As you all know by now, Asian fusion is kind of my jam. Readers are always asking me, “How do you come up with your recipes? I never would have thought to mix x and y to make z!” I think the secret to being innovative comes with appreciating and understanding the process rather than exclusively focusing on the final product. In the kitchen, before I make a new dish, I break it down in my head by ingredient. If I know what ingredients go into the dish, I can introduce a new process and create something new. Take pizza for example. If you went straight to the grocery store knowing beforehand you wanted to make pizza, you would only get things to make pizza. But let’s think about the main ingredients of pizza – dough, tomato, cheese, and herbs – and brainstorm what we could make if we replaced one of the ingredients, in this scenario the dough. If we could substitute dough for anything, but keep those remaining ingredients, we could have bruschetta, stuffed tomatoes with bread crumbs, grilled cheese with tomato soup, etc, etc.

When making this recipe, I thought about what I would order if I was tempted by takeout – samosas, obviously – and analyzed what they were made of: potatoes, onions, peas, and lots of curry. With potatoes as the main ingredient, I thought of different ways potatoes can be prepared and added the rest of the ingredients back in. The result – samosa hashbrowns, naturally!

While it took being unemployed and freelancing as a substitute teacher to force myself to be creative with the few ingredients I could afford, I completely revamped my own personal cooking paradigm. Next time you plan on making a homecooked meal, instead of Googling recipes, rummage through your pantry and try making something with what you have instead. You never know where you may find inspiration. Hope you enjoyed taking a glimpse into my neurotic mind in the kitchen. 🙂