In Chinese we have a saying that “早餐要吃好，午餐要吃饱，晚餐要吃少”，which means we must have a good breakfast, a full lunch and eat less at dinner. Clearly breakfast is the most important meal in a day. 

Actually, there are quite a lot of differences between eastern and western food culture. When I was in China, most of my breakfast were soybean milk, fried dough stick, porridge, steamed stuff bun, or noodles, etc. After I lived with my husband, my eating habit started changing. Now most of my breakfast are bread, cookies, and toast. My husband has a sweet tooth, but I don’t. So I have to figure out a solution between us.

My mom’s cooking has a great influence on me. Stir frying is a very common in Chinese cuisine.  My mom is a typical Chinese housewife. She can stir fry almost everything. That’s her cooking theory. She’s also good at making new match between meat and vegetable. After so many years of being a housewife, she’s kind of tired of creating new dishes. I understand her after married. Sometimes, I get home exhausted and really don’t want to try a new recipe.

At first, I copied my mom’s theory. Stir fry pork with vegetables. That’s very simple and quick for me, cos I don’t even need to think. I just know it goes that way. Gradually, I find it interesting when I try new recipes which are not just stir frying. No matter it is Chinese cuisine, Japanese, or Western. I can always find new things to try. I think that’s the charm of cooking.

Another reason for I love cooking, I think is that it makes me very concentrated. I don’t know why but when I cook something, I stay very focused, like I’m the only person in the world. I can forget everything outside the kitchen. Cooking to me is not just a magic combination of different kinds of ingredients. It’s also a way to convey my concern and feelings. I want whoever eats the food I cook to feel the concern and love from me. I would be like a student in a test and ask my husband after his first bite “does it taste ok?” Or “do you like it?”. He will put on a big smile with thumps up and say ” very good” in an exaggerating way even when the food tastes not  that good. I know I will never fail his test and that makes me want to improve to higher level and to cook better.