How Patrick Got Started In Cooking

 

I never really liked cooking. Growing up, for me, if it wasn't a steak or out of a box, it wasn’t worth the hassle. This stuck with me until I decided to become vegetarian for three years of my life. When I became vegetarian, I noticed I looked at every single ingredient on what I ate and purchased. Over time I realized that a lot of the foods I bought pre-made could be easily cooked at home. I started experimenting with vegetarian recipes and failed horribly. Over time I started to get the hang of cooking!

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After I stopped being vegetarian the cooking skills stayed and my meals became a lot more complicated. The most complicated thing I have cooked has to be the ramen pizza. I found an image on a meme page of a ramen pizza and it really stuck to me. There was a popular "Spicy Korean Ramen Noodle Challenge" floating around online. I figured why not turn this meme into reality.

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A staple in most of my cooking is tofu. After eating a lot of tofu for 3 years of my life, the flavor really stuck to my taste pallet. It took some time for me to grasp that tofu can also be complicated to cook. This is when Google would come in handy. I learned how to fry it properly and drain it from the tofu water. I took my tofu lessons and moved onto cabbage. Something so simple, can also be very complicated. My favorite thing to make with cabbage is "Cabbage Steak." To make this I had to do trial and error on how long to broil each side. I experimented until the outside was crispy and the inside was moist with a tiny crunch. Once I perfected that, I began experimenting with different toppings. My favorite topping for my cabbage steak is hummus and an over-easy egg.

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My cooking life really took off when I moved to Washington in 2017 to live with my Mother. When she complimented my cooking that inspired me to take my dish a step further. I started out with just a simple stir fry and advanced to crab and ramen pizza. If my Mother didn't compliment my cooking I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have with it. I would occasionally share a photo on Facebook of my cooking. That led to a lot of likes and comments. This pushed me even further to post more photos of my complicated meals. I get pure gratification when someone says that they loved what I just cooked them!