The Economics of Home Cooking

There are times when as a home cook I would ask whether it makes more sense to buy prepared and/or ready to eat goods rather than making it myself. I recently went back to my kitchen to experiment on doing two things which I find to be costly in addition to having limited product choice here in North Texas.

My first experiment is “Hopia” or mung-bean filled cake. The average cost is $3.00 for four pieces. Quite expensive especially if I think of my husband being able to finish the entire pack in two minutes from the time we leave the Asian store to the parking lot. My friend, Mitos, pointed me to a recipe from the internet. I adjusted the sweetness to my liking and a few steps based on my experience to ensure a flakier crust. Mitos, suggested using shortening instead of cooking oil. The filling that I used is leftover sweetened mung bean from our recent bake sale. Viola! Hopia from my kitchen.
My second experiment is making “Longanisa” or Philippine sausage. Even back home, there are many versions to this dish, the Northern provinces make it more garlicky, while in Manila, they make a fattier and sweeter version. I learned sausage making in culinary school and the secret to it is to keep your tools and ingredients, cold. I made my longanisa sweet and spicy with lots of garlic. The average cost here is about $4.00 for a 12-ounce/about 8 pieces. Mine of course costs much less even if you add in the natural pork casing that I buy from the gourmet store. And the biggest advantage is that everything is natural, no “salitre” used for preservative or food color to make the sausage appetizing red. My longanisa gets it color and additional flavor from atsuete oil that I prepare myself. And my preservative is plain simple red-wine vinegar but I guess if it is this good, then it really won’t keep long in the freezer.
Sometimes, the economics of home cooking is measured not only by the actual cost of making a dish but by the quality of what comes out of your own kitchen. Whether you are a kitchen daredevil like me or simply a frugal cook, good and economical cooking is always within your reach.