Rise of home chefs

Zhao says she recently noticed complicated flour dishes such as deep-fried dough sticks getting more attention among her recipes on the app.

Wang also noticed trends among users of Douguo. During the early days of the epidemic, the most searched dishes on the app were quick ones that take up to 10 minutes to prepare. But as the epidemic progressed, people were looking for more complicated dishes to kill time.

"As all our cooking courses are now free of cost, we find that professionals such as chefs are among the most-followed people on our app," he says.

Wang adds that young users are searching for healthy dishes and are looking for ingredients high in protein and low in fat.

While more people are returning to work, Wang is not worried about new users spending less time on Douguo in the future.

"Cooking is something that young people don't have time for because of their busy work schedules. After being able to cook, thanks to staying at home, they will find fun in cooking."

Wang says the epidemic will push people to focus on staying healthy and improving their immunity, which they can do in a way by cooking.

"We will also cooperate with professional nutritionists on our app to provide more information about eating healthily," he adds.