain marie in French), in order to heat the materials gently and gradually at fixed low temperatures, or to keep it warm over a period of time.

However, you don't have to buy one. A double boiler is the same as using a bowl over, but not touching, a slightly smaller pot with simmering water. This way you could control the heating process to the minimum fluctuation and you could lift the bowl with the material when it's overheated.

There are tricks if you can't find exact the sizes of pots to stack one over another.

1. Use a metal ring like shown in the picture, or use a shallow saucer, anything that can be heated on the stove top, can lift the upper bowl above the water and prevent water from getting into the material.
   
   
   


2. Use chop sticks. This is not as stable thus harder to maneuver and I would avoid it if I can. If you really have no other way to go around, it's worth a try.
   
   
   
   



3. If you have nothing else, a little touching won't be a killer. You just have to be more careful in controlling the heating and cooling - more ups and downs exercise for the arm.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Try microwaving it. The good thing about microwaving is, once you figure out the right timing, it's pretty consistent. However for the first trial, you need to do it in very short intervals (10 sec) and figure out the total amount of time required. Then in regular practices, work in rounds of 15 to 20 sec intervals to prevent overheating.

Happy heating.

You Only Need the Basics!

It would be remiss of me not to explain after I posted the "Asian Ingredients" especially because I might have scared you off, those exactly who I hope this blog could help.

There are so many great recipes out there with step by step pictures and perfect photography that makes the dishes so tempting like you could almost smell it.

I do wonder, what if I were a student, living with roommates, with very tight budget? What if the closest Asian market is 20 miles away and it's smaller than my apartment? What if I can't buy all those ingredients and just use them once or twice a month and I can't buy all the tools in the right sizes, because I only get one drawer's space, one shelf in the refrigerator, and most importantly, I'll have to get rid of most of them when I move.

I do wonder because I know people just like that. Since they are my friends, I can't bear to see them suffer for food, like how I did years ago -- far away from home, stressed out at school or at work, craving for something simple yet familiar to comfort the body and soul, but I was new to cooking (ok, truth be told, I knew absolutely nothing about cooking,) and either fixing familiar Asian food, or exploring Western food were equally epically challenging to me.

Fear not! You do not need a lot for delicious food, neither tools or ingredients.

You only need some basics and knowledge about what makes food delicious, even if you only have a knife, a pot, and manage to find two ingredients from the neighborhood supermarket. (I suppose you do have a bowl and spoon to eat with. I will post something to show you there are many free wares around when you have to travel light.)

Well, I'll just have to show you some examples, right? Got that.

Stay tuned and come back soon.