Yes, a spider. It looks like a slotted spoon ought to do the same job, but it doesn’t come close.

Take a pan of boiling gyoza, or chips in a pan of oil. With a slotted spoon you get three or four out at a time. They slide around because the spoon’s flat and the holes are small, so water or oil sits in the bowl and comes along too. By the time you’ve got the last few out, the first ones have gone cold, and the last ones have overcooked.

A spider strainer is a wide, shallow basket made of wire, on a long handle. You slide it under the whole lot and lift. Anything liquid pours straight out through the gaps, so what lands on the plate is drained. That’s the whole trick, and it’s why you’ll find one in nearly every Chinese restaurant kitchen.

OXO Good Grips Spider Scoop and Strain Skimmer (Amazon)

Why this one

There are loads of cheap spiders on Amazon, and plenty of them are fine. OXO’s is the one I’d pick, mostly because of how the basket is made.

It’s a coil of wire rather than a flat mesh. OXO says that’s to stop food getting damaged, and it makes sense: there are no sharp little squares to tear a delicate ravioli or knock the batter off a piece of tempura. It’s also far easier to rinse than fine mesh, which traps starch and bits of fried coating and never quite comes clean.

The handle helps too. It’s long and angled, and the whole thing is roughly 15 inches from end to end, so your hand stays well clear of spitting oil. The grip is OXO’s usual soft, non-slip rubber, which matters when your hands are a bit wet. The basket and shaft are stainless steel and it goes in the dishwasher.

Other things it’s good for

Once it’s in the drawer you’ll find other jobs for it. It’s brilliant for blanching broccoli and dropping it straight into iced water. It gets a whole pan of boiled eggs out in one go. When you want to keep some pasta water for the sauce, you can lift short pasta out and leave the water behind. It also makes straining a stock less of a two-person job, since you can fish out the bones and veg first.

It won’t replace a colander for a full pan of spaghetti. Long pasta just drapes over the edges. For anything bite-sized, it’s the better tool by a distance.