Lazy Kitchen (Update: pine chopsticks)

Dishwasher

Strongly recommend buying a countertop dishwasher—no installation required, you can take it when you move, and it can wash the tableware for two to three people at once. It also doesn't need to be placed in a specific spot. Most countertop dishwashers require you to manually add water; you can put the dishwasher on any relatively high surface and place a bucket underneath to catch the dirty water. Hot water at 70–80°C for over an hour, combined with an alkaline environment, is sufficient to sterilize.

After ordering a dishwasher, remember to also order dishwasher salt. Note there are two kinds of dishwasher salt: one softens water, and the other removes grease—buy the latter. Countertop dishwashers generally don't have water softeners, so you don't need the water-softening salt; just buy citric acid separately to descale.

Ordinary wooden chopsticks can't go in the dishwasher, but pine chopsticks can. Ceramic chopsticks can also go in the dishwasher and are even cheaper—so why not use ceramic? The drawbacks of ceramic chopsticks are that the ends are heavy so they fall over with a little movement, and they can scratch nonstick pans.

Dishwashers can also wash fruits and vegetables

Cookware

Air fryer: including flip-top air fryers—the heating element on top cannot be cleaned; after long use it becomes a collection of carcinogens.

Introduction to nonstick and stainless steel pans: [Ten years of experience, after decluttering the kitchen which cookware did I keep?] https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1eC4y137Mj

Nonstick pan: I find cleaning reasonably easy. After use, heat with hot water to melt the grease, stir with a spatula, pour out the water and wipe with kitchen paper.

Stainless steel pans: One type has a honeycomb plus coating—don't buy if it's not good. The other type has no coating at all; you can remove the original handle, then buy a quick-release handle to install, making it easy to put in the dishwasher.

Temperature-controlled induction cooker: possibly unnecessary. On traditional induction cookers each power level usually corresponds to a temperature range—ask customer service.

Temperature probe: Not sure if it's cooked? Insert the probe to measure. Don’t test inside a nonstick pan—if the probe accidentally pierces it, it will scrape the coating. Google "meat internal temperature chart."

Health

Cut off the charred parts—carcinogens.

Wanting both less oil and great taste is hard; instead use more oil during cooking, then blot the surface oil with kitchen paper after it's done.

If you eat too much salt, drink more water to balance it. Strongly recommend buying a large 1.5L water bottle—it really helps build the habit of drinking more water.

Seasonings

Non-professional opinion: More ingredients make food taste better. If all you have is oyster sauce and soy sauce, don't expect much. Some big chefs say you can make great food with just oyster sauce and soy sauce, but I'm not a big chef—I rely on more seasonings.

Lazy-person seasonings: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1sT4y1n7uE

Remove fishy smell: blanching, scallion/ginger powder, scallion-ginger cooking wine, baijiu, yellow wine (todo: food bags might not be allowed to contain alcohol?)

To remove fishy smell you can also use light saline solution—soak for over two hours, ideally soak overnight in the fridge until the meat turns pale white.

Enhance flavor: liquid smoke (adds a smoked cured meat flavor), soybean paste, doubanjiang, char siu sauce, dry yellow bean paste, dajiang, peanut butter, Thai sweet chili sauce, tomato paste, chili oil with crispy bits, garlic sauce, garlic powder, chili sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, scallion/ginger/garlic oil (for braised meats), chicken bouillon powder, concentrated soup base, Wang Shouyi Thirteen Spices, braising spice bags

For ground pepper check the product reviews—some pepper has had the oil pressed out before sale, losing its aroma after a while. Go after unscrupulous sellers; don't be lazy about leaving reviews.

Leeks are very aromatic—put them in when stir-frying meat

You can also buy dehydrated vegetables: dehydrated garlic chives, dehydrated green onions, etc.

Recipes

When making stews and similar dishes, each time you open the lid you should bring it back to a boil to sterilize; in theory the stew can be kept for a long time.

Beef short ribs (flanken-style)

Blanch + ginger powder is enough; no need to soak in light saline for several hours.

Braised beef short ribs with apple wood liquid smoke is very delicious

If the price exceeds 25 RMB per jin (~500g) it's not very cost-effective. Recommend buying Australian or Brazilian beef—sea shipping costs are low. Don't buy beef from Russia or Belarus—it's shipped overland and their breeding techniques are poor; the beef fat has a gamey smell.

Oats

Cooking rice takes 20–30 minutes (even with a microwave you need to soak for 30 minutes in advance); for noodles you have to watch them while cooking. With oats you just pour in boiling water and microwave for three to four minutes.

Oats are usually a breakfast food—if you use them as the carbs for lunch or dinner it might feel odd. You can use less water to simulate the moistness of rice so it won't remind you of breakfast.

Use oats that haven't been heavily processed—high in fiber and slow carbs.

Braised meat

Braised beef shank, braised chicken leg, braised eggs. You can use a pressure cooker or use the keep-warm/low-temperature setting to sous-vide/slow-cook for several hours.

Pre-made dishes

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1re411d7p9

Some dishes must be fresh to taste good; others are fine pre-made.

Some Guangdong dim sum are just pre-made pastries that are reheated and sold at double the price—hard to resist.

Golden-and-silver mantou, crispy roast pork, char siu, fried rice, and braised pork trotter rice all have pre-made versions.

Egg tarts: buy egg tart filling and frozen tart shells—these should be available on Meituan Youxuan or Taocaicai—then just bake in the oven.

Not recommended to make yourself

Grilled oysters: frozen oysters shipped by courier have a fishy smell. The included oyster knife is useless and very hard to pry; after prying you have to clean the debris. Processing a dozen-plus oysters took me two hours and left a deep psychological scar.

Shrimp: deveining shrimp is tedious. I saw a product on a grocery app claiming "clean all over, no need to devein," but when you open the shrimp's back you can still see the black vein.

French fries: drying homemade fries is extremely, extremely troublesome

Popcorn: some corn kernels are poor quality—half pop and half don't, and you still have to make your own sugar sauce.