Cooking is not my favorite thing to do. (Three guesses as to what my current favorite activity is.) I’ve been slacking off lately because it’s so easy to get food delivered in Ho Chi Minh City and the variety has been improving - from Vietnamese pho (noodle soup) to California burritoes to Indian tandoori. It’s easier to satisfy our cravings now without having to make our own pizza dough and tortillas like I did when we first moved to Vietnam.

Aside from the nutritional aspects of eating home-cooked meals vs. restaurant meals, there’s also the emotional aspect. Food prepared at home not only nourishes the body, but also nourishes the soul because (hopefully) the person preparing it for you in your own kitchen is doing it with love and care. Wasn’t the movie Like Water For Chocolate based on this premise?

My mom likes to cook and there are some dishes she makes that never taste as good to me when made by other people. For example,

  • Chinese steamed buns with meat or red bean paste filling
  • Fried chicken
  • Spring rolls
  • Macaroni casserole
  • Chinese stir-fried vermicelli
  • Chinese stewed beef with hard-boiled eggs
  • Agar jelly
  • Zucchini bread
  • Sweet glutinous rice porridge

It would be nice if Stephen had some favorite foods that only I can make just the way he likes it. If you were to ask him now, this is what he might have on his list.

  • Cereal with milk
  • Grilled cheese sandwich
  • Strawberry grilled toast
  • Pancakes
  • Steamed rice
  • Spaghetti
  • Lasagne
  • Minestrone soup
  • Broccoli
  • Macaroni casserole
  • Brownies

Doesn’t look very sophisticated or interesting, does it? Time to dig out the dusty cookbooks and get inspired, no matter how reluctantly.

ETA: Since a few of you asked, Stephen’s list consists of mostly Western food because that’s what Marv prefers and I seem to be better at cooking Western food as well.