Category Archives: Cooking

Organizer (5) ー Life skills I learned from professional cooking experience

“Plates for the table 3, ready!” “How man minutes for the table 5?” “Hurry up for the table 7!!”

Once, I worked as a kitchen chef and was really into it. I started from zero to having my own small dish in a Michelin star restaurant, and my kitchen experience became one of my life turning points.

Before becoming a chef, I had little knowledge and skills, and cooking was something beyond my reach just like any other skills about which you have no clue. After awhile, I was asked many times how I become a chef as if it was something very difficult. I felt like I was looking at myself before entering kitchen job. Cooking is such a mysterious area of work and attracts us.

Although learning how to cook needs time and practice, it’s not a rocket science, and you can learn quite a lot from zero, just like I did. And it deals not only with making delicious dishes, but also with organizing your way of thinking/doing, thus organizing life. In other words, cooking and life organizer are very much connected, and I learned many valuable life skills from cooking experience, about which I would like to share a bit in this entry.

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Learning how to make and use coconut milk

English, Español, Français, 日本語

“Hi dad / mom / teacher, how do you do that?

If you are parent and / or teacher, children will ask you many things. And there are so many things that seems to be familiar but we actually don’t know.

For me, making coconut milk was one of them, although I was familiar with it and used so many times (do you also like Thai curry, Indian curry or other food with coconut milk?). Besides, if you make it by yourself, it will cost you much less than the one in the store, and there are many different ways to use it.

In this entry, therefore, I would lie to share how to make and utilize coconut milk from coconut (fruit). Continue reading →

Arigato Natto ２ーHow to Make Natto Sustainablly Even in Africa

English, Español, Français, 日本語

It is faire to say everyone wants to be happy, and each one of us tries to achieve something for that (e.g. lose 20kg, get married, have a nice job, etc.). However, the more your objectives are sustainable, the more it will bring value added in general, as the life continues.

That is also why I highlighted the importance of having good habits (continuation) rather than establishing objectives (which have end point) in the previous entry .

More specifically, the other day, I managed to make Natto in Africa for the first time (for the detail, see here). At the moment I tasted it, I felt very happy, just like when you have a good meal. And I wanted to keep feeling that way.

With that in mind, in this entry, I would like to share my experience on how I achieved sustainability with regard to Natto making in Mauritania as well as some learning out of it.

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First Trial in Africa – How to use Pressure Cooker and how it Works

English, Español, Français, 日本語

Shu Shuuuu Shu Shuuuu Shu Shuuuu! Shu Shuuuu Shu Shuuuu Shu Shuuuu!

It is something most of us know, and its sound reminds us of the locomotive, and despite familiarity, many people do not dear to get close to it.

It is a Pressure cooker.

Although everyone knows in some way that it is useful, I imagine many people do not know when and how to use it, want to use it because it’s dangerous, or do not find any added value over normal pots which are cheaper and lighter (I was exactly like that until 2 weeks ago).

Therefore, in this entry, with specific experience of my first ever trial of using pressure cooker in Africa, I would like to share how to use it and how it functions, as well as some learning out of it. Continue reading →

Arigato NattoーHow to Make Natto at Home Even in Africa

English, Español, Français, 日本語

Once you touch it, it will stick to you without leaving you. Usually people hate it at the first sight , but some people gradually start loving it and cannot even stand without it as it can be a great supporter of your life.

What is it? Is it what is so called a love?

No, it is Natto, fermented soy beans which is one of the cheapest and healthiest foods in Japan (you can buy 3 packs of Natto for 100 JPYーless than 1 USDーin most markets. In this article, let me share the importance of Natto and how to make it at home, which was successful even in Africa.

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Learning from personal tripーChina and Thailand

It’s been a while since I had a personal trip last time without thinking about work at all, which taught me many things!

For 10 days, I had a family trip to China and Thailand. In this article, I would like to write about some general trip advice, recommended places, how to get there and how much as well as what lessons I learned.

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Feel New York in Tokyo

It’s been awhile since I updated the blog last time, since for the last two weeks, I was back in Japan (@Tokyo for my job and @Osaka for a bit of vacation).

I am not familiar with Tokyo, and over there, I felt so much about the capital of Japan, as well as New York, one of the most dynamic cities in the world!
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