Kitchen Meltdown

One thing that i love about having to make my own meal is the opportunity to play with food. And since i am all for trying out foreign ingredients, i decided to give fennel a try while excitedly walking along the aisles of Cold Storage one evening after work.

Now, if you know me, you know that when it comes to cooking, the most i can do is salad, stir-fry vege, eggs or processed food. There's just something about handling raw fish, poultry or meat that puts me off.

Once, i decided to make myself a chicken and avocado sandwich for brunch, and asked Mom to get me a piece of roast chicken breast from the chicken rice stall. What i opened my fridge to find instead, was a raw, whole piece of chicken breast. I freaked out. I opened and closed the fridge door several times because i didn't know what to do--to waste it or to use it.

After a few panic calls to my mom, i decided to use it. I washed the meat, plopped it onto the chopping board and stared at it for minutes. Instead of raw meat, all i could see in my head was a happy hen running about the farm before it was scooped up by a pair of hands, sent to the market and butchered--just because i wanted to eat chicken. At the risk of sounding crazy, I cried while holding the knife in my hands, and seconds later, freaked out again. It was nerve-wrecking.

Eventually, i managed to cut the chicken breast into strips and eventually (over)cooked it. But i would never forget the experience, nor will i ever go through it again. I think i'm going to stick with letting the butcher do all the cutting.