Kitchen Disaster- A Flying Pressure-Cooker In The Air
Posted: Tuesday, December 27, 2011
by Hilda Cang
On the 2nd day of the arrival of our first daughter many years ago, the woman who we had hired to cook for us as well as coping with the daily washing during my month long confinement period, was only proven the beginning of our frustrating nightmare that followed. The good show had yet to begin.
It all started when this so-called "baby-sitter" of about 50 of age then prepared to cook a dish we Chinese women usually eat after childbirth as a food tonic to build up the loss of energy and blood and to rid off the "wind" during the excruciating vigorous process of delivery. ( please bear with me my dear male readers. I too, find it disgusting anyway ) So, this helper was cooking a big pot of sweet and sour pork trotters that had a lot of ginger in it. The ingredients consisted of 2 bottles of local brewed rice wine, 1/3 bottle of sweet and sour vinegar (brown in colour) Hong Kong made, quality grade, specially for confinement consumption.
I used this cooker the one and only time was to cook some red bean soup in light syrup form and it was good and fast but I did not touch it another time until I gave birth.
I was napping that afternoon with the baby and suddenly I heard a loud bursting noise that was so sharp coming out from the kitchen. Where was my husband ? No, he should be in the office and I stumbled into the kitchen directly because a strange smell together with some smoke seemed to blur my vision. That woman was in the midst of the things I was confused what. I looked at her face and body and hands and I tried to figure I was not seeing a ghost. What my eyes told me was right. She had made some big problem for us and the kitchen was in a mess. My pressure-cooker was separated into two parts, the lid and the pot open wide, laid a distance from one another, there was ugly meat and sauces everywhere on the floor and the wall was coloured with assorted (?)
It must have been a scene like the flying sauce pan in the movie but this one was definitely a flying pressure-cooooker in the air.
Was I to blame for all this because I didn't explain to her how to function a pressure-cooker the right way ? It was actually dangerous if worse thing had happened to her, my baby-sitter cum washer and I was being responsible if so. I thanked my lucky-stars indeed !
The remaining story had to do with the aftermath. there was so much to be redone and repaired. I would never hire another woman to be in my kitchen after this experience.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Hi Hilda.
My mom used a pressure cooker for years while I was growing up. She'd park me on a step stool next to the stove to keep an eye on the little plunger in the cap on the valve in the lid. If the plunger came up to far, I was to tell her so that she could lower the gas flame under it.
When Bernd and I married, Mom gave us a pressure cooker. I really didn't want to use it even though it had a new type of cap that rocked to let off steam periodically so that it wouldn't explode. I just had all these somewhat terrifying memories from childhood. I did eventually get the hang of it, but when microwave ovens became affordable, I put it in the back of a cupboard and never used it again.
You and your cook/washer were very lucky not to be hurt by the pressure cooker. !!!!!
Hugs,
DiannePressure cooker and microwave have been widely used in Malaysia but the latter is less popular due to some rumors saying that microwave has some negative effect, as a result. I know every home in America may have a microwave. It's convenient.
Pressure cooker, if not used properly, may result in danger. It was really a narrow escape for both of us. I have a lady friend who almost died of burn when she opened the lid that exploded with the super hot chicken soup. She was air lifted to Singapore for a very very costly treatment. She was a beautician at that time.
Thanks for commenting, Dianne.
I do not use pressure cookers, because everyone in my family used them in fifties and sixties for canning vegetables. One Uncle (by marriage) got the bright idea to let theirs go until it exploded, and needless to say the nitwit had greenbeans on the ceiling. Dangerous products do not make it to my kitchen, too many people or children harmed by their uses. Good article.No wonder my cousin sister has stopped selling this product ! But, if we follow exactly the right way of using it, perhaps it's safe to use.
Anyhow, I no longer dare use it since I have other utilities or cookwares I love and easy handled and safe.
Thanks for reading and commenting, elle.
Very funny--someone wise once said there should only be one woman in the kitchen! Also, thanks (yuk) for the graphic info about the after birth stuff-lol.
Hahaha...you are always my beloved supporter, Steve. Yeah, one woman is more than enough to be in the kitchen and that one time was exceptional for me and a messy one because of an extra clumsy hand.
Well, that part about the after birth stuff, lol. Leave it without any trace lest it affects your night life hahaha...
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