If you need help to get started on cooking, Homskil might be just what you need. We have a customized programme to get you started and to guide you on your cooking journey, but we will insist that you take the Homemaking 101 course to help you get the right mindset before you start. Cooking is just a small part of the home-making adventure.
Before you start cooking, it is good that you think about your objectives. Cook with a goal in mind, then cooking will not be just a chore. The objectives could be to:
- take control of your family’s health;
- create family traditions;
- have more family time over meals and washing up; or
- have better meals within a given budget.
In many countries in Asia, cooking at home is becoming rare, especially when eating out is inexpensive and convenient. In the long-run people will forget the culture of cooking, where the kitchen is the heart of the home. The older cookbooks often have the word “Joy” in their title, like The Joy of Chinese Cooking and The All New and All Purpose Joy of Cooking.
In a Chinese drama series, there was a scene of a man and a woman competing to see whose cooking a little boy would prefer. The boy preferred Mama’s cooking, and she proudly declared that she had the secret ingredient, which was love, but she also knew what tastes children like, so she added a little bit of milk to her fish dish.
Christina recently joined a Homskil’s Guided Cooking Programme. Homskil’s first challenge was to motivate her not to give up at the outset. She did want to give up after having to do the grocery shopping. Grocery shopping is an important part of a successful meal which includes:
- choosing the right meat and fish;
- picking the right vegetables; and
- buying the right quantity of ingredients
For Chinese cooking, the principles to follow are: Maximum preparation time and minimum cooking time, which means that it is important to plan the workflow well. Christina did an excellent job at not getting discouraged. Each dish needed some tweaking to get the taste just right for her family.
It’s good to start slow, perhaps cook just once or twice a week. Then move on to more complicated recipes once you have mastered some basic dishes which you know the family likes.
Christina shared photos of some of the dishes she cooked on her own after the guided cooking session. The featured photo above is of her favourite dish: stir-fried beef with capsicum.
The final part of the guided cooking programme is for her to plan a menu for three weeks with nutritional needs in mind. With Christmas not so far off, she can also start to think of special festive dishes. By next Chinese New Year, we hope she will start new traditions for Reunion Dinner for her family.
We were happy to hear that one of the dishes Christina cooked in the guided cooking session reminded her husband of a dish his father used to cook, the memory no doubt sparked joy! The dishes in the guided cooking session included steamed chicken, tom yum soup, stir-fried cabbage with fish sauce and garlic, and meatloaf.
Have a great week ahead.
By Chayo, HomSkil Editor1, 14 September 2025
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