I Stopped Ordering Takeout on Weeknights. These 3 Dinners Take 20 Minutes.

You get home, put down your bag, and the first question is dinner. Takeout is quick, but after a few weeks it starts to taste the same: too much oil, too much salt, and not enough of the smell that makes a kitchen feel used. Cooking a proper meal with several long-simmered dishes is another option, but by the time the shopping, washing, chopping, and cooking are done, the person at the stove may no longer want to eat.

You can get hot food on the table in fifteen or twenty minutes if you pick dishes that do not fight for the stove and arrange the order. The three I make most often are stir-fried pork belly with green peppers and dried radish, cold tossed shredded potatoes, and onion and egg stir-fry. The ingredients are easy to find, nothing needs to be marinated ahead, and there is no long list of spices. The pork belly dish carries the rice. The cold potatoes cut the fat. The eggs are there for anyone still hungry.

When I get home, I wash and soak the potatoes first, then deal with the pork and the onion. The stove stays busy, and in about twenty minutes, three dishes are ready.

First dish: stir-fried pork belly with green peppers and dried radish

The first dish is stir-fried pork belly with green peppers and dried radish. Render the fat from the pork belly, let the dried radish bring its salty fragrance, and use green pepper and green garlic for aroma. You need a piece of pork belly, green peppers, dried radish, a few stalks of green garlic, salt, and light soy sauce.

Cut the pork belly into slices of even thickness. Pork belly comes from around the ribs, with fat and lean meat alternating. Do not choose meat that is all fat or all lean. If it is too lean, it becomes dry after rendering; if it is too fatty, it becomes greasy. Three layers of fat and two layers of lean is about right. Do not cut the slices too thin, or they will dry out quickly in the pan. Do not cut them too thick, either, or the fat will not render easily.

Heat the wok and put the pork slices in directly. Use medium-low heat and let them sit against the bottom of the wok. There is no need to rush the stirring. Let the fat come out slowly. When the edges of the pork begin to curl slightly and the surface turns a little golden, and there is clearly more oil in the wok, spoon out some of the extra oil and keep it for another dish. The pork belly will taste less greasy, and the dried radish will fry better in the remaining fat.

Rinse the dried radish with water, squeeze it dry, cut it into thin slices, and add it to the wok with the pork. Stir-fry for about two minutes. The dried radish is already salty, so be careful with the salt later. Add the green peppers and stir-fry over high heat for several seconds. Add a little light soy sauce. Do not add much; it is mainly for color. Finally, add the green garlic, stir a few times, and turn off the heat. The green garlic does not need a long time in the wok; the residual heat will release its aroma. No large pile of spices is needed. The salty fragrance of the dried radish with the pork belly is enough to make the rice disappear.

One small reminder: if the dried radish is on the salty side, rinse it several more times, or soak it briefly before squeezing it dry. Use light soy sauce sparingly. Too much and the color turns dark, and the saltiness can drown out the fragrance of the radish itself.

Second dish: cold tossed shredded potatoes

The second dish is cold tossed shredded potatoes. There is no long stir-frying involved. It is fresh, crisp, and cuts through the richness of the pork belly. On a warm day, it is especially comfortable to eat. You need potatoes, cilantro, dried chilies, and garlic.

Peel the potatoes and shred them finely. You can cut them by hand if you prefer, but make them as thin as you can. As soon as they are shredded, put them in clean water and rinse them several times to wash off the surface starch. This step matters. Without it, the shreds turn sticky and the salad loses its clean texture. Wash until the water runs clear, then leave the potatoes soaking while you prepare the rest.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the potato shreds for about a minute and a half. The exact time depends on how thin they are. If they are very fine, one minute may be enough. Cook them just until they lose their raw taste. Do not let them go soft. Scoop them out and rinse them immediately under cold water. They need to cool all the way through to stay crisp. Drain them well and put them in a bowl. Add minced garlic and dried chilies, pour a little hot oil over them to release the aroma, then add vinegar, a little light soy sauce, and a pinch of salt. Finally, scatter cilantro over the top and toss everything together. It is ready to serve.

Washing off the starch and cooling the potatoes completely are the two steps that decide whether this dish works. When heating the oil for the garlic and chilies, the oil should be hot enough to release the fragrance, but not smoking heavily, or the dried chilies will burn. Once it is mixed, it goes straight to the table. No long cooking, no extra pan.

Third dish: onion and egg stir-fry

The third dish is onion and egg stir-fry. It looks plain, but it goes well with rice and takes very little preparation. You need an onion, eggs, salt, and a little light soy sauce.

Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt. Heat oil in the wok, pour in the egg mixture, and when it has set, break it into large pieces and take them out. Cut the onion into thick slices. Do not cut it too fine, or it will turn soft and break apart in the wok. Use the oil left in the wok, add the onion, and stir-fry over medium heat for two to three minutes, until it softens. Put the eggs back in, add a little salt, drip in a few drops of light soy sauce, and stir quickly to combine. Turn off the heat and serve.

The onion does not need to be cooked until browned. A little crispness left in it is better. Once the eggs go back into the wok, do not stir them for long, or they will become tough. A few drops of soy sauce are enough for flavor; do not let the color turn dark. The ingredients are ordinary, but the sweetness of the onion and the fragrance of the egg sit well together on a weeknight.

Twenty minutes, with the order planned

These three dishes use ingredients you can find in any market. Nothing needs to be marinated ahead, and no complicated seasoning is required. What makes dinner fast is the order. First shred the potatoes and put them in water, then start a pot of water boiling. Next, cut the pork belly and put it in the wok to render. While the pork is rendering, cut the green peppers, dried radish, and green garlic. When the first dish is done, the water is boiling, so I blanch the potato shreds, rinse them under cold water, and toss them. Finally, I use the same wok to stir-fry the onion and eggs. The stove stays busy, and all three dishes reach the table warm.

Dinner after work does not have to be complicated. A salty stir-fry of pork belly with green peppers and dried radish, a crisp cold dish of shredded potatoes, and a plate of onion and eggs can be enough. In about twenty minutes, the table has a meal on it. The wok is still warm, the rice cooker is open, and dinner is done.