Exploring a hobby outside of law school
A famous proverb says you are what you eat. Is it also true that you are what you cook?
My interest in cooking can be traced back to my childhood, when I was close to both of my grandmas. Both of them were experienced in cooking and loved to cook. My cooking lessons started from observing from the sidelines, where I learned that the criteria for Chinese cuisine are colour, appealing aromas, and flavour. My grandmas started their cooking journeys by reading cookbooks. They told me that they just read the books and left the rest to instinct. Perhaps this is the origin of my unbridled style of cooking. When it comes to seasoning, unlike modern recipes that are quantified, the old recipes read “add an appropriate amount,” which forces you to rely on your instinct and experience.
When l lived in Beijing, I learned how to make dumplings from scratch. Making the dough by hand was my favourite part. Every time, I followed my instinct to mix flour with water and felt the texture to see if the dough was ready to rest. Later on, I learned how to make colorful dough by adding natural juices, such as spinach or jalapeno juice for green, carrot juice for yellow, beet juice for red, and blueberry juice for purple. After the dough rested, I used a rolling pin to make round dumpling skins and wrapped the filling inside.
After I moved abroad, I would make dumplings with friends, colleagues, and students during holidays. The Italians were surprised, saying, “These are very similar to our colourful pastas!” Cooking not only connects me with my culture which cures my homesickness, but also helps me quickly adapt to a new environment and build connections with people from different cultures.
As time went by, my cooking shifted to a fusion of healthy and simplified style. I experimented by adding different types of flour, such as whole wheat flour to make a relatively healthy dough. I also explored different options to make healthy fillings, such as ground turkey breast with vegetables. These ingredients could also be turned into pasta and meatballs when I felt like it. Sometimes, I added soy sauce and diced green onion to a steak for flair.
While being creative and open in cooking, I also use cooking as a way to wind down and indulge in solitude. After a busy day, cooking can keep my mind, eyes, ears, nose, and hands occupied for the moment. I can take whatever is available from the fridge and make a nutritious and simple supper. As long as my appetite is satisfied, my body feels rejuvenated too.
My first informal cookbook project was a thesis that I wrote on a lexicon study of ethnic food items. Perhaps, someday, I will start a real cookbook project to document my recipes, through which the old meets the new and the East meets the West. To me, I am what I cook.
