The house still smells of fish sauce. On Sunday, I’d ordered Yen Ching’s takeout, the usual, their hot and sour soup, plus crispy beef and hot braised chicken (what others might call General Chow’s). Our favorites! The first night, we split the twofer soup. Afterwards, I’ve been stretching the remainder of the order by leavening the twin meat dishes with heaping helpings of vegetables. The only vegetables that either one of these two courses originally came with were these tiny, but totally deadly red peppers. Such is my lot in life as a pandemic chef. I order ingredients remotely, like I’m trying to build and feed a ship’s crew in a bottle. There is always a hiccup. I use to go to the grocery store every day. Now, I haven’t visited one in the last six months. I use both Instacart and Shipt. Both services have their advantages and disadvantages. I don’t mind the extra delivery costs so much, because we are not spending any money on much else. What I really mind is the loss of control and that the house stills smells of fish sauce. Although, the fish sauce does really enhance the flavor.