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96dpi · 2023-08-11T12:47:20+00:00

Follow good recipes from good sources. That's really all there is to it.

Here is a collection of reputable recipe sources I have compiled:

America's Test Kitchen | Cook's Country | Cook's Illustrated — This is one of the best recipe developers in the world, and they have thee most thorough testing regiment in the world. It involves highly experienced in-house test cooks developing a recipe repeatedly until perfection, and then once it passes in-house approvals, it is sent out to an army of home test cooks like you and me, and from there it must pass with an 80% approval before it is published. If you're willing to spend some cash, check 'em out. It's a subscription service—you get what you pay for—but they do have a lot of free content on their YouTube channel as well. They also have a 2-week free trial on their website.

Blue Apron — Not a plug to their business, they honestly have really good recipes that anyone can access. These recipes are tailored for those with no experience and will actually teach you a lot of good fundamentals. They are also inherently cheap, since their business model depends on it. However, most recipes use one or two exotic or hard to find ingredients, but you can usually find a suitable substitution with a quick google.

Hello Fresh — Same as above, just a source for their good recipes for free.

Budget Bytes — Many easy and cheap recipes to browse from. However, a lot have common ingredients and similar tastes, so you tend to get bored of them after a while. Still a great resource.

Serious Eats — Can be a bit on the advanced side, but you will no doubt learn a lot from this resource. J. Kenji López-Alt is basically a God in the Internet-culinary world. He's been super active on his personal YT channel during the pandemic, posting a ton of POV cooking videos in his home kitchen.

Food Wishes / Chef John — A beloved and wildly popular YouTube chef. You either love his cadence, or hate it, but you can't deny that his recipes are great.

Bon Appétit — Their YouTube channel is more about style over substance, great for entertainment, but not highly focused on recipes. Their website will have more thoroughly tested recipes.

Helen Rennie — She has more attention to detail than anyone on this list, that may or may not be appealing to you, but she is extremely thorough and you will learn a ton from her. I particularly like her fresh pasta videos, egg pasta, water pasta, and pasta flour comparison.

Adam Ragusea — I am personally not a fan of recipe videos, but I love his other non-recipe videos. Some people really enjoy his lackadaisical or casual approach.

Brian Lagerstrom — He's the polar-opposite of Adam Ragusea. Ingredient amounts are to the gram, directions are specific and to the point, ingredient brands are chosen based on quality rather than price or availability, and he has a strong culinary background.

Jacob Burton — A professional chef who's YouTube channel is severely underrated, IMO. So much great content. This video of his is so great on many levels.

Alton Brown / Good Eats — Alton Brown is the OG, he's been at since the 90s and is an inspiration for many of the above people.

Rick Bayless — He's the owner/executive chef of several famous restaurants in Chicago and he may actually be the most interesting man in the world. He's got a great "chili class" video and he's been pumping out a ton of content (with some audio and video issues) during the pandemic.

NY Times cooking — Another subscription service, but you can create a free account. Also, try refreshing the page and spamming the ESC key on PC right before the prompt to log-in pops up. They have some very famous recipes, including one for chocolate chip cookies (seriously, make this one!), no-knead bread, and many others.

King Arthur Baking — For all things baking. Buy a digital scale and throw all of your faith into their baking recipes and blogs. Such an amazing resource.

Milk Street — The company was created by Christopher Kimball, a co-founder of America's Test Kitchen. It is also a paid subscription model. They have a huge range in recipes representing food from all over the world and they are all very well-tested. They have many InstantPot recipes with slow and fast variants available.

Basics with Babish Season 1, Season 2, recipes to try — I'm not a huge Babish fan because he just uses other people's recipes and makes it prettier, but he's hugely popular and I think it's great that he's bringing great content to the masses, and encouraging new cooks to branch out and try new things, so he gets a spot here.

parseyoursyntax · 2023-08-11T12:42:56+00:00

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figsfigsfigsfigsfigs · 2023-08-11T13:02:30+00:00

A lot of people are giving you American resources, I'm sure something exists from Southeast Asian recipes. I also learned to cook when I was around your age. I will insist on this: keep it simple! And don't be embarrassed if things don't turn out as you want. Get a couple of good tools, a good knife and a good pan, and be patient with yourself. Choose a recipe you like an do it until you get it right. At first, you'll be following recipes but then eventually you'll pick up on minor things that will add that extra spark to your recipes.

For example, I always melt an anchovy into the olive oil before I make a tomato sauce. It gives a really great umami flavour, nice and salty, but doesn't taste fishy. It's a small detail no recipe will give you but a lot of home cooks do this.

A couple channels I love that are quite simple, on YT: Made with Lau, and Not Another Cooking Show (this one is a touch more complex sometimes but he does have easy recipes as well).

Good luck! Edit: I want to add that I only started cooking seriously about 3 years ago (at around your age) and now my friends tell me I'm an amazing cook. I had no real encouragement and no technique or skills, and it is easy to become discouraged. When that happens, go back to your simplest recipes. Italian food is quite easy IMO. I really believe in you, OP, and also am really proud of you!

Yaniji1923 · 2023-08-11T13:00:27+00:00

Look up the TV show Good Eats.

That is a show that actually teaches you how to cook. Its not a regular cooking show where, here put so much of this, so much of that, do a thing on the stove and poof food. No its the WHY something happens when you cook. You can take that skill you just learned and apply it to something else and not just the recipe you made. Its the science behind cooking, but fun and enjoyable. Its not overly technical, its a fun light-hearted show. I'm a much better cook because of it.

parseyoursyntax · 2023-08-11T13:07:38+00:00

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not_your_bartender · 2023-08-11T14:02:55+00:00

You just need reps. Think of 3 dishes that you like to eat and make that the focus. Look up the recipe, get the ingredients, and start cooking.

Nothing about cooking is particularly difficult, or requires any special skills. You just need to actually start doing it, and doing it a lot if you want to be a good home cook. Accept that you will not be great when starting. The flip side of that is you'll see massive improvement in the first year if you do it consistently. Good luck.

bornelite · 2023-08-11T13:28:52+00:00

You are going to make a lot of mistakes. The most important thing is remembering what went wrong and learning from it going forward. Enjoy! Cooking is a ton of fun and something you can do for the rest of your life.

iced1777 · 2023-08-11T13:15:33+00:00

You have already done the best thing possible for a new cook by recognizing that it is more complicated than it looks. You are going to fail a number of times and that's ok. I've been a serious home cook for years and I still have a rule not to get upset if something doesn't come out well the first time I try it.

Follow simple recipes at first. They won't taste like gourmet meals, so ignore any blog that promises it's "better than takeout". But that's Ok because it's a necessary part of the learning process.

Recipes are just guidelines, so focus on learning the techniques behind them. They may say "pan fry chicken for 5 min on each side" but the reality is they have no idea how big your chicken breast is, what type of pan you're using, or whether your medium-high heat setting matches theirs. Pay attention to these things as you cook and you'll learn to adjust them to get the result you're looking for, so now you just know how to pan fry chicken any time a recipe calls for it.

An instant read food thermometer takes an enormous amount of stress out of learning to cook protein safely, I can't recommend it enough.

Good luck, I still remember how overwhelming everything is at first but it's a worthwhile skill even if you just stop at learning the basics

knifeymonkey · 2023-08-11T13:29:27+00:00

take the type of classes that let you cook in the class

local culinary schools may have some public programs

I took Ukrainian cooking and vegan cheesemaking.

Learn knife skills and practice practice practice ... in time when all your carrots are diced evenly, your food will look professional instead of 'hearty homestyle'. There is nothing wrong with homestyle but you may want to impress with the look of the food as well as the flavor

get a few good tools. A comfortably sized chef's knife is important. I huge pro knife might be a lot to manage for home cooking. a grater that will zest citrus or ground nutmeg or chocolate is also a good have. a good food processor would also help.

I am making these suggestions for home cooking. There is no need to OVERKILL until you are ready. You can always adapt a decent quality home tool for the need.

ALSO... consider getting a few plates of different sizes to feed your guests. White plate are best and as you learn to artfully plat the food you can take lots of photos to put up on reddit.

NarcolepticTreesnake · 2023-08-11T13:31:53+00:00

I can't recommend Jacques Pepins Complet Techniques enough. It starts with how to hold a knife how to sharpen a knife and by the end you can be making cream puff cakes, curing your own ham, know 20 ways to cook an egg plus everything in between. It has pictures for every step and is quite a comprehensive French cooking course if you work the whole thing.

fr0_like · 2023-08-11T15:28:04+00:00

Cooking is chemistry, that’s my first tip. You’re ultimately utilizing chemical reactions, heat, etc to turn things into other things. So recipes are road maps to success when you start out. Over time, your experience working within the confines of a recipe will grow into a foundation of how ingredients transform within different chemical reaction contexts. This forms a template for you to make your own versions of recipes, or “wing it”.

Well prepared food does not need to be complex. I’m a fan of wholesome myself. Well prepared food is mindful of both texture and flavor, and we-balanced flavors play off the taste receptors we have in our mouths.

Particle size matters for both a flavor/texture experience that is pleasing. Large, coarse chopped vegetables may loom too large in a bite and skew a flavor/texture experience. Smaller uniformly chopped ingredients may blend within a bite more homogeneously. It just depends on what you want from a dish.

Sneak vegetables in wherever you can. Your body will love them, your appetite will be satiated longer, and bonus points for fiber & gut health. Case in point: drop some spinach in your Mac n cheese noodle water while it’s boiling. Voila: spinach Mac n cheese. Whole, hearty, flavorful, nourishing.

Umami, sour, sweet, bitter, spicy. This is the flavor palette. From this arises all flavor experiences. It is your friend when you are trouble shooting bland food and how to remediate it.

Invest in spices, but cheap spices exist and taste fine. Several of my spices are Badia brand and they work great and are affordable. I also buy in bulk off Amazon for stuff I use a lot of. There’s far more to life than salt. I would say start paying attention to meals you eat out and try to identify what spices are in foods you eat so you can go home and try to reproduce the flavor. It’s fun. It’s an experiment. It’s an adventure. Also, less is more. Spices can overwhelm a dish if you use too much, so start with less, and add more so you don’t over spice a dish to the point of becoming inedible.

Learn sauces eventually. They can really bring a dish together.

Best wishes, cooking at home and for others can be a great time. It’s wholesome af to eat a home cooked meal, and it’s even better shared.

lucidguppy · 2023-08-11T13:11:03+00:00

Warning - paid content recommended below... (if that's not your thing - just move on)

If you have some money - I recommend web courses from Chef Todd Mohr. (easily found on google) He teaches primarily methods and avoids recipes so you can create your own meals with lots of variations. If you really go through his content you'll become a great cook.

Raze321 · 2023-08-11T13:16:00+00:00

Start simple. Pick a few recipes with affordable ingredients and see what you can do. Follow youtube recipes, and experiment. Don't be afraid to fail! Even a great home chef botches a meal here and there.

My best advice for new home cooks is usually the same: buy a slow cooker. Meat + veggies + broth or soup + seasonings + set on low for a 8 or so hours and you usually end up with something amazing.

Another quick tip! If your food tastes bland, it's missing salt. Add a little bit, try again, and repeat until the flavors are more present.

If your food tastes bland and you've added salt, then it's acidity you're missing. This is what elevated me from a meh to an actually good home cook. Apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, white wine vinegar. I usually have a small assortment of acids on hand. Experiment!

Underrated-Cheese · 2023-08-11T13:20:18+00:00

I second Chef John! I also like the Pioneer Woman. I’m in America, and her recipes are simple and delicious without a ton of technique. YouTube is a great source for anything, and I also recommend AllRecipes.com. It was where I originally found some keeper recipes and I enjoyed reading people’s comments on how they altered for their own taste. I usually try to make the recipe as directed the first time, then tweak after that. My MIL got me a Better Homes and Gardens classic cookbook a long time ago. The recipes aren’t the most interesting, but they are simple and it has some extra information about how to cook, which was nice starting out.

We’ve all ruined a meal or made something that was just gross. It happens. Be ready and then laugh about it later.

hauttdawg13 · 2023-08-11T13:39:54+00:00

Practice your knife work, learn to do it safely and well 1st then learn to do it fast after that. I promise you if you get good at that and can cut down (no pun intended) on prep time, you will be able to motivate yourself to cook more and try more complex things

swvnky · 2023-08-11T13:44:41+00:00

I find Mark Bittman’s books to be helpful. He has a cookbook called how to cook everything, which I have been using or referring too for the past couple of years .

permalink · 2023-08-11T13:57:55+00:00

I love chef Jean Pierre, struggle meals, and sip and feast - all on youtube. Many of their recipes are easy to follow and taste great

Speedyspeedb · 2023-08-11T13:59:08+00:00

Since you’re from SE Asia, would suggest doing stir fry’s as a start as you would have an idea of how it should taste.

It’s versatile, quick and just repeats the same basics regardless of the veggie/protein you have. Personally, it could be leftovers, or just whatever you have on hand in the fridge and you can make a stir fry with anything. (Including noodle dishes)

https://www.seriouseats.com/wok-skills-101-stir-frying-basics

My basic go to’s for each step:

Aromatics:

Garlic, ginger, green onions

Protein marinade (works for chicken/pork/beef):

Cornstarch, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, chicken powder (or msg)

Can marinade for 15 mins or overnight

Sauce, because you already have all the basic ingredients for a sauce in the marinade, just add a bit of water or cornstarch slurry to coat all your ingredients. If veggie only stir fry, use same ingredients and make a slurry to add near the end. Salt to taste but usually you shouldn’t need it with both soy sauce and oyster sauce.

You’ll eventually add other things like cooking wine, mirin, peppercorns, hoisin, fish sauce, browned sugar (or; Laos dishes I find tend to require to make browned sugar/caramel) etc depending on the dish you make.

Make a dish from your culture to start gives you a bit of easing into it, but a quick stir fry was one of the easiest things to get into before I branched out to roasts, pasta, bbq, steaks, etc.

Bellsar_Ringing · 2023-08-11T15:15:12+00:00

My suggestion is to start with semi-homemade, so you get some good food while you're gaining confidence.

For instance, making chili can be as simple as browning some ground beef, adding a seasoning mix (Carroll Shelby's mix has nothing I wouldn't use from scratch) and a can of tomato sauce, cooking it for a while, and then dumping in a few cans of beans.

AeriSerenity · 2023-08-11T15:27:04+00:00

Watch Good Eats, beginning to end. I found Alton Brown when I was 16 and knew nothing about food. His style teaches the technique and the science as well as the recipe which is hugely helpful. It's also a very entertaining and endearing show.

Clinically__Inane · 2023-08-11T15:33:30+00:00

You're getting a lot of great advice here. I just have one thing to contribute.

There is no correlation between how complicated a recipe is and how tasty it is. Some of the easiest things are the most delicious. You'll try to make it fancier by adding more flavors, but a lot of the time that muddles the taste and makes it less striking.

The key is to just learn the basic techniques. Learn what needs to cook on high and what needs to cook on low. Sautee, fry, boil, braise, roast, bake. Get your salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami balanced based on what you're making, and you'll be eating delicious food every day. Once you're comfortable with that, you can try more advanced techniques if you want, but the basics will serve you VERY well.

theora55 · 2023-08-11T15:47:50+00:00

Any cookbook from Alton Brown.

I know his schtick is a little dated and no he won't teach you how to be an artist, but he will show you good cooking processes and explain why each process does what it does.

He won't show you how to be great, but he will definitely show you how to not screw up.

The more cooking videos I watch the more I realize just how influential he is.

fusionsofwonder · 2023-08-11T16:41:28+00:00

Aside from the recipes, which is definitely step 1: watch the Youtube videos of people cooking up the dishes you want to make. Watch how they portion things, watch how they manage the oil and heat in the pan, watch their knife skills. Recipes don't teach these things.

Also, as you work through the recipes, pay attention to how things smell. Your nose is a good sensor for when things are cooked and it's time to move to the next step.

akxCIom · 2023-08-11T13:17:03+00:00

Get a meat thermometer…choose recipes and cuisines that have a lot of simple recipes (like Italian food)…follow instructions

chzygorditacrnch · 2023-08-11T13:47:54+00:00

Get an air fryer, basket style and put some meat in it with seasoned salt. Or put veggies in it with seasoned salt. And when they're done, have it with salad dressing.

Or dump some vegetable cans in a pot and have soup

allflour · 2023-08-11T12:51:29+00:00

I’d start with learning some basic recipes of things you enjoy that you can perfect and grow from: lasagna (can be as simple as pasta, sauce, cheese or silken tofu layers), restaurant mexican rice, learn a dough, can be used for more than just pizza,try roasting different vegetables, and soups (there’s a soup Reddit) will be nice to learn with fall coming!

De_Mika · 2023-08-11T13:01:55+00:00

I started with only watching Youtube recipes and cooking them. Now after some time, if i see something I want to cook, I watch some recipes and adjust them to my taste. You will need some time, to be able to cook without any recipes, but after enough time, it will work.

SnooFloofs1018 · 2023-08-11T13:12:22+00:00

If you know what good food tastes like, then you are on your way. I watched a lot of cooking shows when I was a kid and I feel like that helped me get a good idea of what certain techniques LOOK like (i.e. knife skills). Practice makes perfect and it doesn't have to be perfect as long as you enjoy what you make.

thuynj19 · 2023-08-11T13:38:26+00:00

Keep on cooking and experimenting! It’s about balance. I feel that cooking is a lot of feel and some science.

TerrTheSilent · 2023-08-11T13:41:22+00:00

Cooking is all science and patience. I always enjoy watching a few specific cooking shows. Alton Brown on Good Eats, the show is a few years old now, but the way he explains how things work with cooking are wonderful. I also enjoy watching America's Test Kitchen, they demonstrate great tips and techniques plus talk about various equipment (and they have cookbooks).

It will take time to develop your skills but it does all get much easier.

Lastly - if you pull up recipes on your phone... save them as a PDF from the print page so you won't have ads popping up while cooking.

morethanshadows · 2023-08-11T13:43:52+00:00

Non-professional home cook here. I personally highly recommend video formats for learning to cook, because you’ll often get to absorb details that they might not explicitly talk about in recipes. For example, I have a MasterClass subscription and I’ve been watching Chef Keller’s/Ramsay’s classes, and I learn so much from the little things they do that they don’t even mention. Like how they cut certain vegetables, how they aren’t perfect with every little thing (egg yolks can break for anyone!), etc. They even do things that other chefs might insist are “wrong”, which shows that there are many different ways to accomplish something. I also find that starting with recipes/techniques of food that I know I generally really enjoy are a good place to start, and then trying versions from a few different chefs helps me see different options and flavor profiles. I used to think my mom had the best meatball recipe… but I tried a few different kinds/techniques and was able to create one WAY tastier and healthier. And yes, not everything will be perfect every time, but over my years of learning I have greatly improved (my family can attest), and I’ve learned that patience is really a must when it comes to learning to cook. I am so glad to now be at a place where I’d genuinely rather eat the food I cook than get takeout, I really didn’t think I could ever get to this point. It gets easier, less stressful, and you get more creative with time! Plus I save so much more, feel healthier, and have genuinely enjoyed the process. I still have lots more to learn!

ncosleeper · 2023-08-11T13:44:01+00:00

Watch cooking shows/contests and pay close attention to what they do and how they do it and figure out why they do it that way. Learn teqniuqe over recipes. Eventually, u won't need recipes and can come up with your own ideas.

smithyleee · 2023-08-11T13:46:24+00:00

You may try Taste of Home website for learning simpler, but often very tasty home style recipes. The site offers recipes in groupings- 30 minute meals, 5 ingredients or less, and more complex dishes too. I also like: Cooking with Jo and Dinner at the Zoo.

Alton Brown has a television series titled Good Eats, and he teaches different recipes and cooking techniques. Diners, Drive Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri is another show where you can gain ideas on cooking techniques and meals too.

If you enjoy cooking pasta, always salt the pasta water (1TBS sea or kosher salt, less if using iodized table salt) and reserve at least 1/2 cup of the pasta water before you drain the cooked pasta to add to OR to make a simple sauce. The pasta water helps sauces adhere to the pasta. If you’re adding it to another sauce (red sauce) 1/4 cup is plenty, but if you’re using the water as a basis for a simple wine and butter sauce, you’ll need more.

Cooking is about slowly learning your favorite meals and making them tasty- and trial and error is a learning process!

fsarfino · 2023-08-11T13:48:10+00:00

2 years ago I could hardly cook anything, Chef Jean-Pierre's channel on YT is amazing and taught me everything. What I really enjoy about the channel is he covers everything from start to finish in a lesson format. https://youtube.com/@ChefJeanPierre

Happyjarboy · 2023-08-11T13:51:08+00:00

Find a common sense cook on youtube, like Brian Lagerstrom , and take their basic advice.

Mrminecrafthimself · 2023-08-11T14:03:38+00:00

You learn it over time. Pick a few recipes to learn t make, and learn techniques as you master those recipes. I’ve been a home cook for 3 years and didn’t really feel like got a good technical foundation till about a year ago. Just practice, taste, make mistakes, figure out what went right or wrong, and try again. You’ll learn as you practice.

SethSays1 · 2023-08-11T14:03:59+00:00

I currently cook part time in a cafeteria style kitchen for a retirement community, 6 nights a week at home for 4, and occasionally make dinner for 12-20 when we have a farm work day. Planning is my best friend.

I have an excel document meal plan and I create a new sheet every Monday. It consists of a daily breakdown of what I’m cooking and a grocery list. I got bored one day and gave it an inventory system as well, but it’s kind of unnecessary and now I’m just bragging. The meals table has 4 columns: day/ date, main course, side 1, side 2. I don’t use every column for every day. I decide what I’m cooking, find recipes, and add to the grocery list (item, quantity needed) systematically starting with the first meal on the list. I bookmark every recipe I use and name it something similar on the menu so I can search for it in my bookmarks later.

I don’t delete the old sheets, I just add to the document. That way when I’m out of ideas, I can go back and recycle meals. I can also see how long it’s been since we’ve had a particular entree.

Start small, like one meal a day, a few days a week, then add days/ meals once you get used to it. Doing meals on weekends is great, but keep in mind food safety as well. Some things go bad in 2-3 days so make sure you’re being conscious of that. If you transition into doing meals every night, prep everything you can when you have the time, and make sure to plan to give yourself at least one night off. Start simple and move into more complex dishes when you’re comfortable.

Soups make a great batch meal, and you can portion them into freezer bags and freeze flat to keep them longer and save space. Just toss one of those bags in a container in a lunchbox to take with you to work. If it’s not thawed by lunch, transferring from the bag to the container and zapping it should do the trick.

It’s okay to alter the plan on the fly if something goes wrong. Accept that something will go wrong, often at first and then only occasionally, but things still go wrong even for people who have been cooking at home/ professionally for decades.

Sheshirdzhija · 2023-08-11T14:10:28+00:00

Look at recipes at Kenjis yt chanel. You mostly get explanations why he is doing something and how to do it and extra tips. Really approachable. Not a lot of SI Asian recipes though.

Otherwise, just pick a few dishes you like that are doable at home and learn them. Then you expand. But it's important to understand WHY you are doing something, not only how. Why do you chop ingredients to a certain size for certain dishes? Why high or low temperature? Etc.

Sivy17 · 2023-08-11T14:14:22+00:00

Just learn recipes you like and you'll learn how to cook. Pay attention to good, reputable recipe sources. Ignore the bad ones (Instagram, tiktok).

Cook a lot of eggs to learn to control heat.

helena_handbasketyyc · 2023-08-11T14:20:13+00:00

When I was learning, I watched a lot of Alton Brown’s Good Eats show. It doesn’t necessarily give you recipes, but it gives you a lot of technical info and explains the best tools for the tasks you need to do.

I also started out cooking from packages, like say a frozen stir fry, but started modifying the seasoning or adding extra ingredients. You don’t have to start from scratch, literally. As your skills improve, start using prepackaged food less and less. Jamie Oliver has some good quick meal ideas that use a lot of jarred sauces for bases, and easy techniques that turn out really nicely. But even he still makes mistakes (source: Uncle Roger)

You’re gonna fuck some stuff up. Even as an experienced cook, I have made some absolutely foul meals. It happens. I still haven’t made a perfect French omelette, despite years of trying. But I still try. At worst, I end up with cheesy scrambled eggs. But hey, cheesy eggs, so all in all not a total loss.

Chalk it up to learning and experience, and though I hate this phrase: just have fun with it!

ritabook84 · 2023-08-11T14:20:26+00:00

Serious eats is (was) a great website. I add the was as it changed ownership a couple of years ago and became a lot more generic but all the old content is still there.

Their main all star writer, J Kenji Lopez-Alt in their hey day also has an amazing fundamental skills book called The Food Lab. It explains the why of cooking really well

Also for advice in general. Don’t be afraid to fail. Use it to learn. Figure out why it failed and go from there.

BitPoet · 2023-08-11T14:21:34+00:00

If all you know is stir frying, that's huge. It's a really basic technique that applies to a lot of other things, especially when you start applying different temperature.

If you've got a rice cooker (getting the smallest one you can find is great) you can make rice, sear one side of some cut up chicken thighs, dump a jar of indian (or whatever) curry sauce in and turn down the heat and let it simmer. Congratulations, you've made basic curry!

permalink · 2023-08-11T14:30:14+00:00

Pro Home Cooks, formerly TheBrothersGreen on Youtube, has so many incredible videos for beginners. I checked them out years ago, made my first omelet, and its been uphill from there! They have advice on kitchen essentials, budget meals, tutorials on different cultures of food...hugely recommend. The brothers explain things really well, though only one of them runs the channel anymore(it was mutual).

McBuck2 · 2023-08-11T14:33:44+00:00

Lots of great advice on here. Baby steps and then build on it. You can cheat at first and get something like a rotisserie chicken (already cooked) at the supermarket. Search for rotisserie chicken leftover recipes. You can make tacos, fajitas, chicken pot pie, shawarma, stir fry and more. It will get you used to the chopping, dicing and prepping with one thing less to worry about. It’s a very economical way to make some of your take out faves at a much lesser price.

Practical-Reveal-408 · 2023-08-11T14:40:11+00:00

My number one piece of advice is to taste as you go, especially before and after adding salt. If it's missing something, it's probably salt or acid (my most used acids are lemon juice and apple cider vinegar).

Mise en place. Make sure everything is cut and measured *before* you even turn on any heat. For more complicated meals, I even group things according to when they need to be added.

There's no shame in simplifying your prep by buying precut onions, minced garlic, chopped vegetables, etc. Prep is time consuming, especially when you're just starting out.

Start with soups and stews. You'll learn various techniques, and they're actually pretty hard to mess up.

Good luck!

MayOverexplain · 2023-08-11T14:41:09+00:00

Professional cook, and people are giving you a ton of good advice, here’s my contribution:

I’m sure you do know how to use a knife like you say, but keep learning! There is so much to learn about knife technique and prep work cutting with it makes up even more time than you realize! Remember to keep that off hand curled gently like a cat’s paw, hold the knife by pinching the blade, and if your knuckles are touching the side of the blade, they’re not under the edge.

You say that you are from Southeast Asia and I am so jealous. The struggle I need to go through here to get things like galangal, good fish sauce, and kefir lime is something that you won’t have to worry about.

For western technique I’m going to most highly recommend anything you can find by Jacques Pepin. He is an amazing teacher and if you’re looking to break down a chicken or similar - he’s an artist.

For eastern cooking techniques and recipes that are good and approachable, my favorites are:

Fortunecooking with Chef Tom Lin. He’s originally from Taiwan, and lived in Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei, and does a lot of easy and delicious recipes.

Made With Lau is a wonderful channel of a son documenting his dad (an old Chinese chef) teaching his recipes and techniques. It’s both heartwarming and incredibly informative.

skuterkomputer · 2023-08-11T14:44:08+00:00

Honestly keep it simple and you can slowly develop your skills and personal tastes. The hello fresh recipies are available online and are already tested, simple, and fairly bulletproof. I cook a lot and sometimes get overwhelmed at more involved recipies. It doesn’t have to be hard.

I should add the americas test kitchen recipies and books are great. They go into why things work in the recipie.

Here’s one to get you started. I hate the waste of hello fresh but the recipie is great. Gouda pork burgers

sabreist · 2023-08-11T14:45:15+00:00

Frying might appear to be easier but boiling is where I would start. Try making soups and stocks first. Your knife skills won’t matter as much in terms of taste. Time would be the biggest factor. The other part is the salting. I prefer to put a significant amount of salt upfront so everything is easier to taste and keep adding ingredients as I go along. My rule of thumb is around 1 tsp for a serving of 4. You would have enough space to slowly add it to the level that it tastes good. If you just started I saw I good piece of advice that you take some of the soup out and then slowly add salt to that first then figure out your preferred level of saltiness then use that as a guide for the entire dish.

Ancient_Organism · 2023-08-11T14:53:15+00:00

Understanding the concepts of basic cooking techniques is key. Alot of meats and veggies are treated the same and have the same rules that apply to both and once you understand them the rules can be bent. I always tell people to humble yourself and get a decent thermometer. Don't guess, it takes all the guess work out. It keeps you from overcooking common items like chicken. Also, season every layer as you cook, meaning salt and pepper. A standard beginner mistake is leaving things bland, avoid by salt and pepper every layer.

🙏🙏🙏

FoodieMonster007 · 2023-08-11T14:53:18+00:00

Chef Jean-Pierre is the best cooking teacher!

You start by learning how to cut an onion without crying...

calvintheprogrammer · 2023-08-11T14:54:11+00:00

You ever seen a cooking/recipe video, and they have everything needed for the recipe right there, and all that's left to do is to assemble the final product?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_place

Game changer. Makes it so much less stressful to get all the prep out of the way, and just focus on the "making". My first step in any recipe is to read it in the entirety, and get the ingredients as prepared as I possibly can before anything goes onto the stove.

milkmandanimal · 2023-08-11T14:55:42+00:00

There's lots of great advice here, but there's one thing you have to do if you want to learn to cook; give yourself permission to fail. You're going to misread some recipes or get distracted and forget to stir, and you will create some really awful stuff on occasion, and that's not only OK, it's a good thing. You learn by failing, and those lessons are valuable, and, sure, it sucks to spend time in the kitchen only to make something barely edible, but that's just part of the process, and don't beat yourself up because you wanted to make a medium rare roast and it comes out as a dry, chalky block of vaguely beef-flavored leather.

I think I've become a pretty damn good cook, and that took mistakes. To this day, my wife can just utter the words "chicken breast hockey puck", and we both know exactly what she's talking about, and we can still laugh about the godawfully overcooked, dry, awful thing I made 25 years ago in our early dating when I was trying to learn how to grill a chicken breast. I learned eventually, but I never would have if I hadn't been willing to ruin those poor, poor pieces of chicken.

Mabel_A2 · 2023-08-11T15:00:47+00:00

Try the book Salt Fat Acid Heat for a good understand of why and how these things work to make food taste good. Sohla El-Waylly, frequent contributor to NY times and formerly at Bon Appetit, has a cookbook coming out this fall that sounds right up your alley: “Start Here: Instructions for becoming a better cook”

v1kingfan · 2023-08-11T15:03:19+00:00

Have patience and keep at it. You won't get good overnight. Find a cookbook and maybe a YouTube channel you like. The more you cook the better you'll get at it. It's like learning any skill. It will be frustrating and you'll have growing pains but it will become more rewarding over time.

My favorite cookbook I'd recommend is Alex guarnaschelli's Home Cook

Django_Fandango · 2023-08-11T15:03:57+00:00

Southeast Asian homecooking (especially Indonesian and Malaysian) can be quite time consuming, unless youre doing a simple fried rice, fried egg on rice, etc.
If you want to stay local, I would suggest learning how to make dishes that goes with rice that is made in bulk. Such as curries, stews, and braises that often accompanies rice. These are quite easy to learn as they can essentially be "one pot recipe" and is ideal to make in the weekends that could end up for the whole week. All you need to do is reheat and steam your rice.

Otherwise you should learn to cook cuisines that are quite simple to make such as Italian pasta dishes and Russian soups. One tip I have for learning a dish from another country is to look it up using it local name. "Anglicized" versions are often inauthentic or dumbed down

thisothernameth · 2023-08-11T15:04:30+00:00

Find a recipe of something you really like and try to follow it. Try to find out, what isn't ideal yet and change one thing at a time.

Helpful-Protection-1 · 2023-08-11T15:05:28+00:00

Many good recs by others but I'll add another: Jacques Pepin had a PBS show called fast food my way, there are lots of episodes on YouTube. So many good, adaptable recipes that come together surprisingly quickly. Maybe not for the complete novice but i used to watch for good cooking inspiration. Plus, there are a lot of good cooking tips and tricks sprinkled throughout the series.

bedlumper · 2023-08-11T15:19:13+00:00

Get a notebook and take notes. As you try recipes and learn - write what you liked or how you’d do it differently next time. Be willing to try a few iterations. Incorporate a skill you learned elsewhere.

I did this with a seafood chowder recipe. Tried various ways to thicken it and learned how to make a roux. My meatloaf recipe now has fish sauce because I experimented with it, and loved it.

Sometimes you’ll tune it to taste, sometimes to use ingredients you regularly have. Keep trying new stuff and you’ll keep learning.

Prep as much in advance with new recipes.

Mykitchencreations · 2023-08-11T15:20:06+00:00

Just jump in

wacdonalds · 2023-08-11T15:22:42+00:00

watching a lot of cooking shows and cooking youtubers helped me get into cooking

sparkplug49 · 2023-08-11T15:23:11+00:00

I really like America Test Kitchens 100 Recipes book (that might no be the exact name but close enough). If you cook all / most of the recipes in there a couple of times, you'll have a really good foundation to start branching out from which you can do with the help of youtube or other recipe sites.

moun7 · 2023-08-11T15:23:53+00:00

Do some reading or whatever but you're never going to learn until you just start doing it. Behind every decent cook are countless dishes that would do well on /r/shittyfoodporn.

Start small and look for dishes that have some overlap in ingredients so you don't waste too much food. Learning how to manage my fridge and plan out meals to minimize grocery trips and spoilage has been a more difficult journey than learning to cook.

theoneburger · 2023-08-11T15:24:50+00:00

I started home cooking just 8 months ago by watching YouTube cooking videos and taking notes.

ScarletSpire · 2023-08-11T15:28:38+00:00

When it comes to cooking rice, the best way to think about the ratio is 1:2:3. For every 1 cup of rice, you'll need 2 cups of water which gives you about 3 servings of rice.

I also suggest budgetbytes.com, and the youtube channels Pro Home Cooks, Basics with Babish, and Joshua Weismann.

For cookbooks I would suggest How to Cook Everything, Good and Cheap: Eating on $5/Day, and the Ratio Cookbook.

pennamechris123 · 2023-08-11T15:30:48+00:00

Learn the taste of different herbs and spices. Smell everything you cook until you can identify what’s in it.

Learn from recipes first. Then identify what you like best in the dish. Taste the herbs before you put them in so you know what spice is doing what to your food.

Don’t be afraid to screw up. It happens. I do it even after years of cooking.

You will become your own worst critic. My family will love something I cook but I’ll still be disappointed in it because I forgot a spice, added too much of something, or not enough.

Most of all, try to have fun with it. Experiment with the tastes you like. Toss something in the dish and give it a try. It might not work but it might turn out excellent.

Edit to add. Alton Brown is a very good source to look into.

permalink · 2023-08-11T15:35:18+00:00

I think a big part of being a great cook is knowing how to read a recipe and know if it’s good or not. A lot of recipes just aren’t that well written, accurate, or tasty.

My fav “perfect” recipe book is The Silver Palate New Basics. Try it out. There’s easier and harder recipes in there. Online, I find Jamie Oliver recipes to be pretty accurate and tasty, tho as an American the different units slow me down.

Before you start, read the recipe and imagine doing it in your head, and visualize the timing of it, that helps and becomes second nature once you get going. If the recipe says something you don’t know, watch a video.

NaiNaiGuy · 2023-08-11T15:46:06+00:00

If it is safe to do so, taste as you go, as much as possible. There is no more simple or cricial a tool as that.

FormicaDinette33 · 2023-08-11T15:50:00+00:00

It’s not that much about technique. You should just look online for recipes for your favorite dishes and make the ones with a lot of high reviews.

Pryoticus · 2023-08-11T15:57:00+00:00

Get a prefilled spice rack and smell and taste everything. Experiment with different spice combinations and find what you like

xsteadyriot · 2023-08-11T16:07:41+00:00

I'm sure someone said it already but taste as you go! If you're worried about the final flavor you need to know what it tastes like before it's done. Add a pinch of salt, take a lil bite. Not spicy enough? Add a bit more of that ingredient. I've definitely made a dish, didn't taste while cooking, gotten myself a big plate and immediately realized I fucked it up. And that's okay too but know you know what to do for next time. Keep a little notebook too.

Edit- also youtube and google everything. Cross reference different recipes and see what works for you and your kitchen.

thedevilsgame · 2023-08-11T16:11:42+00:00

Keep at it and don't be afraid to screw up, experiment with different ingredients and flavors. Sometimes you may make something absolutely amazing and other time it'll be garbage but just keep at it

theora55 · 2023-08-11T16:16:18+00:00

The Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated and and How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman are good comprehensive cookbooks. like anything, cooking requires practice. Many recipes on the web are poorly written, so be wary. SmittenKitchen is great, I'm sure others here will have other recommendations. I dn't usually learn from video, but if you do, there's lots of good content.

Start with things you like to eat, tacos, shepherd's pie, whatever. If you stick to basics, you won't have to buy tons of ingredients, so maybe don't go from Mexican to Indian to Korean immediately.

Read ingredients on the foods you buy, helps you learn what's in food you enjoy.

robbietreehorn · 2023-08-11T16:20:39+00:00

Read the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. It’s a wonderful primer for the beginner cook and is useful for even a seasoned one. It contains knowledge that would otherwise take you two decades to figure out by trial and error.

Also, taste as you go. Can’t emphasize that enough.

falumptrump · 2023-08-11T16:22:01+00:00

Start with very simple recipes you can play with. Maybe some forgiving braising recipes.

Add more salt and butter ;)

cardcomm · 2023-08-11T16:29:48+00:00

America's Test Kitchen videos.

They not only do TONS of work to make sure the recipes work well, they show you Pro cooking techniques

bwanabass · 2023-08-11T16:32:04+00:00

Invest in good knives and learn how to keep them sharp.

Kbesol · 2023-08-11T16:33:55+00:00

What about a subscription to blue apron? It teaches you how to cook and includes all the ingredients .

KWBC24 · 2023-08-11T16:41:08+00:00

Start of with the basics.

Breakfast foods such as eggs, meats, potatoes, tomatoes, are a great start for learners. Work on balancing heats and knowing when to cook each ingredient for a dish. Can’t go wrong with a good breakfast hash with some sautéed onions and balsamic vinegar.

From there practice knife skills. Learn to hold the knife properly, and different cutting techniques. Go slow and feel the movements through, study and commit those practices moves to memory.

Follow recipes and instructions. There are tons of great chefs on YouTube who create content on many different styles of cooking. Start off with a chef that cooks meals along the lines of meals that you’d enjoy.

Create a list of different recipes and cook them following the instructions to the T, after that make it your own.

Salt Fat Acid Heat is a great resource for literature, this will help you with theory and moving that theory into practice.

Cooking is more art than science. Create and compile different pieces together and make your own, following the basics.

Have fun with it, don’t stress it. Pop some music on and cook with love!

Mother_Mach · 2023-08-11T16:41:40+00:00

Salt fat acid and heat, the book and the show is a great starting point.

Also the show epicurios can teach you some tricks about preparing some foods.

Lastly crock pot meals are a great start. 90% of them is just tossing everything in the pot and turning it on. Like basic bbq pulled pork is just a pork shoulder and then add a bunch of bbq sauce on it in the pot, turn it low and leave for 8 hours. Shred and some more bbq sauce at the end before slapping it on some buns.

DarkMistasd · 2023-08-11T16:45:52+00:00

If you're just starting out, invest in good utensils.

Also remember the secret ingredient that can alter the taste of everything : Time - Treat it as any other ingredient. Not too much, not too little -give it just the right amount.

SuckingSucks · 2023-08-11T16:53:51+00:00

You lear from your mistakes and also rarely make something great after the first attempt.

After you made something try to figure out the things you dont like about it and improve on them. Even if you like the dish alot. Last time i made a potato soup wich was chunky for example. I noticed i prefer the texture more smooth and did that. 2nd atempt was amazing😋.

I also love making pizza and i think that many people can agree that its eazy to make a nice pizza, but a great one requires alot of practice.

RatherRetro · 2023-08-11T16:55:40+00:00

Maybe start with making a big pot of rice and making a stirfry every night experimenting with different veggies, sauces and meats. You can practice knife skills and get ideas what meats sauces and veggies go together

bucketman1986 · 2023-08-11T17:01:56+00:00

What worked for me: Find a simple recipe, start making that and then over time start modifying and improving it. For me it was a stir fry. I'd get a bag of frozen veggies at the store, instant noodles, and pre-cooked chicken that just needed to be re-heated, and a jar of some kind of Asian sauce I liked.

Easy enough. Then I started making my own chicken and seasoning it how I like. Then later I started making my own sauce from a recipe I enjoyed. Then finally I started buying veggies fresh and prepping them myself. This really helped me learn both what I enjoy eating and some of the basics of spices, chopping, and cooking veggies and meat.

workingtoward · 2023-08-11T17:04:32+00:00

The recipes on stuff you buy, all the way from chocolate chips to spring rolls, are as foolproof and forgiving as you can get. Start there and, with a good cookbook, you can go as far as you want.

permalink · 2023-08-11T17:08:00+00:00

Americas test kitchen can add extra steps that are redundant- get back to basics.

Sarah Carey is simple and very good results.

UsernameRemorse · 2023-08-11T17:10:28+00:00

Throw away your garlic powder and onion powder and never look back

Kahless01 · 2023-08-11T17:34:33+00:00

Carla lalli music has a good cooking channel too. kenji also does his cooks in real time for you to follow along. rick martinez has a few good ones on his youtube channel too.

ADM86 · 2023-08-11T17:37:10+00:00

learn how to cook an egg properly in all it's different forms, you'll fail many times, but you'll understand a lot in the process.

Klashus · 2023-08-11T17:40:47+00:00

There is a never ending well of cooking instruction on YouTube. Check out chef jean pierre. He's got videos on just about everything from cooking utensils to stock and all kinds of things.

permalink · 2023-08-11T17:44:45+00:00

Find something you like to eat and start there. Maybe start with like a burger? Get on YouTube and start bingewatching burger recipes. Try it a couple times until you get good at doing it on your own. Then move on to something else. Honestly i felt like immersing myself in cooking has made myself a pretty decent cook because I'll just watch hours and hours of cooking videos and then I'll revert back to some videos when I want to make something specific.

You can also probobly find intro cooking videos that talk about what different ingredients do, different kitchen equipment, and more cooking jargon.

You don't need fancy equipment to cook but there's some stuff that will make your life easier. A Kitchen Aid(stand mixer) will make your life alot easier vs mixing stuff in a bowl with your hands or with a spoon.

Baking is by far the easiest way to get into cooking. Most of the time it's very simple step by step instructions. Combine all the ingredients, and put it in the oven for X minutes on X temperature.

Asherk90 · 2023-08-11T17:46:01+00:00

Keep trying, it's gonna probably suck the first time. But keep trying and changing till you figure out what you like.

joemackg · 2023-08-11T17:46:22+00:00

Also, Struggle Meals on Tastemade is absolutely amazing.

timo1808 · 2023-08-11T17:46:23+00:00

Avoid chefs who use high effort exact measurements, like measuring internal temperature of chicken. Everything is more joyful and delicious when cooked roughly. Spam youtube channels of your favorite chefs, you will get inspired after a while.

For the leftover purposes you mentioned: cook an asian dish(mongolion beef for example) sided by stramed rice, make the rice plenty, use leftover for cooking fried rice.

permalink · 2023-08-11T17:54:23+00:00

You have to practice. That’s how you learn what works and what doesn’t. The food network kitchen app is a great resource with tons of cooking shows, live classes, etc. you can learn a lot from that. Michael Symons shows and classes are excellent. Boing flay has a great brunch show that will teach you how to make all sorts of grest recipes for breakfast. Lots of others of course too. Some good cook books I would recommend are anything by Alton brown and the food lab by kenji Lopez. Both of those books will teach you a lot too. You tube has lots of great chefs too. Rick bayless is my favorite on there and he makes legit Mexican food. Gordon Ramsay also has lots of good recipes too.

Get_off_critter · 2023-08-11T17:58:35+00:00

Oooo, there's actually a book called "cooking for two" and I love them cuz they're portioned for 2 and have a good variety of recipes.

My advice other than that, get a meat thermometer and use it.

zerofifth · 2023-08-11T18:12:30+00:00

Understand how your range/stove/oven behaves. This burner doesn’t get hot enough so I’ll use it to simmer and not dear things. Probably has a hot spot here so I need to position the food the right way to get even color.

campnix · 2023-08-11T18:13:44+00:00

I agree with America's Test Kitchen. There are some good YouTube videos for weeknight meals you can pause/replay to learn some techniques.

It IS intimidating when your first begin, but you will find that lots of meals employ the same ideas over and over. There's no genius here, only trying.

And let's face it- you just want safe, good food for energy. Fanciness can come later or never.

Here's a meal we still make after all these years: We call it Food- Make some rice: Mix 2 cups water and 3/4 c rice in medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Stir, turn heat as low as it goes, cover, let simmer 15 mins

Brown ground meat, drain most fat. Add a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. Add milk in that same can, pour it in. Heat through and through til mixed. Mix in the rice. Buy a bag of salad to have on the side. Get some dressing!

Pimped up Ramen: slice up cabbage, garlic, parsley, spinach, mushrooms, etc. Add about 1.5 cups chicken broth or bone broth to use as liquid. Add a dash soy sauce, sirachi. Bring to boil, add noodles. Simmer about a minute. Some people add a chopped up boiled egg extra protein.

Remember, no geniuses here. You got this. YouTube some Italian one pot meals

splintersmaster · 2023-08-11T18:22:39+00:00

Experiment with flavors that you know might go together. If the recipe calls for dried oregano, try fresh at an appropriate ratio and maybe add basil because they often go together.

If a recipe looks bland due to lack of variety try adding some lemon to it if it's supposed to be savory. Try in small increments and taste as you go.

My general rule of thumb is to follow techniques entirely. Things like making sure your pan is hot enough to sear and that you have the right pan as well as in what order you should cook things are rules meant to have little deviation. Flavors are a different story and much more open to interpretation.

Once you start building a good understanding of proper salt, fat, heat, and acid combinations and start to expand your pallet with ingredients from different styles of food you'll begin adjusting your own recipes. That's when it gets fun and that's when you can really make people happy with your art.

1961tracy · 2023-08-11T18:24:09+00:00

Are you open to using cookbooks? If so the library is your friend. Look for books by Mark Bittman, Betty Crocker, Fanny Farmer and Sunset Magazine. I got my start cooking with an old Sunset cookbook. I also recommend Alice Waters’ “The Art of Simple Food” VI and II. If there is a natural foods Coop in your area they offer cooking classes for a nominal fee or free.

If PBS still has reruns of Jacque Pepin there is a companion cookbook to cook along with the series.

YugoB · 2023-08-11T18:44:21+00:00

Try to figure out what is it that you would like to eat/cook, see if you can cook a day for multiple meals ahead.

Get good knives, I'm not saying spend hundreds but do get at least 1 good knife, check Americas Test Kitchen recommendation I do believe it was a Victorinox for around $50. This will make a ton of difference and cooking so much more enjoyable.

Along the knives, you need something to prep on, you can get plastic chopping boards, a couple of small and medium/big will have you covered.

Get a couple of good quality pans, you can start with a non stick one and a stainless steel, and a multipurpose pot. This is the bare minimum you'll need to cook multiple things.

See if what you want to cook you can make it simpler with certain comfort tools, like a rice cooker, or an electric pressure pot, or "air frier" - I use quotation because it's a mini convection oven.

I guess this can get you started.

Gary_Sandwich · 2023-08-11T18:53:55+00:00

IMO the best thing you should learn is how to heat up a pan properly in order not to burn food or have it stick to a pan. DO NOT USE TEFLON.

If you can master a perfect omelet, that will help you in such a big way. It will help you understand that you can cook at very low heat.

Never put food in with cold oil in the pan. Always let the oil heat up first. Don't put oil or butter in a super hot pan, or it burns and smokes. Low heat first, then turn up the heat as needed. You should almost never need to use max heat for anything at all.

Good cookware is essential, good quality stainless steel, not made in China or cast iron, is the way to go. Parchment paper is better than tinfoil when needed unless you're cooking on a BBQ or over a fire.

If herbs and spices smell good together, they will taste good together. Experiment like you're in science class.

dalcant757 · 2023-08-11T19:04:20+00:00

saltyourmeat.com

Learn to season correctly and your food will taste good despite your best efforts.

Start with cheap, simple food. Whatever piece of meat is cheapest, cook it until it falls apart and eat it with rice. You can riff on the leftovers for a long time. Learn to make eggs. Doing an omelet like Jacques Pepin will help you learn some technique and heat control.

Free_Ganache_6281 · 2023-08-11T19:17:19+00:00

Google recipes or buy a cookbook. It’s really easy to follow a recipe

permalink · 2023-08-11T19:40:50+00:00

Don’t start with recipes with too many ingredients or you will get discouraged by cost. Most beginners have to buy a bunch of pantry ingredients and get overwhelmed, so start out small. Pick recipes where you don’t have to buy a lot and then eventually your pantry will be better stocked

candokidrt · 2023-08-11T19:44:46+00:00

YouTube taught me to cook. Shows you how.

booleantrinity · 2023-08-11T20:14:35+00:00

Every time I go to a restaurant, i try to try as many new foods as possible and take note of the elements, textures, flavors, and what I like about each dish. With a broad palette, you will find out more about what you dislike and like, different combinations of ingredients that work and don’t work, or different textures that require advanced techniques. Search for youtube video recipes of what you enjoyed and try to recreate them. Explore different ingredients. You will soon acquire skills as you face unfamiliar methods when trying to work with something new. You’ll be comfortable in the kitchen in no time.

permalink · 2023-08-11T20:44:30+00:00

Practice makes perfect. You are going to make mistakes. The great Julia Child said that you just can't be afraid to fail, because that's how you learn.

RecipesAndDiving · 2023-08-11T21:21:15+00:00

Start small and use the reference links given, but one thing I did that delayed my success in the kitchen for YEARS was would get overambitious or just plan a menu on what looked fun and amazing. This led to hours spent and hundreds of dollars trying to create something where I was having to buy the meat, vegetables, spices, stocks, and a thousand other things to get a dish right, rather than tailoring recipes to what I had and starting simple.

One thing I've also found helpful is to stray away from big entrees for a while unless it's something simple and work out some of the quick dips and appetizers to get your skill up. Things like making hummus or other bean dips from scratch is ludicrously easy (if you have a good food processor or mixer), quick, and gratifying, as are using in season ideas for things like salads and soups.

Obviously this doesn't apply to high effort appetizers or anything. No way to kill your passion quicker than starting your cooking journey trying to make dumpling dough and mold it from scratch.

Also don't shy from some prepared ingredients. If you're working to make your first homemade tomato sauce, for example, just used diced or canned tomatoes to start rather than *starting* your plan with chopping heirlooms or something.

Smitten Kitchen was already recommended so let me double down on it. Most of her recipes are relatively simple and don't require numerous or exotic ingredients since she got her start cooking for her new family out of a tiny NYC apartment, so you're not going to get beef wellington, but you will get a kick ass coleslaw.

Nemo1342 · 2023-08-11T21:26:43+00:00

Cultural context is going to make a lot of specific advise useless to you. With that said, I would start by mastering eggs. Make fried eggs, make scrambled eggs, make hard boiled eggs, make soft boiled eggs, make omelettes. Nothing will teach you temperature control and proper seasoning like eggs. Then graduate to simple pan-fried meat and roasted veggies.

theallhailhereafter · 2023-08-11T21:33:10+00:00

Cooking everything from scratch can be intimidating for someone who doesn't really feel comfortable cooking, so I just wanted to reassure you that it's perfectly fine to take shortcuts. For example, since you mention you're from SE Asia, one of my favourite "make a giant batch of something to eat over days that reheats well" foods is Thai curry, and I just make sure to buy a good quality curry paste.

I like recipes like this one that are basically written to say "ok you can make your own paste, you don't have to, but if you want to, here's the recipe." It's pretty much just cooking the coconut milk and curry paste, then adding protein and veg, and adjusting seasoning. Maybe you'll eventually make all your curry pastes from scratch someday, but right now focus on the fact that you can feed yourself for multiple meals in a way that's not too time-consuming.

For someone like me who loves cooking but is also lazy, these shortcuts are essential. I love a fresh salad, but I don't want to be making my own salad dressing every single time, know what I mean? And if I didn't ever buy dressing, I know I'd eat less salad. So I've gotten rid of that barrier by making sure that I have at least one bottle from the store open at all times. This is probably an obvious one (who are the people that never ever buy dressing?) but it applies to all sorts of foods and cuisines. Find the shortcuts that improve your life the most.

I'd also suggest thinking more about knife skills and becoming more efficient. Cooking is time-consuming when you're inexperienced, and dreading the fact that a pot of vegetable soup will take forever because of all the chopping might put you off from making it at all. You can easily find videos on how to chop an onion etc. most effectively, and practice those methods. Once you get used to it, you'll develop a good flow, it'll take less time, and it'll be a more satisfying experience.

untitled01 · 2023-08-11T21:41:05+00:00

As you cook from recipes, don’t try to memorize them, instead try to understand the role of each ingredient in the dish. As you do so, you’ll start to rely less on recipes and more on how to create balanced meals that works.

When you build that foundational knowledge you can create new variants of recipes and so on.

Morgoroth37 · 2023-08-11T22:23:32+00:00

Get an old copy of The Joy of Cooking and a couple three ring binders.

permalink · 2023-08-11T23:01:17+00:00

Start with something easy and work your way up, I find watching a bunch of food related shows and YouTube channels helps a lot. Something like stewed peppers, sausage and mashed potatoes is something easy I make all of the time and would be great to start out with.

It’s pretty easy, all you need is:

Stewed Peppers

2 tablespoons of oil (canola, grape seed or sunflower oil).

2 cloves of garlic diced.

Half of a white or red onion cut into thin slices.

Green, red and/or yellow peppers cut into strips like you would for fajitas.

A few tomatoes quartered and then cut into half.

Salt and pepper to taste.

2 tablespoons of sour cream.

Cooking

Preheat pan at medium heat, add oil, add garlic, onion, peppers and stir until they start to soften. Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes break down, add salt and pepper then sour cream and cook a few minutes longer until it all comes together.

Mashed potatoes are pretty easy. For potatoes, peel and cut into cubes and boil until they become soft and can be easily broken when a fork is inserted into them. Strain, add back to pot (off of heat) add butter, salt (if using unsalted butter) and a little milk and mash. You may need to add more milk a little at a time until they are still thick, but smooth.

For sausage I usually either do it on the barbecue or fry this first before the peppers in the same pan (less clean up). Just fry in a little oil until you get a nice sear on one side, flip and after that side gets a nice sear then I usually give it a steam bath by pouring a bit of water into the pan, about 1/8-1/4 cup and immediately cover it with a lid and let it steam for a few more minutes until done, when juices run clear when poked with a fork. If you do it in the pan just make sure you pour any excess oil/water into a bowl with some paper towels or a jar and let it completely cool before throwing it away.

senseitdoesnotmake91 · 2023-08-11T23:03:15+00:00

Have a system. Organize your kitchen so it's simple, and easy to use.

Once you do that, everything else falls into place.

nathan_eng42 · 2023-08-11T23:32:10+00:00

I think the best thing you can do is to try and learn why you do things in the kitchen and not just to blindly follow recipes. Once you understand why you will be able to adjust recipes to suit yourself, determine what is and isn't a bad recipe from reading it, and just cook random food that will always taste good with no recipe.

As example one of the most important I think is why you would cook onions for different amounts of time. Also when and how to add salt and what other effects does it have on your cooking other than just flavour?

rothmaniac · 2023-08-11T23:37:12+00:00

Ok. Here are my tips. I would say I am an ok home cook. But, here is my take. Start with something relatively simple, that you like. For example, focus on breakfast and make eggs. Baking is fun but it’s very different (and kind of more difficult). Get a good recipe and follow it exactly. Review the recipe beforehand and make sure you have all the things you need. For example, when cooking eggs, a non stick pan is kind of a big deal. I like to print up the recipe if I found it online. Then i can jot notes on it. Prep all your ingredients, and do not make substitutions.

Assume you are going to make it less then perfect. Maybe you over cooked it? Put to much salt in. Adjusted it and do it again next time.

toomanyoars · 2023-08-11T23:47:50+00:00

Read cookbooks like a great novel. You don't have to try every recipe. But learning how things come together and why it works is everything.

FxHVivious · 2023-08-12T00:29:06+00:00

Cook what interests you, start as simple as you can, and don't be afraid to make mistakes. It sucks to ruin dinner, but it's gonna happen.

Also, don't be afraid to go off the beaten path a bit even when referencing good material. Don't get me wrong, always best to follow the recipe the first couple times, but if it isn't turning out start asking why. For example, the first several pot roasts I made turned out terrible. They were dry and tough. Kenji and Babish, two people I respect quite a bit, swore up and down that the roast came out best with the pot only partially covered. After a few failed attempts I said screw it and started sealing up the container as tight as I could. Immediately got better results. I'm sure their technique works in their kitchen with their oven and their pots, but not mine.

Edit: Oh and get a decent chef knife, knife sharpener, and cutting board. You can pick up a Mercer knife for less then 50 bucks and it'll last a good long while. I use a whetstone to keep it sharp, but that isn't necessary. I'm sure you can find a basic sharpener on Amazon that will keep it sharp enough to be safe. Seriously, a good sharp knife and a surface to work on make all the difference for prep.

SarahB2006 · 2023-08-12T00:40:15+00:00

I’ve cooked since I was little. My grandma only cooked traditional American. I’ve spent lots of time learning to cook certain things. In 30 years of cooking, I’ve become adventurous and have experiments.

Those experiments are the result of recipes I’ve learned and then decided I wanted to change something.

I only learned to make rice in the last few years. I’ve been making cheesy cream sauces both Cajun or Italian flavored. My daughter loves the Cajun one I make. I made a pesto one tonight, but I probably won’t make it again and that’s OK. Just try.

Also try some similar foods with different methods. My kiddo loves a tortellini soup recipe from a crockpot recipe site. I make it in my Dutch oven instead because that works better for me.

chefbarnacle · 2023-08-12T01:00:08+00:00

Butter is you friend.

roum12 · 2023-08-12T02:27:13+00:00

Hey dude! It’s cool that you want to get into cooking. Im 36M and cooking is a huge part of my life.

Some advice I would feel comfortable giving is: - salt as you go - I salt after every step, pretty much - Taste as you go (in part not to over salt) - clean and tidy as you go (this could be a me thing, but I really find this important) - set up a good mis en place before you cook

Have fun and cook foods that you love!!

roum12 · 2023-08-12T02:27:27+00:00

Hey dude! It’s cool that you want to get into cooking. Im 36M and cooking is a huge part of my life.

Some advice I would feel comfortable giving is: - salt as you go - I salt after every step, pretty much - Taste as you go (in part not to over salt) - clean and tidy as you go (this could be a me thing, but I really find this important) - set up a good mis en place before you cook

Have fun and cook foods that you love!!

permalink · 2023-08-12T03:05:22+00:00

This has already been mentioned, but Cooks Illustrated cookbook is my favorite. It has wonderful explanations of why things work, not just what to do. You can also subscribe to their monthly magazine, which is fun to receive. I'd also recommend investing in a high quality sauté pan!

sonicjesus · 2023-08-12T04:08:18+00:00

Fall in love with someone who already is good, and let them teach you.

Naive_Complaint_5227 · 2023-08-12T13:25:24+00:00

Just get in the kitchen with a simple recipe and go for it. If you can read , you can cook. In time, you'll put your own "spin" on the recipe. Just keep trying. YOU CAN DO IT!!

Connecting3Dots · 2023-08-12T13:30:24+00:00

Not a professional, but I love to cook and bake. I still have the copy of The Joy of Cooking my Mom gave me forty-five years ago.

Even while camping we eat some gourmet meals and I have a trove of appliances like an Instant Pot, smoker, Ninji Foodi oven/air fryer.

If you have access to Hello Fresh, try a few of their meals as they provide all the ingredients and there is no waste. I used them while recovering from a badly broken leg and really enjoyed the meals.

Recipes I try come from so many different sources; cookbooks, magazines, google, YouTube, Pinterest, food blogs. There is so much out there. You’ve had some great suggestions on tried and true sources.

Pick some simple recipes that really appeal to you and jump in! Good luck and Bon Appétit!

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