Top Five Kitchen Bloopers

Beginner cooks like myself are prone to mistakes. Everyone make mistakes. I learned from it. I was embarrassed but I laughed if off.  Everytime the same story is told, I made everybody laughed like STUPID! Sometimes, mistakes can be so stupid to a point that they become HILARIOUS. 

Do you have your own kitchen blooper to share? 

#5.  Salt or Sugar

One of the most common mistakes in the kitchen: Serving hot coffee with salt or cooking fried rice with a pinch of sugar... lots of sugar. 

Lesson learned: Put labels on containers to avoid mistaking salt as sugar or vice versa. You may also put them in two different colors, shape or size of containers to distinguish one from the other. This is applicable only to those without memory gaps who could remember which container was used for sugar or salt.  Still, putting labels are more convenient and practical. Our maid, Sita, however prefers to put them in two different containers minus the labels. 

#4.  Fired Fish or Fried Fish

Anyare?

Frying Fish + Facebook = Disaster 

What's left for eating? Sunog ang Fish... in Barok English or broken english, The FISH is FIREd. 

In fairness, it tasted salty and crunchy but .... burnt.  

Lesson learned: If you are cooking, then stay in the kitchen and cook! Avoid other activities like online gaming or facebook.

#3. Turn on or off 

Again, this is one of those common mistakes in the kitchen.

You came home from the office exhausted and tired. You started cooking rice. A few minutes later you laid everything on the table and opened your rice cooker. To your surprise and shock, the rice is still a rice - drowned in water and still uncooked. You forgot to turn the rice cooker ON.

Lesson learned: Remind yourself to always turn on or off whatever you are cooking before it will burn your house down or burn your food. 

#2. Lid on or Lid off

You were craving for fresh mango shake. You cut and sliced the fresh mango and put them in a blender.  However, when you turned the blender ON, the mango shake flew out and landed flat on your face and other little pieces scattered on your place. You forgot to put the lid ON.

Lesson learned: Lids are left ON when using a blender, a pressure cooker, or what else.

#1.  To Peel or Not To Peel

I was in college when I tried the recipe of GINISANG AMPALAYA or Sauteed Bitter Melon. Since a friend only instructed me how to cook it by phone, I thought to myself it will be easy. I prepared the bitter melon and peeled the skin. I looked at it with dismay and asked myself "how come it looks different..... and wrong?" 

The 10th Cooking Commandment: Thou shall NOT PEEL the bitter melons.

Lesson Learned:  This is how to prepare an Ampalaya or Bitter Melon:
Step 1: Cut the ends of the bitter melon
Step 2: Cut in half lengthwise
Step 3: Remove the seeds 
Step 4: Strictly DO NOT peel
Step 5: Cut into desired shape and size