The statewide quarantines may have kept people cooped up at home for an extended period of time but these also allowed many of them to discover new facets of their personalities and capabilities. A good number of us have found our mojo by whipping up divine dishes and drinks in the kitchen to satisfy the family’s gastronomic cravings.
Here’s a list of food preparations that became popular quarantine staples. You may want to try making them, too:
Dalgona coffee: your whipped cuppa Joe
Dalgona coffee is a breakout coffee trend popularized by a Korean actor on Tiktok in the early months of 2020. The name, “dalgona” comes from a spongy Korean candy which the actor said has a similar taste.
You only need four ingredients for this: sugar, instant coffee, water, and milk. The trick to making the perfect dalgona coffee is by vigorously whisking the sugar, coffee, and water until it becomes foamy in texture. Others use a hand mixer for an easier and faster whisk. Click here for directions on how to make it.
Fried rice
The Asian uproar over a BBC cooking video of egg fried rice has put this simple yet flavorful dish to the fore. Here are a few takeaways from that video:
- Wash rice before cooking.
- Use the joint of your finger to measure water to cook your rice in.
- Do not drain soggy rice in a colander then run it under tap water.
- Never use metal utensils to cook stuff on a Teflon-coated pan.
- MSG is not an enemy.
Fried rice is wonderful because you can garnish it with just about anything – from simply adding eggs to placing mushrooms, basil leaves, shrimps, cold cuts, and anything else you have in your pantry.
Here’s a simple egg fried rice recipe that can be done in just 5 to 10 minutes. But if you’re going for an all-American flavor, you can cook up a storm with this recipe for bacon cheeseburger rice.
Veggie meals
With no cure in sight yet for COVID-19, one of the primary recommendations is to boost one’s immune system. Here’s good news: vegetables are among the best immunity boosters around. Couple these with muscle-forming proteins and you’ve got a meal that’s both satisfying and great for your health. A complete one-dish veggie meal is the Mediterranean tuna salad that’s low on fat but big in taste. You can take it as-is or use it as filling for yummy sandwiches.
Make it pasta
You can never go wrong with pasta, especially if you know the secret to making the rich flavors stick to the pasta itself. (Highly recommending No. 7!)
Pasta is another dish that can be whipped up using anything you can find in your ref and pantry. However, the best pasta recipes are those that take the herbs and spices to a whole new level and sauces made from scratch using fresh ingredients.
One simple no-fail pasta dish is aglio olio which, in Italian, means olive oil and garlic. Those are basically the main ingredients for the sauce. Add parsley, chili flakes, and your choice of protein for that authentic Italian taste. Here’s how to cook it.
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