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Posts: 9631

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Q: When you cook at home, why do you do so?

When you decide if you eat at home or go out, what is your decision based on ? E.g. Convenience, food safety, taste, quality, price, interest for cooking. 

10 years 30 weeks ago in  Food  - China

 
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Posts: 1330

Shifu

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1. food safety

2.interest for cooking

3. privacy (dont like people staring at me while i eat)

last but not least, food taste...

 

regarding the cost of cooking at home, most of time becomes even more expansive than eating outside, but here in the west part of hangzhou got no choice...

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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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We go out only when my wife really pushes me, as I love cooking and I'm pretty good at it too. Add to this the fact that to go for dinner I have to:

1)  get the car, drive at least 20-30 min to get to restaurant street downtown. 
A thing I'm not willing to do given that I'm almost everyday on the road (25+k km/year)

2) fight for parking/pay for it.

3) pay a premium if you only want to get decent food/service.

4)  be most of the times in a place likely to be noisy even if chinese restaurant are no way and we mainly go out for Japanese food. And I utterly hate to eat in a noisy environment.

 

What for? Better like to invest the relative money in premium mongolian tenderloin and a good bottle of wine.

 

Scandinavian:

I wish I knew where the local Mongolian tenderloin dealer was

10 years 30 weeks ago
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andy74rc:

He's a Portuguese guy in Dongguan. Get him business with some italian/Western restaurants in Zhuhai and you could get your cut with the deliveries. He's got the best beef in China.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

technically Dongguan is not further away than it would be possible to go for a beef run, if I could find a couple of other people interested so the trip would not add too much to the kg price

10 years 30 weeks ago
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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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1. Chinese restaurants gave my BF more dodgy tummies than i can count.

2. Wanting healthier food.

3. Wanting decent western style food.

Rin:

Agreed.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Even though the stuff I buy in markets might have tons of hormones or pesticides, I get more peace of mind cooking at home. At least I know the salad is washed carefully and the meat hasn't been sitting on the counter for the whole day. I just hate cleaning up and doing the dishes.

My girlfriend always brings back take-away food or insists on going out to eat because she finds the food I cook tasteless. I don't use salt, MSG, sugar or soya sauce and only cook with olive oil and herbs/spices. What she calls tasty food is a combination of the above swimming in (possibly recycled) vegetable oil instead of olive, and it only tastes different when one decides to add chili or not.

andy74rc:

I like just the beef to be well salted. Just a little little pinch on cooked vegetables, none at all on fresh ones made in salad (just a hint of good IMPORTED olive oil and fresh lemon juice).

MSG never used, there's better ways to add flavor when needed.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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nicholasba:

right. Flavour should come from the raw materials being used. If u need tthese chemicals u just proving that you dont know how to cook

10 years 30 weeks ago
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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1330

Shifu

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maybe, or maybe another girlfriend...

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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Usually i always cook at home, either me or my gf

 

Why?

Cheaper, better, safer.

Outside the food most likely is everywhere the same. chopped meat in 2L oil with green pepper or chili and some of this weird chemical tasting spices

 

well and also i like to eat in a peaceful place and without getting stared at...

 

mostly if i see the kitchens outside in the restaurant i wanna puke anyways

andy74rc:

Agree on the view of the kitchens.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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Enjoy cooking Chinese food at home

 

Buy all the meat, fresh noodles and vegetables and wash the hell out of them before cooking and add lot of chillies!

 

I basically make hot-pots every night oh yeah!

 

I use MSG, as I believe it to be totally safe and a good flavor enhancer. There is no science behind it being bad for you. Some crazy American guy said it gave people migraines and if you actually look at the evidence, there is very little to say its bad for you. Also glutamic acid  is made naturally in our bodies, adding a little more doesn't kill you! Tongue

 

A 1991 report by the European Community's (EC) Scientific Committee for Foods reaffirmed monosodium glutamate's safety and classified its "acceptable daily intake" as "not specified", the most favorable designation for a food ingredient. In addition, the EC Committee said, "Infants, including prematures, have been shown to metabolize glutamate as efficiently as adults and therefore do not display any special susceptibility to elevated oral intakes of glutamate."[Legislation in effect since 06/01/2013, classifies glutamic acid and glutamates as salt substitutes and seasonings and condiments with a maximum level of consumption of 10g/kg expressed as glutamic acid.

 

Im not an MSG chicken powder salesman by the way Tongue

bill8899:

Oh hell, now I want some MSG. Have you tried it by itself? Add spices? Dang I want me some MSG!

10 years 30 weeks ago
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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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I hate cooking, but I cook at home when I want 'bacon' and eggs because I can't find that anywhere. Other than that, I eat out. 

andy74rc:

Cooking is an art everybody should learn. Actually it doesn't take much. Just a bit of passion. There are great rewards after putting just a bit of efforts.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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bill8899:

If everyone (besides me) learns the art of cooking, I'll be surrounded by great cooks. Why bother? 

angel

And there is so much delicious food in China. No, seriously, there are many tasty dishes just a bus ride away. 

I only cook eggs, bacon and steak. I stick to what I know. 

 

10 years 30 weeks ago
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nicholasba:

agreed with my fella. cooking is a passion. I learnt quite a lot also just by watching kitchen nightmares...now need an owen to try beef welingtonenlightened

10 years 30 weeks ago
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andy74rc:

Good for you Bill. You have better chances to survive as I stand, hence, in a nuclear war you'll live and I will die. Till then though, I will keep on repeating myself that chinese food is utterly rubbish....:)

10 years 30 weeks ago
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bill8899:

Great! But I'm not sure I'd want to survive a nuclear war. But then again maybe I wouldn't need a flashlight at night. 

About Chinese food, maybe you have yet to find something you like. May I suggest the dumplings?

 

10 years 30 weeks ago
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enemyofreality:

I'm with Andy on this one. I treat cooking as an important survival skill. Much like running, climbing, swimming and pulling out in time...

10 years 30 weeks ago
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bill8899:

OK, but there is cooking and then there's cooking. I can cook eggs and grill just about anything. I'm also adept at cleaning vegetables and eating them raw. Why do you cook all the vitamins out? But I digress. 

I can cook simple things, but to me, when people ask "can you cook?" they're not inquiring whether you can cook eggs, but rather, whether you can whip up some convoluted but subtly delicious dinner with spices and capers and croutons on the Caesar's salad. I cannot. When I cook chicken, it's just chicken and, if I feel adventurous, some salt. 

Continue cooking. Obviously many people greatly enjoy creating their own cuisine. I am not one of those people, but I'm not agin' it.

Wait, pulling out of the chicken? Get your hands off that chicken! OMG WTF You sick %^&$#.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
Posts: 660

Shifu

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When I want good chicken with potatoes and carrots. Usually because I want something hearty with proper meat.

I always did it roasted in the oven, which can never be replaced. But my girlfriend put her touch to it by adding ginger and a few red chilis and stews it dongbei style.... wow.

But for overall, I cook for the same reasons everyone else said, health and taste.

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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Food safety. Pregnant wife...

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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I find it more expensive to cook at home as I like to cook western food, but I'm really not all that fond of Chinese food, I've had so many bad stomachs from it.

 

Scandinavian:

if you are not the type that likes your pizza's with insane amounts of cheese, then pizza can be done relatively cheaply. 

10 years 30 weeks ago
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dom87:

you have to compare:

-eat chinese at home and chinese outside

-eat western at home and western outside

 

of course you will think its more expensive if you say eat western at home and chinese outside.

 

cooking is mostly cheaper otherwise the restaurant wouldnt earn any money.

but what weird things do you need to cook western things? Except cheese (thats expensive)

10 years 30 weeks ago
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JustinF:

For Western food, buy in bulk on Taobao. It is becomes cheaper than buying one piece each time. Metro has big 3kg bars of mozerella cheese for less than 200rmb. Buy one, slice it and freeze. Same for the big cans of tuna, make small portions and freeze. That budget brand of imported pasta is also very cheap at less than 10 kuai for 500g

10 years 30 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

eating western out is pointless, that is just setting yourself up for dissapointment or bankrupcy

 

10 years 30 weeks ago
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Rin:

I guess the most expensive things would be cheese, butter, bacon, pasta sauce and decent cuts of meat.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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nicholasba:

and decent olive oil and plain yoghurt (which i use for sauces). Didnt get it yet why in china most yoghurts also from foreign brands, like danone, are soo sweet.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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JustinF:

Pasta sauce is way overpriced in China. Make your own using 7rmb imported Italian canned tomatoes as base and add the required condiments. Metro also has large packs of bacon and a good selection of premium northern Chinese meat.

 

@nicholasba, even what they call unsweetened yogurt in China tastes sweet. Make your own yogurt at home and continue to avoid putting sugar as you make further yogurt using the starts from previous batches. It will eventually lose its sweetness after the 2nd or 3rd time.

10 years 30 weeks ago
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I cook because I like to. I also know how the food was prepared and if it fell on the floor. The biggest reason for this is not the cooking or the food, I like western meals, but the fact that I can eat without a room full of people yelling.

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  For me cooking is a matter of eroticism, oily genitalia, and wholemeal flower. I find the flower usefully absorbent in the clean-up stage.

maggiegirly:

HEY mArtiAn,

好久不见了, 是不是天天在家里带孩子?所以没有时间上网呵呵smiley

10 years 30 weeks ago
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mArtiAn:

  No, i'm just a bit fed up with this site. I like to vent but this site is a bit off the wall. Some of the people aren't just venting, they're down-right racist. It's boring. Peace Maggie:)

10 years 29 weeks ago
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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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I would rather eat at home most of the time. Mainly because I do not wish to hear people chewing their food with their mouths wide open. Its a bit of a turn off to food for me.

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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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There is only one Chinese restaurant around In my area and not good,others are far away,Sometimes I wish I could go out to eat at a nice Chinese restaurant.we just do it on the weekends.

In that case,I cook mostly as It's safer, cheaper and I can eat whatever I want.

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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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Like many of us, avoiding the masses (staring, commenting, shouting, drinking). Knowing what happened to the food you eat . There are many good Chinese dishes though.

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10 years 30 weeks ago
 
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