The lockdown is coming to the final stage. Together with the economic downturn, many restaurants are gone. Many new restaurants are found.

The city is now partially resumed. Even if you are willing to eat out, you will often find the meals become much more pricey. The meals are shrunk. In economics, it’s called shrinkflation.

A few months ago, I went to a cafe for coffee beans. When I was queuing for checkout, I glanced at the meal order of a customer in front of me. 3 dishes of pasta with 3 drinks cost over $750. It didn’t make sense to me, given that some restaurants serve pasta with canned pasta sauce or, worse still, microwaved pasta. Why don’t I cook the same dish at home with a cost of perhaps 10 times less?

Nowadays, Hong Kong people buy takeaways mostly. There are long queues outside most Chinese takeout (rice with two side dishes) restaurants. And the only purpose of the kitchen is to microwave the meals.

There is a common excuse I hear the most – I don’t have time. If you work overtime and have no choice but to have dinner at the office. It’s acceptable. But this excuse is invalid for those who have dinner at home. Cooking a simple dish may take less than 15 minutes. Indeed, there is an extra preparation time, like seasoning or preheating the oven. But most of the time during these processes are waiting. I season the salmon fillet with salt and pepper before taking a shower. Once I have finished, the salmon fillet is ready to cook.

Two years ago, I moved away from my parents and lived alone. I told myself not to rely on buying takeaways. I enjoy creating things from scratch, whether music, photography, coffee or food. When I have an idea, I search for recipes on the Internet. With years of experience, I might invent the recipes myself. Finishing a product makes me feel achieved. Over the years, I started knowing nothing but cooking instant noodles and fried eggs. Now I have over ten simple dishes in my head.

Homemade cream sauce

Cooking is a learning process that involves daily drills and information retrieval. It also trains your dexterity – think about slicing onions. You may buy fresh food for healthiness. You may bulk-buy ingredients for a better price. You may control the food quantity and the amount of salt, sugar and oil.

Treat yourself well with homemade meals. If you are the unfortunate one who works overtime every day, try cooking a couple of meals on holidays. You will feel recharged after enjoying the food made yourself.