日報

I love driving.
Ever since I was little, I've always gone everywhere by car, near or far. I even drive to飲み会 (drinking parties) and drink non-alcoholic beverages. There's something I've come to realize from all this:

"Using a navigation system means you don't learn the way."

When I use a navigation system to get to a destination, I can go there many times and still not remember the route. But if I go there just once without using navigation, I usually remember it afterwards. When using navigation, you might think "turn left at the next traffic light," but without it, you're more likely to process various pieces of information, like "turn left at the Tengenji-bashi traffic light, which is past the big hospital." I wonder if that's why I remember it better – because I'm actively thinking. And recently, I've been feeling something similar with cooking.

"Following a recipe means you don't learn the cooking process."

Of course, when I cook something for the first time, I have to look at the recipe because I can't make it otherwise. But for dishes I've made a few times, if I'm brave enough to risk making a mistake and try to recall the steps without looking at the recipe, I often find that I can then make it without any guidance from then on.

Learning starts with imitation, but at some point, you need to be able to think for yourself, and that's when you make a big leap forward. This is something that, if you think about it, is obvious, but when you're desperately trying something new, you often forget it.

Still, I really don't like to fail, so I tend to look at recipes anyway.

I made ginger pork for the first time.

It's not that I've been avoiding ginger pork my whole life; in fact, I quite like it. But for some reason, I'd never made it before.

I tried to think of a reason why I hadn't made it, but nothing came to mind. If I had to guess, it's probably because when I go to the meat section, the top contenders for what I want to eat—like tonkatsu, karaage, hamburger steak, or gyoza—always overwhelm me, and ginger pork just never gets its turn. Is that what it is?

Considering it was my first time, the ginger pork turned out delicious. It's amazing how simply adding ginger to the classic Japanese seasonings—soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin—makes it proper ginger pork. I wonder what it would be without the ginger? It would probably be tasty with garlic instead of ginger too.

For much the same reason, I plan to try making menchi katsu soon, as I’ve never made that before either.

What I learned from doing YouTube.

・Comments boost my motivation.
　I used to often see YouTubers say,
　"Comments really motivate us,
　 so please, leave a comment!"
　and I'd think, "Huh, so that's how it is."
　But it turns out they were absolutely right.
　Receiving comments genuinely makes me happy.
　I want to try saying a YouTube-esque line like, "If there are any recipes you'd like me to make, please leave a comment!"

・Likes really matter.
　The number of likes matters.
　The number of likes matters.
　It makes me happy when the number of likes increases.
　The word "like" itself starts to sound wonderful.

・Effort and views don't always align.
　Sometimes, videos I thought would "definitely go viral!"
　get fewer views than ones I was worried about, thinking,
　"I wonder if people will like this dish."
　The actual view count doesn't match what we imagine,
　so it's a constant cycle of surprises and discoveries.

These are all things I wouldn't have realized
if I hadn't started YouTube,
and they make me glad I did.

I love those "XX% off" stickers.
There's something romantic about them.
If I spot an item with a 50% off sticker, I'll grab it first and then decide.

When I was a company employee, if I came home late at night,
I would buy discounted deli items from stores right before closing,
and consider it a reward for working overtime.

Why are sales so appealing?
I don't really have a sense of market value, so I don't even know if it was a good deal,
but just the fact that it's cheaper makes me jump on it.

The other day, I found some fresh fish that said "30% off,"
so I quickly grabbed it, thinking "I have to buy this!"
I walked home contemplating what to make,
and when I went to put it in the fridge, I looked closer...
It was "30 yen off."

Damn it!
That must have been a trap for people exactly like me.
Even though I want to complain, it's my own fault,
so I'm just recording my frustration here.

When was the first time I cooked voluntarily? I think it was when I was in my second year of high school. One day, when no one was home, I called a guy friend over and we made mackerel simmered in miso together.

It was still the flip phone era, so I couldn't have searched for recipes on my phone. I wonder what I used to make it. Maybe I looked at a cookbook at home.

I chose mackerel simmered in miso because I probably thought, "When it comes to home cooking, it has to be mackerel simmered in miso!"

I imagine the dish made by two boys who had never cooked before was probably terrible. But in my memory, after all our hard work, we ended up with the mackerel simmered in miso we always ate, and we were both moved as we ate it.

Looking back now, I wonder why two teenage boys were making mackerel simmered in miso, but I remember being genuinely moved.

I wonder if I can make more delicious mackerel simmered in miso now than I did back then.

Today, I didn't have much time, so I quickly made frozen dumplings and stir-fried vegetables. It probably took about 10 minutes in total.

Frozen dumplings these days don't even require water, and they're cheap and delicious, so there's no need to make them from scratch anymore.

While the dumplings were cooking, I prepped the stir-fried vegetables. I used pre-cut stir-fry vegetables, cut the shiitake mushrooms and pork with scissors, and cooked everything without a cutting board for a quick meal. Whether you use a cutting board or not, the taste doesn't change.

When you have time, you can cook slowly, and when you don't, you can cook quickly. It's not about which is better or worse; it's great to be able to choose what suits you best.

Dumplings go great with beer!