Should We Really Follow TikTok Recipes?
Remember that time when the TikTok baked feta pasta went viral? A baking dish filled with a block of feta cheese melting into the burst cherry tomato gems, maybe with a sprinkle of fresh basil on top if you’re feeling fancy. Meanwhile, a bowl of shell pasta awaits to be mixed into the rich sauce of cheese and cherry tomatoes. The simple recipe provides what all students (and basically anyone who has heaps of deadlines) need: a short prep time with a simple cooking method. And lots of cheese. It almost seems too good to be true.
What made TikTok’s feta pasta so attractive was the fact that you didn’t need to be a good cook in order to cook this dish. Just put some shit in the oven, then pour pasta on top. Sounds simple? Here comes the catch.
The viral TikTok feta pasta is overrated. While the recipe requires affordable ingredients that you may already have in your pantry, it doesn’t deserve all the hype. Why? Because the pasta was bland! It had the creamy texture from the feta, sure, but the flavour of the cherry tomatoes was hidden, almost pointless. In addition, TikTok was vague about the oven temperature and the baking time. I practically had to wait to the point beyond hunger just for the sauce mixture to be fully cooked. While the cheese was melting into the cherry tomatoes, it took fucking forever for the cherry tomatoes to burst and the cheese almost got burnt, even with the oven being preheated. “That’s just one recipe, surely, there are other better TikTok recipes out there,” TikTokers may retort. Yes, there are. But hear me out, TikTok should only be used as a social media platform, not as your go-to cooking channel. Here are several reasons why.
Though TikTok recipes are appetising and innovative, they are extremely difficult to follow. The catch about following TikTok recipes is the app’s short video format, which is the main reason why it shouldn’t be relied on as a cooking channel. In fact, TikTok’s short video format can deter users from following and exploring other recipes, as all the instructions are crammed into a duration of one minute, or three if you’re lucky. Despite its time-saving video structure allowing users to watch several videos within five to fifteen minutes, something short, sharp, and shy of details isn’t exactly going to help your efforts in the kitchen. In order for TikTok content creators to convey their entire recipes within the time frame of the fixed video structure, they will often leave out the specific measurements of the ingredients used, an essential for recipes. I guess we can only wing it the next time we use a TikTok recipe to cook for the family.
If you’re running out of ideas and looking for alternative platforms to find your recipes (unless you’re an octogenarian who solely relies on cable), fret not, for YouTube is here to save your day! Though YouTube is getting horrendously commercial by being loaded with ads to encourage you to pay for their ‘YouTube Premium’ service (please, stop), there is an option to save any video to your playlists for further reference. Plus, unlike TikTok, viewers are able to lower the default video speed in case the video is hard to follow. Amidst the myriad of dishes I’ve tried from YouTube, the eggplant ham fritters from ‘Xiaoying Cuisine’ were a huge hit among my family. These fritters are perfect for anyone who dislikes the gooey insides of aubergines and they could be eaten for brunch, lunch or as a side dish. In summary, YouTube is suitable for those who pick up recipes better from video instructions.
If you learn better from reading recipes, like me, I recommend going back to basics by using Google. Google mainly presents recipes taken from food blogs. The pros of using Google for finding new recipes is the ease of penning down recipes into your cookbook without the risk of mishearing and the fact that the featured recipes receive star-rating from other users. The only downside of Google are pop-up ads. One recipe I’ve attempted is the lemon zucchini pasta from the Food Network. Unlike the original recipe, I left out the butter and the dish became my family’s new favourite.
Though TikTok is a trendy social media platform, it is a medium more suitable for general entertainment and for content creators to set fresh trends. Try YouTube, or hell, even pick ua recipe book from time to time.