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 20 GENERAL KITCHEN TIPS AND TRICKS

1. If you want your vegetable leaves to look fresh after cooking, do not cover the pot when you add the vegetable leaves and do not allow it to stay long on fire.

2. Always steam your meat or fish on low heat. It will help it get the seasoning right inside the meat and come out well seasoned and tastier.

3. Do not spice your meat/fish for your soup with curry powder, thyme, ginger or garlic, when steaming them.

4. Do not cover your ogbono/okro soup when cooking, else it becomes watery and not draw.

5. When cooking your coconut rice, or making your coconut oil and you want it to be pure white, try and scrape out the brown part or outer part of the coconut before grinding/blending the whitish part.

6. While making a party rice and you notice that some are done while some still strong, use cabbage leaves to cover the top of the rice and cover your pot; in few minutes all of your rice will be tender and well cooked.

7. If you don't have crayfish to cook your beans, use enough onions ( 3 to 5 bulbs of onion ), you can slice some of them and blend the rest to cook your beans and still get an irresistible taste.

8. Assuming there is no refrigerator, put a chunk of charcoal in your pot of soup that you are not going to warm the following morning quick, to preserve it from getting bad.

9. After peeling potato or plantain, rub vegetable oil on your palms/hands and the knife; that gummy feeling will disappear. Then use soap or detergent to remove the oil.

10. Before cutting any of your vegetable leaves, soak it for up to 20 to 30 minutes, so that the sand and dirt will settle down at the bottom of the water.

11. Whenever you want to bleach your red oil and you are scared of that irritating smoke and smell; just drop one big pepper inside and until the oil bleaches you won't be disturbed.

12. When pepper mistakenly enter your eye, put a pinch of salt in your mouth and the hotness of the pepper will reduce, just as magic..

13. Do not waste your gas/kerosene again, trying to drain the water from fresh tomatoes after blending them. After blending the tomatoes, pour it in a pap sieve bag/muslin bag, allow the water to remove itself or squeeze it if you are in a hurry and then boil it.

14. Whenever you are boiling egg, add little salt, it will protect the shell from crack and it will come out nice.

15. If your food is too pepperish/peppery, you can use red oil to reduce the hotness of the pepper.

16. To prevent your plantains from getting ripe, put them inside a bowl of water or sprinkle water always on them or you put them in the fridge.

17. Chewing gum can be used to soften hard meat that refuses to be done.

18. Wheat flour or corn flour can be used to thicken your soup like egusi soup and native soup, and sauces like curry sauce and shredded beef sauce.

19. You can use more of seasoning cubes to reduce the quantity of salt that should be added. This method is best done for health issue like high blood pressure (HBP).

20. Chicken is used best to cook sauces/stews, while goat meat is used best to cook soups.

Written by: Food Research kitchen.