Article written for nus.org.uk by Ching-He Huang
Eating away from home
At first I thought what a relief and what a luxury to have meals cooked for you. However, 1 month into living at halls I soon got fed up with the same pies, fish and chips, curried rice and bland vegetables and I craved my own kitchen and my wok.
Taking a part time job to support living costs
Living at halls meant that I had to find a part time job to support living costs, transport costs and food costs (because to satisfy my tastebuds, I used to head to Chinatown with my friends) - Hungs on Lisle street was the usual Friday night meal and for £3.50 for a black bean beef and ho fun noodle, was a real treat.
Occasionally, when we were feeling rich, we would splurge out on dim sum too.
Cooking or partying?
When I missed my kitchen and wok at home, I would go home at the weekend but with parties usually held at the weekends - it meant that it was a tough choice between meeting new people and satisfying my taste buds, which meant I often stayed at halls (after all I was young and carefree).
On the few occasions, I did invite some friends over to my house and I made them my favourite simple dishes from beef in oyster sauce, chicken chow mein and egg fried rice and they loved it.
So much so they begged me to cook for them every weekend.
Don't fear of cooking for the first time!
For those of you who are moving into halls and you have to cook your own meals and are feeling slightly daunted at the prospect, don’t fear.
My suggestion is to try your hand at cooking Chinese (and I’m not being biased in my choice at all). It’s fast (good when you need maximum time partying or studying for that BIG exam), healthy (well, you need to look good because you never know who you’ll meet) and fun (cooking needs to be fun or forget it).
Chinese food is simple to cook and its nutritious too – much healthier especially since you can cook under your own watchful eyes and it needn’t be expensive.
To get you on your way to cook Chinese food, you just need to invest in a few basics in your store cupboard.