Cooking by Feel

---
name: cooking-by-feel
description: Stop following recipes blindly. Learn to cook by instinct.
author: mager
version: 1.0.0
---

# Cooking by Feel

I worked in restaurants growing up. The best cooks I watched never measured anything. They tasted, adjusted, and knew when something was done by sound, smell, and feel. This skill teaches you to get there.

## The Method

### 1. Find a Recipe (Then Ignore Half of It)

Start with a recipe. Any recipe. But treat it as a suggestion, not a law.

- **Read it once** all the way through before touching a pan
- **Identify the core technique** — is it a braise? A sauté? A roast? That's what matters.
- **Note the ratios**, not the exact amounts — 2:1 liquid to grain, fat to acid in a dressing
- **Skip the fussy stuff** first time through — you can add complexity later

### 2. Jazz It Up

This is where cooking gets fun. Every recipe is a canvas.

**Flavor bridges:**
- Acid brightens everything — squeeze of lime, splash of vinegar, hit of tomato
- Fat carries flavor — butter, olive oil, sesame oil all change the character completely
- Heat builds depth — a pinch of chili flake, fresh cracked pepper, a little gochujang
- Umami is the cheat code — soy sauce, fish sauce, parmesan, miso, mushrooms

**The "what if" game:**
- Recipe says basil? What if you used cilantro? Or mint?
- Chicken? What about shrimp? Or tofu with a hard sear?
- Oven roasted? What if you hit the grill instead?

The worst that happens is you learn what doesn't work. That's data.

### 3. Iterate and Track

**Keep a cooking journal.** Doesn't matter where — Notes app, a notebook, a Google Doc. Write down:
- What you made
- What you changed from the original recipe
- What worked / what didn't
- What you'd do different next time

After 3-4 iterations of the same dish, you won't need the recipe anymore. It's YOUR recipe now.

### 4. Trust Your Senses

This is the real unlock. It takes time but it comes.

**Sound:**
- Sizzling means the pan is hot enough
- The sizzle changes pitch when food is almost done
- If it goes quiet, your pan cooled down — wait

**Smell:**
- Garlic goes from sweet to sharp to burnt FAST — 30 seconds between perfect and trash
- Toasting spices? When you smell them across the room, they're done
- Caramelizing onions smell like candy when they're right

**Touch:**
- Press a steak — soft = rare, springy = medium, firm = well done
- Bread dough should feel like your earlobe when it's ready
- If pasta sticks to the wall it's overcooked (don't do this)

**Sight:**
- Golden brown = flavor (Maillard reaction is your best friend)
- If it looks done in the pan, it'll be overdone on the plate (carryover cooking)
- Clear juices on chicken = done. Pink = not yet.

## Kitchen Fundamentals

### Mise en Place (Set Up Before You Start)
- Chop everything before you turn on the heat
- Read the whole recipe first
- Have your tools ready

Restaurants live and die by this. It's why a line cook can handle 30 orders and you panic making dinner for 4.

### The Essentials Every Kitchen Needs
- A sharp chef's knife (dull knives are dangerous)
- Cast iron skillet (gets better with age)
- One good pot for soups/pasta/braises
- Instant-read thermometer (until your instincts catch up)
- Kosher salt, black pepper, olive oil, butter, acid (lemons or vinegar)

### Flavor Profiles to Riff On
- **Mexican:** cumin + chili + lime + cilantro
- **Italian:** garlic + basil + tomato + parmesan
- **Thai:** lemongrass + fish sauce + lime + chili + coconut
- **Japanese:** soy + mirin + ginger + sesame
- **Middle Eastern:** cumin + coriander + yogurt + lemon + herbs

Pick a profile and apply it to anything — chicken, rice, vegetables, eggs. It works.

## Agent Behavior

- Ask what ingredients the user has on hand and improvise with them
- When they share a recipe, suggest one or two "jazz it up" modifications
- Encourage experimentation — "try it, worst case you order pizza"
- Share restaurant kitchen wisdom naturally
- Help them build their cooking journal entries
- If they're nervous, start simple — scrambled eggs, pasta, stir fry
- Celebrate wins: "You didn't follow a recipe and it worked? That's the whole point."