The rising prices of gas aren’t just affecting those with vehicles or who need to use transportation services. The increasing gas prices will also raise the prices of LPG or liquid petroleum gas, too, so if you’re still cooking with a gas stove, you’re in for some major price increases along with everyone else, more so if you have both a gas stove and need to go somewhere that can’t be accessed by means without using gas.
If you’re reluctant to give up your gas stove or switch to an electric cooking stove such as the induction stove, you don’t have to. You can however limit how long you use it to save on gas. To do that, you’re going to need to either cook dishes that are done in minutes instead of hours or change your way of cooking.
You can definitely switch to stir-fried dishes. These dishes normally don’t take longer than 20 minutes to cook! The time-consuming part is in the preparation of the ingredients which encourages you to devote more time in deciding what to add to your recipe.
If you want to change the way you cook to minimize using your gas, you can also do that. But how do you do that? By combining your stovetop cooking with other means of cooking. You just need to turn to other cooking appliances in your kitchen. Here are three ways you can cook your ulam recipes without using your gas stove:
1 Use an oven toaster.
Gone are the days when your oven toaster can do little more than warm up your pandesals. Conventional toasters have advanced from the basic toaster oven that only has one dial to ones with features that basically turn it into a mini oven! The usefulness of the toaster oven increased with the introduction of features. Despite these additional features, the oven toasters remain affordable!
You can cook an entire meal in the oven toaster, from an elegant cheesy salmon dish to gently baked chicken and vegetable packets. You can even cook dessert in there, too!
2 Use the oven.
Did you know that the best kind of paella that’s made at home is usually finish cooking in the oven? Not only that, stews like beef kaldereta, mechado, and even your menudo can also be “baked” in the oven, too? It’s may most braised dishes are cooked, too. After you put together the dish on the stovetop, you finish the cooking in the oven.
Not sure how it’s done? Here’s what you do if you were cooking kaldereta:
- 1 Prepare and start the recipe as indicated in the recipe in an oven-safe pot such as a cast iron Dutch oven. (If you do not have an oven-safe pot, prepare a baking dish or one that is oven safe so you can transfer your dish to that when ready to use the oven.)
- 2 Add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil.
- 3 Cover with a tight-fitting lid or foil.
- 4 Place in a preheated oven (350 degrees C or 180 degrees C) and “bake” in the oven until the meat is fork-tender.
- 5 If necessary, top up the water.
3 Use the air fryer.
The air fryer is the pandemic appliance that saved many households. It is still the appliance to have! If you have this space-age-looking appliance in your kitchen, learning how to cook entire meals is going to be fast and easy! You can cook any number of dishes in it! From “frying” siomai and tokwa to “baking” brownies and cakes, it can seemingly do it all!
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You can make sticky chicken wings, Max’s style fried chicken, lechon kawali, and even “boil” eggs in it, too.
4 Use the steamer.
If you have a steamer, you’re in luck! One of the fastest ways of cooking is by steaming and it’s a sure-fire way to ensure that everything you cook is moist and tender. It can be as simple as steaming frozen ready-to-cook dumplings and siopao. The key to steaming is remembering to top up the water if you’re cooking more than one dish. Plus, you also need to remember that if you have a multi-level steamer, ensure that the food you’re cooking can be cooked together. You don’t want your steamed puto smelling and tasting like fish.
Are you ready to minimize using your gas stove? Try these methods and see if these cooking tips are the new way of cooking that you’ll enjoy doing from now on.
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