Details and expenses of studying abroad in the UK: cooking by yourself
In the previous two articles, we talked about British fast food and restaurants. However, these are not the norm of studying abroad in the UK. After all, going to restaurants is to improve life, which is too luxurious for a poor student to go there every day; And the curriculum in the UK is not so tense that we need to eat fast food every day. Postgraduates usually have only four courses in a semester, and undergraduates are similar, so most of the time we read literature or do experiments silently, and we can freely arrange a lot of time. This also creates conditions for us to cook by ourselves. There has always been a truth in the circle of studying abroad that your social status abroad almost depends on your cooking skills. If you can make fancy dishes like squirrel and mandarin fish, you are almost an emperor. So today, I will talk about cooking with you. Because everyone has different tastes and habits, here we just discuss how to prepare for dinner.
cooker
Whether you live in the school dormitory or rent your own house, the kitchen is one of the standard configurations. There are all kinds of stoves, ovens and microwave ovens. You just need to buy your own pots and pans. Most things can be bought directly in foreign supermarkets, such as pan, shovel, chopsticks, etc. But if you want to buy Chinese kitchen knives or rice cookers, you should go to Chinatown, and the price is 1 to 2 times higher than that in China.
raw material
meat : You can either go to the supermarket to buy the cut meat in the box, or go to the nearby butcher's shop to buy fresh cut meat. The latter will be cheaper, and is totally different from worrying about language communication. Most people in the UK are very friendly, and the shopkeeper will have enough patience to answer your questions (as long as it is not the rush hour). The big deal is that we can still compete. Generally speaking, the price of meat in Britain is similar to that in China, but it may be a little more expensive depending on your hometown. Chicken wings and pig feet, which are not eaten by foreigners, will be cheaper. In addition, it should be noted that English meat does not bleed. If you buy direct frying or stewing, it will have a very bloody taste. You should be a little more troublesome when dealing with it.
Vegetables : Like meat, you can choose to buy it in the supermarket or go shopping in the surrounding grocery store. There is no obvious difference in quality between the two, but the grocery store will be more flexible. In terms of price, vegetables in Britain are much more expensive than those in China. Until now, Xiao Bian has always remembered that a cucumber costs 1 pound, and four tomatoes cost 2.5 pounds. At that time, I was shocked. No wonder I read in a book that the poor in foreign countries eat meat while the rich eat vegetables.
Rice and noodles : Most of the rice in Britain is Thai fragrant rice. Due to the short maturity period, the grains are not as plump as the rice in Northeast China, but the taste is OK. In the case of noodles, only spaghetti can be bought in British supermarkets, which is harder than domestic noodles. If you want to buy instant noodles, longxu noodles, or dried noodles, you still have to go to the Chinese supermarket.
condiment
Most of the condiments in China can be bought in Chinese supermarkets, and things like vegetable oil and vinegar can be found everywhere. Here I mainly talk about salt. There are three kinds of common salt in Britain: table salt or cooking salt, rock salt, and sea salt. Table salt or cooking salt refers to refined salt, that is, salt that is processed and purified repeatedly. This is what we eat in China. I also recommend you to buy. Rock salt refers to mineral salt, which is usually formed by underground mineral deposits. Compared with table salt, it is rich in more minerals. But just because of this, its taste will be bitter and its color will turn yellow. Sea salt refers to sea salt, which is usually obtained by evaporating seawater or salt water lakes. It is also rich in more minerals, but its particles are larger, and its taste is slightly lighter than that of table salt.
In general, cooking by oneself is an unavoidable thing for most foreign students abroad. On the one hand, what you make yourself is more suitable for your taste. When you are homesick, you can also relieve your homesickness. On the other hand, cooking by yourself is much cheaper than eating outside, almost half the price outside. Besides, cooking is a good way to socialize. You can invite British students to your home for the reason of tasting delicious food. You can also practice your English while promoting friendship, can't you?
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