Do you use an electric stove or a gas stove? If you’re using gas, have you ever had the experience that when the fire is set to low, it is still still too high and, instead of simmering, the liquid in the pot is actually still boiling? That’s what I am experiencing now but I’ve long ago developed a technique to solve the problem.
When we moved to this house three weeks ago, we had to buy a new free standing cooking range with a maximum width of 50 centimeters. There was no way we could transfer and install the built-in hob and oven from the old house, you see. For a time, I considered living with the small induction stove that my daughter, Sam, used for cooking videos. But that was a fleeting thought. We just won’t survive without an oven.
In choosing a new cooking range, I had two options. Go full electric with an induction stove or go full gas.
The attraction of an electric range with induction stove was that there would be less heat generated while cooking. Stored heat in the house is terrible, especially in this part of the world where we live with hot and humid weather for most of the year. The downside is the higher cost of electricity. And the reality that I would never be able to use my claypots again. Harsh, really, because I love claypot cooking.
So, I chose a gas range. Fujidenzo, a local brand. Same brand as all our airconditioners. The gas oven is wonderful for baking bread.

However, I have issues with the stove. When set on low, the fire is still too high.

I tried to make a modified Mornay sauce with spinach to go over broiled pork steaks, but the flour separated from the butter before I could start pouring in the milk. The sauce tasted okay, it was smooth in the mouth but it didn’t look as smooth as it should. It looked curdled.

I wondered if it would look better as a pasta sauce but it didn’t. It still had that curdled appearance. The fire was just too high.
It’s the same problem I had with the cooking hob (a different brand) in the old house. Not good for long simmering. The liquid dries out too fast and scorching is inevitable unless I stirred the contents of the pot often. It was so inconvenient that I just cooked stews in the slow cooker. No stirring, no scorching.
But what about making sauces and other dishes that require cooking over low heat for a shorter period?
The trick, I have learned, is to remove the pan from the fire occasionally. Remove from the fire for half a minute, return to the fire, remove, repeat, and so on, until the dish is done.
I should have remembered that when I cooked the sauce on the new gas range. But, you know, there’s a getting-to-know-you stage with new cooking appliances, and I’m still familiarizing myself with the quirks of the new range. Next time, I won’t forget. I’ve managed with the old hob, I can manage with this one — until we can build a new kitchen with my specified measurements for everything.
In the blog

From top to bottom, left to right:
- Pork ribs with black beans and chili sauce
- Chicksilog (fried chicken, rice and egg)
- Browned sausage meat and fried quail eggs rice bowl
- Fresh mushroom and vegetable salad with lemon butter dressing
- Eggplants braised in soy sauce and gochujang
- Bacon, egg and lettuce salad
P. S. I am still in the process of moving the archive of the old newsletter so that you will always be able to use old posts as reference. Bear with me. It will get done.
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