The Asia Kitchen

Our day starts around 10 AM at Sector 63 H1A/33. The first thing we do is check the vegetables that came in. We spend a few hours just chopping onions, peppers, and cabbage. It’s a lot of knife work and my wrist gets tired. The kitchen is small, so we have to stay organized or we bump into each other. When the orders start coming in for lunch, the noise really picks up. The sound of the woks hitting the metal burners is something you get used to after a week. We use a lot of oil and soy sauce, so it smells very strong. The floors are tiled and we have to be careful not to slip during the rush. Sometimes a delivery driver is waiting and tapping his foot, which can be a bit stressful when we are behind. We try to get the containers packed up and out the door quickly so the food stays hot. In the afternoon, we have a little downtime to sit and eat our own meal. We usually just eat what we’ve cooked that day. The sink is always full of heavy pots and pans. Washing them takes forever because the sauce sticks to the metal. We go through a lot of sponges and soap. By dinner time, it’s busy again. The lights in the dining area are a bit dim. We close up late and walk to the road.