Tips and Thoughts

Before trying out these recipes there are some thoughts I’d like share;

• Rule No.1, DON'T COOK BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO COOK!
• Rule No.2, THERE ARE NO MORE RULES! (Break all rules except rule No.1)
• There are no quantities mentioned - mentioning quantities is like old school, we need cooks not robots (how can someone a million miles away on another planet may be, who has never met me know how much chili I like in my beef curry). My mom never followed quantities, she trusted her instincts and experience and she is the best cook I know. Mentioning quantities kills the natural cook in you. Try out and see what you come up with, if you don't like it change and retry until it tastes good. The world was not built in one day, so... don't worry about not getting it right the first time.
• Cooking tastes best when you constantly meddle with it. If you put it on the stove and comeback in 15 mins, Oh! I can imagine what it will taste like (grrrr… shivers down my spine). Stir and mix frequently. Taste once in a while and see what is missing, add more salt or chili or pepper or cream... etc. etc.. Ahhh and then you get the real taste. (If you want to watch your favorite TV program while cooking, sadly you will not enjoy either)
• Don't worry if your cooking does not taste like Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, it is more likely that Alain Ducasse can't get his cooking to taste like yours. Do not worry of what others think of your cooking, but with three exceptions 1. Your mother-in-law, 2. Your children, and 3. Your spouse’s friends (note the order of importance)
• EVERYBODY IS A GREAT COOK ... the only difference is whether they can eat, let alone whether someone else can eat their cooking. So don't worry about others if you can eat, so can others. The best chef in Korea would make a delicious "monkey brain", but will the world majority eat it?... most... not even in their dreams. But that does not make him a bad chef? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, taste is in the tongue of the eater :-)
• The best taste cooking is COOKING GONE WRONG!

All are welcome to add to the list. Enjoy your cooking, that is what is important.