CREDIT: FINCH NEVES
By being adventurous and creative, you can discover a world of flavours without breaking the bank.

When I first started college in 2019, I quickly realized that the money I had set aside would not make it as far as I had thought. It turns out, everything costs money. Laundry detergent, the bus to school, and band-aids were all things my original budget didn’t account for. With so many unexpected expenses, I was forced to cut other areas by as much as half, one of which was food.

I had originally planned to spend $50 a week on food, but suddenly that was $25. With great reluctance, I accepted my future of ramen noodles and nutritional deficits, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Over the following year, I developed a variety of filling and nutritious meals that were easily under four dollars for a few portions.

When eating on a budget, experimentation and adventurous eating changes from a choice to a necessity. I firmly believe that being a picky eater is a luxury born from circumstance that can be undone by sheer willpower and the courage to laugh in the face of abject danger. This fish was poisonous? Good, I was hoping for a challenge.


Adventurous eating doesn’t mean you can’t account for allergies or dietary restrictions. In fact, the recipe I am about to share with you is vegetarian. Listen, I love it too, but meat is expensive, and some meat alternatives are so good that you won’t even miss it in most dishes. The environmental benefits are well worth noting too.

The dish I want to tell you about today is such a mishmash of culinary cuisines that it borders on absurdity. It is mouth-wateringly spicy, deeply indulgent, and healthy to top it all off. Due to its culturally varied inspirations, it may require some ingredients you are not familiar with.

You will need Indian paneer cheese, Korean gochujang, and Chinese rice wine vinegar. Most of these can be easily found at the average grocery store, but feel free to experiment and replace them with anything you want. That is sort of the nature of eating on a budget in and of itself and I heavily encourage getting creative.

Instructions:

1. Cube and slice 300 grams of paneer to your desired size before salting it.

2. Mix 3 tablespoons of gochujang with 1 cup of warm water and 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar before setting to the side. (Optional: add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon of miso paste).

3. Dice one small onion and mince two cloves of garlic.

4. Chop cilantro and spinach into desired sizes.

5. Preheat a pan on your stovetop. Using medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil before adding the paneer, browning each side. It should take roughly two minutes per side.

6. When the final side of the paneer is being browned, add your onion to the pan and sauté for an additional minute before turning the heat down to medium and adding the garlic and a pinch of Chinese five spice powder. Continuing to sauté.

7. Once the garlic has developed some colour and the spices have become fragrant, remove the pan from the heat and deglaze with sake (stock, white wine, or water will also work), making sure that nothing has remained stuck to the pan.

8. Return the pan to medium heat and add the thinned gochujang mixture, making sure not to allow it to stick to the pan

9. Cook until the desired thickness is reached, or make a slurry of cornstarch and water to thicken it.

10. Turn off the heat and add the spinach one minute prior to serving and the cilantro at the final moment.

Serve the final dish on a bed of fragrant steamed rice, or on toasted corn tortillas for a taco with a deep, rich body and bright acidic notes. I frequently serve it with a light crema consisting of sour cream, lime juice, cilantro and chili oil, ideally homemade.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.