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If you’ve got enough experience with cooking, you’re probably very familiar with how many recipes lie.
When a recipe says “Prep time: 20 minutes,” what they really mean is, “I hope you’ve got an hour.” And, when it says “Serves 2,” you should read this as, “Double this recipe unless you’re only cooking for one person.”
Of course, it doesn’t end there. If a recipe calls for one clove of garlic, we all know it really needs three. If it calls for petite diced tomatoes, you know that there’s no such thing — there’s only chopped, or squished into a pulp while trying to dice.
The biggest liar is always the photo. When you’re done, you won’t end up with that perfectly cross-hatched steak, pristinely plated on stoneware and paired with perfectly blistered cherry tomatoes.
Look, I’m just trying to be realistic here.
But what if I told you that you could cook without following a recipe exactly?
In fact, plenty of people across the globe cook this way. Many people cook food without glancing at recipes. They’re just… cooking. They’re doing things that are familiar.
Once you understand the fundamentals of how things come together, there’s no need for following a recipe’s every rule. In fact, you might not even need a recipe at all!
First, learn how to make substitutions. Sometimes, recipes call for a tablespoon of a specialty ingredient that you simply do not have, or your grocery store doesn’t carry. Or, you may need to make a dish fit into your particular diet (I make traditionally meat-based dishes into vegetarian masterpieces all the time).
If you learn what you can substitute (or do a Guick google search), you’ll find it easier to go off-recipe. For instance, you might be able to use dried chilies instead of chili paste, or a mashed banana instead of egg.
I know that the measurements in a recipe are there for a reason, but sometimes that reason is really just because someone needed to write something down. I often don’t measure, or I don’t measure exactly. We all know that we should double the garlic, right?
I don’t mean you should just start dumping cayenne into the pot, but once you’ve been cooking for a while, you’ll start to get a feel for a pinch of salt here, and a dash of seasoning there. And it’ll be okay if you’re not perfectly exact.
There are a few basic rules in cooking, and if you learn them, it’s like unlocking a whole new level. These rules are ratios! A quick google search on recipes for ratios will give you plenty more of an idea, but here are a few examples:
A dish doesn’t always have to include 20 ingredients to make it good. I know they make it look easy on the Food Network, but this is real life!
In fact, there are plenty of tasty things you can improvise with the simple 5-ingredient rule. Make quick and filling tacos from meat, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and tortillas. Or, whip up a quick hearty pasta dish with noodles, butter, red pepper flakes, garlic, and shrimp.
