Gas stove — ¥629
The LPG stove at home has been replaced three times in the twelve years since we moved in. The first one was a Crown model from some brand, if I remember correctly, and it lasted about five years. The second one was bought at a nearby appliance market; I can’t even remember the exact brand now, but it also held up for more than four years. The third one was a Shunbang stove my mom had delivered along with the gas, and to be honest, its quality was really hard to praise.
The reason for changing it was that a two-burner stove had effectively become a one-burner stove. One burner still worked, but the other had no response at all when igniting. I wanted to fix it myself, but I had no idea where to start. My mom simply said to buy a new one online, as long as it stayed under ¥1,000 — after all, these things seem to need replacing every three to five years anyway.
After comparing a few options, I ended up ordering this one from Supor’s official flagship store on JD for just under ¥650. It has a black panel, which was one thing I hesitated over. My only real complaint is that after ignition and the flame catches, the power supply still cuts off with a delay of about two or three seconds. The other two candidates were similar, but one didn’t have a black panel and the other had slightly different burner-hole placement, so I ruled them out.
After using it for a few days, I can say the heat is much better than the old one. Both frying and boiling water are noticeably faster. It also comes with a six-year nationwide warranty, and I really hope it can last that long. The rice cooker at home is also from Supor, and that one has been pretty good too.
I placed the order on the first day and it arrived the next day. It said installation was included, but this was so simple that there was no point waiting for a technician, especially since they could only come the following day anyway. I put it together myself in a short while. The old stove was packed back into its box and taken up to the roof for my mom to use when cooking feed for the chickens. In the end, all that was needed was to install the batteries and connect the gas hose.
Bathroom washbasin — ¥428
The custom washbasin in the bathroom had already been in use for twelve years, and cracks had recently started to appear at the bottom. Yesterday, while my mom was washing the kids’ clothes and pressed down a little too hard, the oval basin suddenly smashed down onto both of her feet. There were bruises and traces of blood around the tendon area on both feet.
According to my mom, her feet hurt so badly after the impact that they went numb and she just sat on the floor. At the time I was upstairs tidying up the room. The kids were downstairs, and my daughter ran up to tell me that grandma’s foot was bleeding. When I went down, my mom was already sitting on a stool. I found some medicated oil and rubbed it on for her, but she still couldn’t really move for a while. My son, seeing that grandma was hurt, kept hovering nearby asking after her, which made her laugh quite a bit.
After that, I went into the bathroom to clear away the broken pieces and then removed the custom countertop as well. Since it had been there for so many years, the glue on the wall had lost most of its strength. With just a bit of force, the stone slab weighing ten or twenty jin came loose from the wall easily.
We needed a new washbasin, so I measured the size and looked around a nearby decoration market. But it was already near the end of the year: some shops were closed, and others said this size would have to be custom-made by the factory, which meant shipping would only start after the New Year. Logistics were also gradually shutting down, so that made sense.
With the basin gone, the bathroom was inconvenient to use, so I went online and looked at several bathroom basin sellers. Standard sizes were in stock, but they wouldn’t work because they would block the door. After quite a bit of searching, I finally found one with a similar size and ordered it. It should ship in two or three days, and since it’s coming from Guangdong, logistics are still moving there. A delay of three or four days is acceptable. Once it arrives, it can just be set in place.
Small freezer — ¥648
My dad went back to his old trade of selling pork this January. He rented a spot in front of a shop on a busy street nearby for ¥400 a month. Pork is cheap these days, and there are five or six pork sellers on that whole street, so competition is pretty fierce.
Every day he takes out about half a pig, more than a hundred jin at a time, and starts setting up around four in the morning. On a good day, everything is sold by four or five in the afternoon. On a bad day, there can still be leftovers hanging around until six or seven in the evening. We’ve been eating so much pork at home that we’re practically tired of it.
Some time ago, we turned the leftovers into cured meat and sausages, and quite a bit of them are hanging on the roof. I also started looking into different ways to cook pork — char siu, crispy pork belly, and so on. These past two days I followed a video tutorial and tried making char siu. The first attempt wasn’t very good, but after tweaking the marinade for the second try and putting it in the oven, it tasted no worse than what you buy outside. The best part is that we know exactly how clean it is.
Since there are leftovers every now and then, the fridge at home can’t really cope anymore, so I had long planned to buy a small freezer. I compared a few options before finally deciding on one. The day before yesterday I ordered a small 88L freezer from a brand’s flagship store, and today it finally showed as shipped. It should arrive in a couple of days.
A few more days and the cured meat and sausages will need to go into the freezer too, otherwise they’ll spoil in this southern weather.
So, how many points would you give my char siu? The photo looks a little blurry, but it didn’t taste blurry at all. It’s the Cantonese-style kind, so it leans sweet. Add a bit of barbecue seasoning and some cumin powder, and it turns into a completely different flavor. The kids kept saying it was delicious, and that kind of feeling really does give you a sense of accomplishment... haha.