I'd been working a bit too hard these past few days, so I decided to give myself a simple treat, nothing fancy, just something to bring back a bit of nostalgia from the old days.
It reminded me of when my mum used to cook over a wood fire, the smell of the flames, the warmth, the atmosphere… and of course, the food. There’s just something special about it.
So I thought, why not try cooking on fire again? It’s something I haven’t done in a long time, but growing up in the Philippines, cooking outdoors over fire was just part of everyday life.
I had this old rusty cooker that I just pulled out of the shed, and I was actually about to get rid of it to free up some space. But then I changed my mind. What if I could turn it into an outdoor cooker?
It might not be the most conventional idea, but I liked the height of it, and it saved me from building a structure from scratch, and I could have my outdoor fire cooker ready straight away.
Luckily, the nearby garden centre had a heavy slab that fit perfectly on top, dense, sturdy, and heat-resistant, and I managed to get it for just a tenner. I placed that on top.
Then added a few bricks… and there it was: my little outdoor cooker (yes, I know, a bit crazy 😄).
Next step: firewood. Around here, there’s no shortage As lots of fallen and cut ash from diseased trees, just waiting to be used.
I got home, excited to try it out. I placed the woods in the lower oven compartment to keep them dry.
And I placed the outdoor pans in the top compartment.
Then I decided to cook something simple: fried rice.
I arranged the wood in between the bricks.
Lighting the fire was surprisingly easy, the logs were dry from the sunny weather, so it got going in just a couple of minutes.
I started by cooking the rice.
What I love about this setup is how easy it is to manage the heat, you can move the wood around, build the fire where you need it, and adjust as you go. It felt so natural.
The rice cooked in no time at all.
Then moved on to frying, lots of garlic (of course!)
Vegetables, then the ham.
Once everything was ready, I added the rice back in, fry for few minutes.
and mixed it all together over the fire.
I can’t even explain how much I enjoyed the whole process.
Cooking this way just has a depth to it; the food tastes better. It brought back memories of when everything we ate was cooked over fire. Then we switched to gas, and the food suddenly felt… a bit bland in comparison. It lost that nice charred taste.
Once everything was done, I simply sprinkled some water over the fire to calm it down and safely bring the heat down.
This may not last long, and I’ll need to build a proper brick one someday… but for now, this little creation really made my day!
We all enjoyed this delicious fried rice and realised I saved gas and electricity!
Mariah 🌿🔥