The Chinese Food Challenge

We’ve got to a stage in lockdown where days merge into each other. Hopes and dreams of becoming the next Mo Farah have fallen flat due to knee and hip injuries, we rejoice at a rainy day because we don’t have to feel bad about staying in. Last Thursday was officially my last day working for the Brain Tumour Charity. Up until now, I have still had a small routine- get up around half eight, open my laptop, check emails whilst having breakfast and work for around eight hours, with an occasional zoom meeting to break up the day. The other half who would like to be known as Tadger, has taken up the fine job of being head chef since his unfortunate furlough a few weeks previously. We’ve enjoyed risottos, pasta dishes, soups and even roast duck on Easter Sunday!

Now that we are both out of work (temporarily for some), we decided to come up with a challenge, to both make the days more interesting and to try and keep up with the CPD (continual professional development). “What is this challenge you speak of?” I hear you cry. Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with TikTok. We will not be filling your Facebook feed with lots of videos of us couple dancing (as much as I did try to convince Tadger). Drawing was thought about. How good would it be to be so good at drawing that you could sell the work you did? But it was quickly disregarded because anyone who has ever been to an art gallery with me will know that I do not possess the eye or the patience that it takes to be a great artist.

So, with that out the window, we turned to our one true passion. Food. If any of you have seen the film “Julie and Julia” you might know where I’m going with this. In the film (which is actually based on a true story), Julie is a New Yorker who sets herself the challenge of cooking her way through the whole of Julia Child’s first cookbook. Beginning to end. And she decides to write a blog about it. Well folks, this is what lockdown has done to us. We are going to attempt to cook our way through a whole cookbook. Julie did hers to learn all about French cooking. We wanted to learn more about Chinese cooking and so the book we have chosen is called “Chinese Unchopped” by Jeremy Pang of School of Wok.

“But why” some of you may ask “bother with all of this, what’s it going to change? How will it count towards your professional development?” Well here is the best thing- for you and for me. Hopefully, the main point of this will be that we will be able to make half decent Chinese dishes by the time this is all over, meaning you will get to taste the wonderful new skills we acquire, first-hand. But also, it will incorporate teamwork- usually I am banished from the kitchen whilst Tadger is cooking, will we be able to work together to come up with an amazing dish? It will require patience- not everything comes out perfect first time and you have to accept that without having a meltdown (difficult sometimes, I know). And, if nothing else, it is a bit of a laugh. I will write an entry to every recipe we do so feel free to dip in and out whenever you feel. If you need a little light relief with questionable writing and probably a number of grammar mistakes, this blog is for you!

So, starting tomorrow (Monday 4th May 2020) we will be making the first recipe in the book; “Singapore Noodles”. Wish us luck and keep posted to find out how we get on!