Reprieve from hours in the kitchen on a day of joy

A legion of chefs is on standby to bring relief in the kitchen on Chinese New Year's Eve

For hundreds of millions of mothers all around China, Chinese New Year's Eve is a day that will bring them not only the longed-for nearness of loved ones around the dinner table, but hours of toil in a hot kitchen beforehand that will produce satisfied stomachs and happy faces.

However, in an age of affluence many of these mothers would prefer to forgo the part that involves toil, and, perhaps inevitably, mobile apps are coming to the rescue.