日報

When I cook, I don't think I've ever really considered the dish from the perspective of the servingware.

Since starting kikkake, I've been introducing more dishes, servingware, and cooking utensils, and this has broadened my cooking horizons considerably. I now find myself thinking more often about what kind of food would suit a particular piece of servingware, or what uses a certain cooking utensil might have.

Normally, I think about what I want to eat, make the food, and then decide which plate to serve it on.

When cooking, I often struggle with the question, "What should I make today?" There are many ways to decide, such as choosing after arriving at the supermarket, or considering what I've eaten over the past week.

However, "planning the menu around a specific piece of servingware"

This approach often sparks immediate ideas for dishes, or even unexpected inspirations, so I highly recommend it as one method for planning your everyday meals.

I had my first ramen of the new year.
It was incredibly delicious.

"Kazuya" in Meguro, a Chinese-style soba restaurant.
It's a ramen shop I frequent, and it doesn't seem to follow any trends.
The Chinese-style soba always has a consistent quality, no matter when you eat it.

Over the New Year's holidays, I had a series of lavish meals,
which was fun in its own way, but I was starting to feel like I wanted my usual food again.
So, Kazuya's Chinese-style soba, with its reassuring ability to reset me back to daily life and its consistent deliciousness, felt even better than usual.

It was like visiting my grandmother's house, where you're always quietly welcomed,
neither fussed over nor ignored.
I lived with my grandmother, so this is an imagined grandmother's house for me.

It's also similar to the feeling of relief you get when you return from a trip,
thinking, "Travel is nice, but home really is the best."

While New Year's events help me prepare my feelings for 2026,
eating my usual ramen and feeling like I've returned to daily life also makes me realize that I'm now in 2026.

There are only 360 days left in 2026!

I made Shizuoka-style oden at the beginning of the year.
It's a New Year's tradition for me to make a lot and enjoy it leisurely for several days.
Maybe it's my version of Osechi Ryori.

I say "style" because I've never actually eaten it locally.
An older colleague from my previous job made it for me, and it was delicious, so I asked for the recipe and have just been making it that way ever since.
I don't know if it's similar to actual Shizuoka oden.

I asked for the recipe over 10 years ago, and it was simply "simmering beef tendon, beef Achilles tendon, and fish cakes in soy sauce and sake."

The first time I made it, it took me about a whole day, and I struggled quite a bit, and it wasn't that delicious.
I had been told to just simmer it, so I did, but it turned out somehow different.

Now, I can make it in about 2 hours, even if I take my time and listen to music.
I've gotten pretty good at making it that delicious.

The method is just simmering.
Since it truly is just simmering, if I were to tell someone how to make it, I'd probably just say, "You just simmer it."

Actually, I do things like parboiling daikon radish and blanching meat before skewering it,
but those are basic steps that are hard to put into words until you actually try making it.

Cooking is something that's really well understood through video, so I think it's very well suited for expression on YouTube.

The New Year holidays are coming to an end!

Happy New Year!
We look forward to your continued support of Kikkake this year.

Every year, I ponder which channel to watch at the stroke of midnight, but for the past few years, it's been Eテレ's 2355.
It feels like 2026 arrived before I even got used to 2025.
I used to look forward to the commercials changing at the moment the new year began, but I rarely watch commercial TV anymore, so I don't know if they've changed, which is a new and enjoyable experience in itself.

The moment I stepped outside to visit a nearby shrine for Hatsumode early in the New Year, the atmosphere felt new.
It's truly不思議 how new it feels, even though there's no way the air actually changes between yesterday and today.

My offering was 50 yen, hoping for fivefold good fortune.
I stopped putting in 100 yen after someone once told me it leads to "misfortune yen," but if I were on the shrine's side, I'd probably think, "Just put in the higher amount!"

It's a tradition to have amazake at the shrine's exit.
I used to dislike it when I was younger, but lately, I've come to find it quite delicious.
I like amazake because it feels like I'm experiencing culture.

Grateful to be healthy and able to visit the shrine again, I headed home, wishing I could come again next year.

This year is the Year of the Horse, and I'll do my best to gallop through the year with vigor.
Once again, I look forward to your continued support this year.

2025 has just one day left.
This year feels like it flew by faster than any other.

After launching the kikkake online shop in April and preparing for YouTube, cooking, and the shop, it was suddenly December 31st.

Regarding YouTube, so many of you watched our videos, and we achieved our goal of 20,000 subscribers by the end of 2024 yesterday, December 30th.

For the online shop, we're gradually receiving orders, and we find joy in carefully packing and delivering each one. We ship them daily, hoping they arrive safely and undamaged.

kikkake started from a love of cooking and using tableware and cooking utensils. We're happy that what we started is gradually taking shape, hoping that kikkake can be a starting point for everyone to expand their passions.

We will continue to work hard to make our online shop, which is not even a year old, more enjoyable, and to expand our connections with all of you through YouTube and Instagram. In 2026, we aim to be an even greater trigger for making your lives more fun.

Thank you for your continued support of kikkake next year.
Please have a happy new year.

With 2025 drawing to a close, and me bustling with end-of-year cleaning and New Year's preparations, there's one thing I worry about every year: the kitchen waste problem.

Where I live, burnable trash is collected on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This year, they'll be collecting on Wednesday, December 31st, so only one collection, on Saturday, January 3rd, will be skipped.

Even with just one skipped collection, a lot of trash piles up, but I seem to remember a year in the past when two collections were skipped.

Normally, I don't separate kitchen waste from other trash, but during the New Year's holiday, I meticulously separate kitchen waste to minimize it and keep my trash can clean.

I remember TBS announcer Azumi once discussed on the radio, "What about storing kitchen waste in the freezer?" I don't want to do that. It's very logical, but it just feels wrong.

This year, too, I vow to systematically reduce kitchen waste and aim for a clean and tidy trash can life.

My thanks to all those who collect our trash.