My kitchen is … horrible! I live in a rented flat in Hackney, east London, and the kitchen is all faux 90s country cottage – it has these nasty Spanish terracotta tiles that drive me insane. It’s totally naff, but in really good condition, so I can’t do anything about it.
My favourite piece of kit is … my phone – I don’t wear a watch, and my oven clock doesn’t work, so I use it as a timer. I also create shopping lists on my iPhone notes, look up recipes online and I’m always listening to music on it while I’m cooking. I take all my Instagram photos with it too. And I’ve always loved ceramics and tableware – I have lots of platters and serving boards.
My storecupboard staple is … rice. My family is Chinese so I’m used to buying big 20kg bags of long-grain white rice from Chinese supermarkets. I also have all sorts of posh varieties. And then I always, always, always have lots of whole milk in my fridge, for coffee.
My go-to cookbook is … the Carnation Evaporated Milk cookbooks I had as a kid. I got these when I was still at primary school and even after I left home, I would have to make my mum something from them whenever I went back home.
When I’m starving I … eat speculoos spread out of a jar with a spoon, or more likely just my finger. If I have more time, it’s Nissin instant chicken noodles – I practically grew up on them (Chinese family and all that) or – more recently – cheese toasties made in a waffle machine.
Everything tastes better with … mayonnaise. This is where Mark, my boyfriend and I truly part ways. He is ketchup and I am mayo. I just can’t get enough of it. At the moment, I’m in love with the Japanese brand KewPie, which has a good baby logo too.
My best-kept kitchen secret is … to store lettuce in a glass of water, not in the fridge. I read this in an article about freegans and have been doing it ever since – the lettuce stays crisp for at least a week. My ultimate kitchen tip, though, is to read a recipe in full before you start. Honestly, the number of times I’ve been caught out and not had enough of something or used all the sugar in step two and not had enough at the end. Sit down, with a drink, read it through and then begin.
I’m currently obsessed with … people’s restricted conception of what breakfast should be – this is for breakfast, but that definitely isn’t. It’s so silly. I’ve just been to China and Japan, and breakfast in Asia is generally so different. You can virtually have anything you like for breakfast.
