日報

I bought a bamboo steamer.
I'd always wanted one for steaming food, but I could never quite bring myself to buy it. I think buying it was the right decision.

First of all, the atmosphere is great. Just watching the steam rise from the bamboo basket makes the food seem more delicious.

I immediately tried making steamed eggs instead of boiled eggs, and the steamed eggs seemed chewier and tastier.

Next, speaking of steaming, pork buns came to mind. And speaking of pork buns, I thought of 551 Horai. I searched to see if they were sold in Tokyo, and while 551 Horai wasn't available, I found a shop in Ebisu run by relatives of the founder. I went and bought some, steamed them, and they were delicious. They seemed fluffier and tastier than microwaved pork buns.

I felt that both the steamed eggs and pork buns tasted better when made in the steamer. But then I wondered if that was really true. I hadn't made both boiled eggs and microwaved pork buns to compare them side-by-side, so it felt like I was just saying it because of the atmosphere.

However, I also strongly felt that was perfectly fine. The steam rising from the steamer, the unique texture of the bamboo craftsmanship, the effort of boiling water from scratch.

Using a beautiful and slightly fussy cooking tool gives the food a different kind of deliciousness and enjoyment than usual. That's why I get excited when I encounter a new cooking tool.

Ramen, such an enticing word.
If someone asked me what my favorite food was, I'd always say ramen, that's how much I love it.

When I was eating it the most, I think I was having it about 8 times a week.
When I wanted to diet, all I had to do was stop eating ramen, and I'd lose weight instantly, that's how much I was eating.

As time passed and I got older, it started to sit heavy in my stomach after eating it, and coincidentally, I started getting serious about cooking, which led to a period where the frequency of my ramen consumption dropped so much I couldn't even remember the last time I had it.

Yes, but recently, I've started eating it again.
When I eat it again, it's still delicious!
What is it about ramen that's so appealing?
First, the simplicity is great. A single-dish meal is the best.

Each ramen shop has a different concept:
Some shops aren't pretty but their taste is second to none.
Some shops have a wonderful ambiance and visually appealing ramen.
Some shops offer innovative, unique flavors with an edgy feel.
Regardless, it's so enjoyable to receive a bowl of ramen, made with time and effort, embodying the feelings of the shop owner.

I've tried making ramen myself from scratch, including the soup,
but making dashi from scratch for just one bowl is simply not cost-effective,
and somehow I always feel that ramen tastes better when eaten at a shop,
so lately I haven't been making it much, preferring to go out to eat it instead.

So, I feel like I've gained a little weight.
I know I should cut back, but I just can't stop eating ramen!

I don't think I have a good memory. I've never taken a memory test, so I don't know the actual truth, but I don't need to do that to know I don't have one.

When someone gets angry at me, it's always because they remember something and I've forgotten it. I forget things so completely that even when I'm confronted, I wonder if I really said it. But I've learned from too many past mistakes that saying that just makes them angrier, so I try not to. By the way, I can't remember a single thing I've been yelled at for forgetting.

That said, I don't think I've ever forgotten anything truly critical, so it hasn't been a huge problem. But recently, something has started bothering me quite a bit.

It's that I can't remember the recipes for dishes I've made. Sometimes, I even forget that I've made them at all. I often look at a photo and think, "That looks delicious! Wait, did I make this?" Since I've forgotten I made it, there's no way I remember the recipe. You'd think I could just make it again without thinking, but that often turns out to be surprisingly difficult.

Just when I was fretting that not remembering recipes was becoming a real problem, I came up with a brilliant secret plan that no one else in the world has ever thought of! ...It's to take notes!

When I look at a forgotten photo and wonder if maybe I wrote down the recipe in my phone's notes app, and then I open it and find it there, I'm truly moved. It's as moving as when I went back to my childhood home after a long time, cleaned my room, and found a letter to myself hidden deep in my desk drawer!

...Alright, I'm sorry. It's just a matter of taking notes, isn't it? I apologize for living my life up until now without taking notes. I hereby vow to take notes whenever I cook a new dish.

When I was in junior high school and just starting to learn English, there was a store where I wondered what its concept was.

The name of the store was "Freshness Burger." A burger shop that's *not* fresh? It must be crazy to do business with a concept like "it's not fresh." I thought there must be some meaning to it, so I mustered up the courage to go into that burger shop, which was a bit expensive. It was a very delicious burger shop. If anything, the lettuce was fresh!

I thought, "They're serving fresh things, but calling it not fresh. Is it twisted, or is there some secret to English that I don't know? English is hard."

It was several years later that I realized I had mistaken it for "Fresh*less* Burger."

Here's another story about my poor English skills.

When I was commuting to school by bus, a "non-step bus" suddenly appeared in front of me. "Huh," I thought. "Is it like an 'express rapid' on a train? That means it'll probably go straight to the last stop at XX Station without stopping, and it won't stop at the intermediate station where I want to get off, so I shouldn't get on this one."

It was after I'd passed up several of them and started thinking how strange it was that I realized I had mistaken it for a "non-stop bus." In the first place, if it were a non-stop bus, why didn't I realize it was odd that it stopped at the station I was waiting at? I was such an idiot.

It was a problem even before English ability.

I looked at the date, and it was October 10th. Wasn't today Sports Day? And wasn't it a national holiday? I wondered.

Upon checking, I found that "Sports Day" changed its name to "Health and Sports Day" in 2020. Ah, that's right. I remember something like that happening. Has it really been five years already? Time flies, doesn't it? I got a little sentimental about how quickly time passes.

And I also learned that Sports Day, which used to be on October 10th, moved to the second Monday of October in 2000 with the introduction of the Happy Monday system.

Oh, that's right! I looked at the calendar, and next Monday is a holiday, so that must be Health and Sports Day.

2000, huh? That was quick. Wait, 2000? 25 years ago!? What do you mean, a quarter of a century ago?

I've only ever seen the term "quarter century" in history class. In 25 years, you could skip from the Meiji era past the Taisho era and directly into the Showa era!

...I got a little over-excited about how quickly time flies. Even though October 10th stopped being a holiday 25 years ago, it still feels like a holiday. The speed of time is like an express train.

When cooking, there are some seasonings I use frequently. Salt, pepper, sake, vinegar, oil, mirin, soy sauce... I know what they taste like—this is salty, this is sour—but when I think about *why* something tastes salty, or *why* I use certain seasonings in cooking, or *what effects* they have, I realize I don't really know.

I've always felt that if I deepened my knowledge, I could cook more deliciously, but I wasn't sure where to start. Then I stumbled upon chef Naoya Higuchi's YouTube channel, and I was so impressed by how easy it was to understand.

His explanations are concise, and he even tells you how to use the ingredients, so I find myself watching various videos because they're so helpful.

For example, the "Cooking Oil" episode starts with an explanation of *abura* (oil) and *abura* (fat), but until he said it, I didn't even realize there were two different ways to express "oil/fat."

From the explanation about how the appropriate use of edible fats changes depending on their fatty acid content ratio, things start to get a bit more complex. It's fun, but it gets harder to retain the information. Still, I feel like I've learned something important, like the balance of oleic acid and linoleic acid, which makes me feel like my cooking will improve, and that's enjoyable.

I probably forget about 80% of it the moment I finish watching, but I'm sure I'll remember it if I watch it a few more times.

I highly recommend his other seasoning episodes as well; they're equally logical, well-organized, and very enjoyable.