日報

One of the things I'm glad about since I started cooking is that I now think, "When I eat something delicious, I want to recreate it."

Before, when I ate something delicious at a restaurant, I just thought it was delicious. Now, I find myself thinking, "What ingredients are in this?" or "How was this prepared?" Sometimes I try to replicate it myself, and sometimes I succeed, while other times it turns out completely different.

What I'm glad about isn't whether I can replicate it or not, but that I've started to naturally think about it and want to challenge myself.

Instead of just thinking delicious food is delicious, I've started to eat while considering the ingredients, cooking method, seasonings, size, tableware, temperature, presentation, situation, and company—all the various elements that make up a dish. As a result, I savor my food more than before, I love what I love even more, and I feel like I can face things I dislike just a little bit.

Eating is very important and very enjoyable.

I've caught a cold.
I heard it was going around, but I never thought I'd catch it myself.

It's not a terrible cold, but I rarely get sick, so even a slight cold brings my activity to a halt.

At times like these, eating easily digestible food and getting to bed early is the best thing to do.

It's amazing how well our bodies are made. When you're not feeling well, you naturally lose your appetite for greasy or high-calorie foods, but you feel like you can manage to eat something easily digestible.

Then again, if my body is so well-made, why can't it prevent me from catching a cold in the first place?
I'm going to bed now.

My hobby is tidying up.
I like putting things back where they belong, so every time I use dishes or cooking utensils, I put them back immediately.

There are many times when I want to add a little more salt, and then realize, "Oh, I already put it away."

Before serving a meal, I try to wash the used cooking utensils as much as possible, so I start cooking while also thinking about how to wash them during the cooking process.

I don't think this is a very good habit, as there are times when I prioritize washing and let the food get cold. I think over-tidying can be a problem. However, I can't help but do it because I know the hassle of washing up after a meal when my motivation is zero, and how difficult it is to wash things once they've cooled and hardened.

But there's one benefit to this.
When I'm filming, the kitchen is always clean, which makes filming easier.

I'm the type of person who would rather get it done now if I'm going to have to tidy up eventually anyway.

The bonito sashimi was incredibly delicious.
When I went to the supermarket, I suddenly spotted a large block of bonito.
It was a bit pricey, but I'd never seen one so big, and for some reason, its appearance just drew me in, so I bought it.

Since it was such a special bonito sashimi, I prepared various condiments to go with it, and oh my, it was just too good.

The bonito sashimi I had in Kochi was also incredibly delicious and moving, but this bonito, combined with the feeling of a chance encounter, had a certain evocative deliciousness about it.

In particular, eating the bonito with raw garlic and onion, dipped in sweet soy sauce, was an explosive burst of flavor. The aroma of the strong-flavored vegetables and the bonito just spread out in my mouth with a "WHAM!" of deliciousness. I'm still working on my descriptive skills.

When you stumble upon something by chance and it turns out to be great, you sometimes get that "Good job, me for finding this!" boost, which makes it several times more impressive than usual. This was exactly one of those times.

Good job to me for not overlooking it in the fresh fish section and buying it!

Making dashi stock can be quite a hassle. When I'm short on time, I sometimes resort to using instant dashi, and even when I have time, making dashi from scratch is a lot of work, so I often wonder if it's worth the effort.

Kombu is fine since you just need to soak it a little beforehand, but bonito flakes need to be strained, and straining means transferring to another pot, which just adds to the washing up.

After pondering these things every time I make it, I came up with my own method for making bonito dashi, which is as follows:

Put bonito flakes in a boiling pot.
↓
Skim off the large flakes with a skimmer.
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With the fine bonito flakes remaining in the pot, stir vigorously.
↓
The remaining fine bonito flakes will gather in the center, so scoop them out with a skimmer.

This method removes about 98% of the bonito flakes, based on my experience. The only tool you need is a skimmer. After removing the larger flakes, if you stir it around, an unexpected amount of fine bonito flakes will gather in the center.

It's interesting to watch them gather in the middle, and most importantly, it's easy, so please give it a try if you like.

As I started cooking properly, I became interested in ingredients and tastes, and as a result, I feel like I've become able to eat a wider variety of things.

For example, I used to avoid gutting squid because I had a bad impression of it, but to make squid and daikon radish, there was no other way than to gut it, and once I started, it was nothing at all.

I used to dislike asparagus, but after trying various methods like grilling it to see if I could eat it, adding seasoning, or wrapping it in meat, I became unsure if I ever disliked it, and I was able to eat it.

I learned that if you have a goal or interest, a little dislike or aversion becomes less bothersome. As a result, I feel like I'm starting to pay attention to things I used to avoid, and my capabilities are expanding.

I want to create more good opportunities.