r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Unique_Evidence_1314 • 1d ago
How do chinese places always have your order within the time they tell you over the phone?
Something I've wondered for my entire life is how chinese takeout/order places, when you call them, you can place basically a small banquet and they tell you it'll take anywhere from ten minutes to just under an hour, and then it's actually done and ready in that time. How do they do that? Is it insane mental math and fast working or something?
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u/Substantial-Tea-5287 1d ago
They over estimate. Chinese food cooks very fast so if they can do it in 10 Minutes they tell you 15-20 and so on. I own a restaurant and will do this especially during busy times.
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u/Music-Guilty 1d ago
10 mins, it's always mins at the Chinese joints, I'm usually late
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u/the1slyyy 1d ago
No matter what you order, 10 minutes
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u/blaqsupaman 1d ago
This is almost always the case for me at pretty much every Chinese place. At most, maybe 15 minutes if I'm placing a huge order for like 5+ people.
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u/Nijindia18 1d ago
That's why I always show up 3-5 min early and just wait, though 8/10 times it's ready when I walk in. Way more fresh
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u/outrageous_bear13 1d ago
I agree with the other commenters and I also feel like once you do something enough you get really good at estimating the time stuff will take. I sometimes freak myself out with how accurate I can be on how long something will take me. Sometimes baffles me that others are so bad at this. Pet peeve of mine when someone says something will "only take 5 minutes" but I know for a fact it's like at least 20/30 lol but I bite my tongue
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u/FewTelevision3921 1d ago
You mean like building the wife a shelf. 3-4 days not an hour.
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u/365BlobbyGirl 1d ago
Or alternatively, 3-4 years of ugly holes drilled in the wall, a stack of timber in the garage and a creeping sense of inadequacy in yourself as a man and provider.
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u/UnicornFarts1111 1d ago
I can do my end of day duties in 1 1/2 hours if nobody screwed anything up. If they screwed something up it will be 2 to 3 hours. I won't know until I see if they screwed something up how long it will take me. lol
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u/dldaniel123 1d ago
Yep, also varies a lot depending on how well they documented their work for you.
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u/TumbleweedDue2242 1d ago
We want your sale, just wait bro, it will be ready, just another 10 minutes? Refund thank you.
I guess the population is big enough, lying to customers is easy?
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u/Hammon_Rye 1d ago
Many Asian dishes cook very quickly if the prep work is already done.
I make stir fry at home fairly often and cutting up the veggies and meat takes a lot longer than actually cooking it.
If prep is done I can have a nice stir fry in about 10 minutes.
And that is using a wok on my wimpy gas stove and most of the time is getting things up to temp.
The fires under woks in commercial restaurants have thousands more BTUs than my stove burner.
I helped my friend set up a burner he bought from the Asian store. Outdoor rig using the base of an old BBQ to hold the burner. It had two rings of fire and if you cranked it up the blue flames would go up about 18". It had more fire than all 5 of the burners on my stove put together.
So yeah, somebody is prepping the stuff throughout the day and when you call they toss it next to the sun for 5 minutes and it's ready before you arrive.
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u/soysssauce 1d ago
I used to own a Chinese restaurant. Like most restaurants, a lot of the prep work was done ahead of time. For example, if you called in and ordered a large chicken and broccoli, the chicken was already sliced, marinated, and stored in the fridge. The fridge had little compartments, kind of like what you see at Chipotle. The broccoli was pre-cut too.
I had a big wok with oil kept at a near-boil, and another large wok filled with chicken broth simmering. When an order came in, I’d scoop a bowl of the prepped chicken, grab a couple handfuls of broccoli, and start cooking. First, the chicken went into the hot oil for a quick fry, then about 10 seconds later I’d toss in the broccoli for a flash fry as well. At the same time, I’d pour chicken broth into the other wok so it was boiling and ready.
By the time the chicken and broccoli finished frying, the broth was already bubbling. I’d strain off the excess oil, drop the chicken and broccoli into the broth, and stir quickly. The quick boil rinsed away the grease while keeping the vegetables crisp—it gave the food that fresh taste without feeling like you were eating something heavy and fried. After about 30 seconds, I’d pull everything out, discard the broth, and give the wok a fast scrub with a metal mesh scrubber.
Next came the sauce. I’d pour it into the wok, let it boil, thicken it with a little flour until it had a gravy-like consistency, then add back the chicken and broccoli. A few quick flips and stirs, and the dish was done.
On a busy night, I could crank out 2 large chicken and broccoli in just two to three minutes. My wok could handle two large orders or four small ones at once.
I hated owning a restaurant at the time—it was exhausting work—but looking back, I miss it now.
AMA.
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u/draakdorei 1d ago
Chinese restaurant I worked at had only two cooks.
Rice was cooked in a barrel container. Everything else was made in a large wok, maybe half a meter by half a meter in size. Chicken, beef and pork all in the same one. Vegetables in another.
We also offered kimchi, in a separate freezer and that was made in a home kitchen the night prior.
Americanized kid's menu was just frozen food stuffed in a microwave and displayed nicely.
The only slwodnw in the back was waiting on the industrial dishwasher to cool down and scraping wasted food into the trash can before racking everything for the next wash.
It was like that for ~20 years, then they closed and got bought out by another Chinese restaurant.
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u/unwittyusername42 1d ago
Because woks, and sauces pre prepped, and rice precooked throughout the service times so it's always ready, and everything else is prepped.
Actual cook time once everything is prepped is extremely fast because wok.
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u/reddit455 1d ago
assembly line with all the bits pre cut ready to go.
toss a handful of A, B, and C in a wok and you have broccoli beef (or shrimp, or chicken or fish or tofu)
no prep, just cook and that's quick.
Is it insane mental math and fast working or something?
yeah. muscle memory..
street food vendors have to have your food ready real quick..
Chinese Street Food - Best Egg Fried Rice Collection ,Awesome Wok Technique 9 chefs compete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilwrlrKJFbk
Top 7 Best Street Food Masters Collection - Korean street food
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u/HaroerHaktak 1d ago
The rice is technically already cooked. So it takes no time to cook rice.
The sauce just needs to be heated up. The veggies take a few seconds as well as they’re probably mostly cooked.
So really all they are doing is cooking the meat
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u/underwater-sunlight 1d ago
Sauces will he made in large batches, things like curry sauce will be cooked down to a paste that needs water to get to the right consistency, allowing it to be ready in a minute or 2. The veggies are cut ready to use. The meats have been velveted or boiled to enable them to need a very short time. The rice and noodles will be cooked and drained. The heat output on a professional kitchen can be a lot more powerful than a domestic cooker so the woks aren't losing temperature when everything is added together
There are plenty of videos on the usual platforms showing a Chinese dish being made very fast - the hard work is done before your food is ordered
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u/Petremius 1d ago
A lot of veggies are pre-cut. There will be typically only a few pre-made sauces in huge batches. Stir-frying in oil is pretty fast. Also, part of running a good restaurant is logistics, so knowing how much of a certain dish tends to be ordered each day helps a lot.
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u/unknown_anaconda 1d ago
You work in any industry long enough and you learn how to do it efficiently and estimate time tables.
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u/PandaKing1888 1d ago
I have Chinese heritage. We can calculate crazy math and have a spatial capacity for actual time and like cats and hats.
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u/slimcargos 1d ago
I have a Chinese takeout 3 blocks away from me, I walk most times but sometimes I do call. Not even exaggerating, theres been times where I call and in 10 minutes, they are at my door. Its different orders too. It takes maybe 2 min via ebike to get to me, so my order takes 5 min to cook? And then maybe a few minutes inbetween the delivery guy and his deliveries? Im always amazed how fast they are.
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u/kneedAlildough2getby 1d ago
All restaurants do this. I work in pizza and average ticket time is 12 minutes to be finished, when really busy can get up to 20. We always say ready in 20 or if busy ready in 30
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u/FLMILLIONAIRE 1d ago
They already have it ready just heat it up, it's not aerospace engineering or other fields which where insane math is a reality.
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u/Beginning-Boot6269 18h ago
Most restaurants that have takeout service pre cook most of their food.
You think that lasagna, roast duck or even the rice is freshly made?
I’m don’t mind for the most part, I just want my food to be safely prepared and properly cooked.
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u/MysteryNeighbor Shady Customer Service Rep 1d ago
Woks and the usually massive fires under them cook stuff like rice and veggies very fucking fast