A woman stuck in a hotel room for 3 weeks used a tiny kitchenette to make gourmet meals. Here are her best tips for small-space cooking.

Weil, a cooking enthusiast, deliberately tried to find a room that resembled a service apartment with a kitchenette.

Her passion for cooking blossomed at an early age when her mother edited a food column for a Hong Kong women's magazine, and she eventually owned a deli with friends in London.

"I didn't have the kitchen the first time I did this," said Weil, referring to the first time she quarantined in Hong Kong for a period of two weeks.

"It was my husband and myself — and that's when he said never again. And now here he is, doing it with me this time," she added with a laugh.

So far, Weil has quarantined three times in Hong Kong, twice in the Philippines, and completed self-isolation in London. Her husband was also present for two of the Hong Kong quarantines, one in the Philippines, and the self-isolation in London.

"I'm so happy that we do have this kitchen because you end up spending a lot when you're ordering food all the time," said Weil.

The kitchenette was quaint, to put it lightly, with a two-burner induction cooktop and an overhead microwave. Counter space — like the rest of the room — was scarce.

"But as long as you've got a burner and a pan, you can make good food," she said.

Hotel staff provided some cooking supplies, like a frying pan and two plates, but Weil opted to bring her own. She'd packed everyday cooking utensils like a cutting board but also brought back things from the Philippines.

"I brought a couple of additional things with me from Manila: a French rolling pin, a small silicone pastry mat, a salt and pepper grinder, some bread flour, and active dry yeast," said Weil, who shared a photo of homemade garlic, cheddar and coriander naan on Instagram.

One surprising kitchen tool suggestion that proved extremely handy was a Microplane grater, Weil told Insider.

"The Microplane is really useful because you can grate cheese, ginger, garlic," said Weil.

She also suggested people expecting to quarantine should pack their favorite knife set just in case.

"I'm extremely fussy when it comes to knives, so I would always travel with my own knives anyway. Maybe that's the kind of chef thing — you always want to have a sharp knife," Weil said.

"And I did bring a chopping board and a small knife for things like if I want to slice my lemon for my Gin and Tonic," she joked.

Weil relied on workers from Deliveroo, a UK-based online food-delivery company with locations in Hong Kong, to drop off grocery store items at her hotel room. But there were some ingredients she just couldn't get.

"My biggest challenge is not having my usual cupboard full of spices. If you don't have a cupboard full of spices, then you're limited," said Weil.

Weil also realized that because the windows couldn't be opened, per quarantine rules, potent cooking smells could sometimes linger and bog down the room.

"The other challenge is not having an oven and being mindful about cooking something that isn't going to leave heavy cooking smells," she said.

"The extractor hood isn't bad, but it's a studio and it's not pleasant if the room constantly smells of cooking," Weil said.

Besides the induction cooktop, a microwave was the only other kitchen appliance in the hotel room. But Weil told Insider that she doesn't use a microwave in her home, meaning she had to figure out the power settings and cook times on the fly.

"I don't have a microwave at home and have very limited experience of using one, so I had to Google what to do," Weil said.

"I wasn't sure how long to cook salmon for, and when I looked that up, it said five to six minutes. So I did it at five, and I found it was a bit too cooked for me because I like it a little bit on the pink side," she said.

Not having a proper grill or oven also threw a wrench in Weil's plans.

"Like when I did the grilled peppers on the induction hob, that was quite challenging because it doesn't behave as it normally would," said Weil.

"You have to keep turning. It's just not the same as doing it under a grill because you can get the heat much higher. Also, because we're in a small room, I didn't want to create too much of a burning smell," she added.

According to Weil, par-cooking potatoes in the microwave for about 3-4 minutes prior to pan-frying speeds things up.

"You can get the potatoes nice and brown similar to roasting them in an oven by pan-frying," she said, also adding that vegetables retain a nice crunch with this cooking method as well.

"If you like peppers, you can dry roast them in the frying pan. I usually do three at a time," she added. "I keep them diced in some confit garlic olive oil to add to dishes or salads."

"Make sure you wash up as you go along. Otherwise, you will have zero space to work. Wash the filters of the extractor fan frequently to stop the cooking smells from building up," said Weil.

She added that she also travels with a diffuser and essential oils to combat any bad smells.

Scrolling through Weil's Instagram feed is like leafing through a polished cookbook, with each photo accompanied by a step-by-step recipe or thoughtful tidbits from the author.

"Quarantine cooking in an apartment hotel," read a post from January 22.

"Fresh pasta. I brought a French rolling pin and a small silicone pastry mat with me. I have to dry the pasta on a plate. It seems to work ok," wrote Weil.

Another post from that day details how to make prawn and potato cakes with Moroccan spice yogurt, complete with a list of needed ingredients and measurements for each.

"I started doing all those posts because my friends were like 'that's great,' and a lot of people would learn from what I was posting," said Weil.

In fact, Weil is in the process of setting up a website for her recipes after posting them separately on social media.

"Over the years, friends have always asked me, 'Can you send me that recipe? Or 'how did you do that?' So, I thought I should archive it," said Weil, adding, "it's partly for myself and mostly for my friends."

Her recipes have also helped prove that cooking — even in limited space — can be easy.

"I think that's what a lot of my friends have found. They're looking at the posts, and I'm just saying 'throw a bit of this, throw a bit of that.' It demystifies cooking," she said.

• Read More
• Starbucks just debuted a new Pistachio Latte that will make nut lovers swoon, but I'll stick to my regular order
• Don't toss out that leftover Champagne — use up your bubbly in these 7 easy dishes instead
• I dumped my leftover Champagne into risotto, and the creamy dish was the perfect hangover cure
• I tried the green juice Martha Stewart drinks daily for glowing skin, and her elixir of youth kept me energized all morning
• I tried the new Lady Gaga 'Chromatica' Oreos, and the limited-edition cookie is an even better version of the classic Golden variety