Having decided what to cook off i go down to the supermarket to buy some stuff to put in it, felt like i was on "Ready Steady Cook" buying a budget bag of ingredients for the red kitchen ready to show the chef and see what the hell he could do with it all, problem was there was no chef only me.
So I'm at my favorite supermarket to get the stuff have never really done much shopping other that buying stuff for sandwiches and things that i could zap the hell out of in the micro wave.
First thing i bought was some meat, got to say it looked good and probably cheaper than i could get it for in England, which sort of surprised me. Vegetables next, some stuff was pretty cheap but what made me look twice was the spuds, or should i say potatoes. You buy them individually nothing wrong with that you might think and there wasn't, probably would not of noticed but as the price was in Yen and not pence it made me think how much they would cost. Getting old you see and the brain doesn't work as fast as it used to, spud's were pretty small but again this is the land of rice and Sake and i needed some potatoes for a change.
So got through the shopping for food experience and off back to the apartment with my little bag of goodies to see what i could do with it all. I'm back in the apartment and guess what I've forgot, only the next most important thing to the gas burner. Yep something to put and cook the stew in, told you i was getting old got a gas hob now but no pots and pans so off i go again to get something, i was starting to think that I'd never start cooking or maybe get so hungry I'd have to go to McDonald's or something for some real food.
Finally get back to the apartment with my new pots and pans, this first meal is sure turning out to be an expensive one, almost getting to the stage where it would be cheaper to fly to the UK for a meal.
This was my thinking and what made me go for a stew in the first place anyway, basically peal everything bung it all in a pan boil it for a couple of hours, add some Oxo and Bisto and a stew was born.
Yeah i know you don't put everything in at the same time the meat takes longer etc, etc, but the the basic idea was sound. By the way the Oxo and Bisto i brought for England when i first came here just in case you couldn't get anything like it over here, i know from living in Korea or at least when i was there you couldn't get it there, plus it was about time i started to use it.
So that was it everything was in the pan boiling and doing it's thing, was also doing some mashed potatoes to round it all off.
Check out the photos, everything turned out pretty well for my first attempt and it was not bad at all even though i say so myself, so all in all money on the gas burner was well worth it and I'm sure I'll be using it a lot more. Next time will try something a bit more adventurous, can't do anything like roast beef and YP though as i don't have an oven.
So I'm over a big hurdle now have actually cooked my first meal in my apartment, did not burn the place down and the food tasted not bad at all. It may not sound like much to you but I've been looking for a gas burner for months and wondering if it all would be worth it. To be honest it's probably as cheap to go out and buy something to eat for one as it is to cook it and it's a damm sight easier trust me but you don't want to be eating out all the time now do you, or do you?
The only down side at the moment id the kitchen units above the sink and where the burner are are built for someone about 5 inches shorter than me so to say I've banged my head a few times is not really telling the whole story, guess i need to work on getting someone to cook for me.
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