Minh's Weekly Reflection

 It was a very challenging but fun first week of the project. I  enjoyed cooking the dishes, making videos, and writing down the recipes. Besides three of the Vietnamese dishes, it was my first time learning how to make New England clam chowder, Manhattan clam chowder, and chicken Tikka Masala with homemade Naan bread and Cilantro Chutney. Not only that, they tasted way better than I would have expected. Furthermore, I also learned some new useful cooking knowledge that I could benefit from. For example, I learned that whenever I decide to make a fried rice dish, it is always better to use leftover rice to prevent the fried rice from being mushy. I learned how to make bread dough which will be helpful for bakery-related dishes like bread and also how to make a roux which is a great asset to make some gravy, sauces, and soups. However, the entire cooking process for each dish took longer than expected. First, I had to make sure I had enough ingredients. Then, I had to wash through the ingredients and cut them to a desired size, weight, and amount before writing all the measurements down for the cookbook. For the dishes that were not from Vietnam, I had to pay close attention to the recipe while having to film myself cooking for the cooking videos. Therefore, everything was happening at a slow pace because I had to learn while cooking the dishes at the same time. I was also scared when making the bread dough and the roux. I thought I would have completely messed up the dough and had lumps in my roux. Yet, I somehow aced it during my first attempt. By cooking every day and new different recipes like this, I can understand the beautiful world of cooking better. I get to know the combination of different spices and sauces. New cooking skills that I can learn and cook in the future. Last but not least, this will help me to create a fusion dish by the end of the project. For the cooking video, I decided to make it simple. One, a couple of minutes, video for each recipe. The videos have short scenes of myself cooking the dishes at different stages from seasoning to frying and stirring. In the cookbook, I included all the ingredients with measurements and descriptions, the preparation instructions that I wrote, a picture of the final product, and a cooking video for the recipe. At the end of the first week, I have spent up to 25 hours and 25 minutes on the project. 


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