Cooking In Your Dorm

Sometimes, dining hall food just doesn't hit anymore (I mean when does it ever?) and you don't have to money to go out to eat. Look no further! Here are the ways I have eaten in my dorm :)

*if you're my RA and are reading this, please just turn a blind eye ;)*

Things you'll want:

1. electric kettle

2. rice cooker

3. electric hot pot

Ok. I know NONE of these things are allowed in a dorm room (and for good reason) but there are ways to get around that. The main concern with these appliances is that you're going to start a fire or you'll set off the sprinklers with the steam created from them. Well... to combat that, I made sure to cook on the opposite side of where the sprinkler is located and use a mini fan to defuse any steam that comes out (not RA approved).

I basically use these appliances to cook Asian food.

Obviously, with the electric kettle, I used it to make cup noodles and tea.

With the rice cooker, I make rice. I measure one serving of rice and put it in separate Ziploc bags at home so I don't have to go through the hassle of measuring rice in my dorm. I have a stash of seaweed, furikake, and Korean red chili paste to eat with my rice. My mom usually packs me stir-fried kimchi whenever I go back to college so if I also mix that into my rice, it's like ghetto kimchi fried rice. It's not perfect but it tastes really good!

The electric hot pot is where you can get a little creative. You can make the standard Korean ramen in there. You can also steam buns if you have a small wire rack you can put in the hot pot! You can also make pasta by cooking the noodles in the hot pot and heating up some pasta sauce in the microwave. I've also made Korean cold noodles in my hot pot too.

There's definitely more you can do with these items and get really creative but don't forget, you have to clean up fairly soon after you finish eating. You don't want to fill your room with the smell of ramen or kimchi!

These are just things I have tried and have worked for me. I did hear that someone in my residence hall had a George Foreman grill in her room. So there are definitely other appliances that could work in a college dorm. The biggest thing is making sure you have a good hiding spot for your appliances. You do not want to get caught by your RA with "illegal" items.

Hopefully, this helps you and gives you ideas of how to eat in college :)