Editor’s note: In the Taste of Life series, cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.

* * *

Although Miyuki Igarashi had helped out at her parents’ Chinese restaurant since her childhood, she decided to leave home around the time she turned 30.

What gave her a supportive push were the words of the proprietress of a Japanese cuisine restaurant whom she knew.

“Before thinking of other people’s happiness, be happy yourself.”

Tears welled up in Igarashi’s eyes since she was at a breaking point both mentally and physically.

Her family’s restaurant had shot to fame after she appeared in the TV program “Iron Chef.” Igarashi spent her days preparing, cooking and even doing the accounting and managed to grab only two to three hours of sleep a night. 

She worked furiously hoping to meet the expectations of her family and the guests and would place ice packs on her shoulder that hurt after continuously shaking a wok.

Her stomach was also feeling the strain.

“Chinese cooking is delicious, but it contains a lot of oil and seasonings with strong flavors. Checking the taste every day can tire your body,” she says.

Although she suggested making Chinese food with less oil to her father, he would not hear of it. In a way, oil used in deep-fried dishes and stir-fries gives the real pleasure of Chinese cooking. Their conflicting views wore her out.

She left her parents’ home, borrowed money from friends and fended for herself by accepting catering jobs.

It was around that time that she began to pursue “healthy Chinese food one can eat daily.” By using oil and seasonings that would stress the stomach only in moderation, she created recipes that drew out the sweetness and umami from the ingredients.

“Savory sesame seed curry” (“gomauma kare”) is one such recipe. She came up with it as a staff meal for her own restaurant which she opened in Tokyo.

Instead of using commercially available curry roux that contains flour, oil and fat, she uses pumpkin to make the sauce thick and sweet.

“It has the full richness of flavor yet is not heavy. It is a highly nutritious curry with sesame seeds,” says Igarashi.

She had become estranged from her father, but he contacted her around the time she gave birth to her eldest son about 10 years after leaving her parents’ home.

“I am sorry,” he said and came to accept Igarashi’s style of cooking.

In June of this year, her father passed away at the age of 74.

“A lot has happened between us, but I grew stronger thanks to him. I want him to watch over us,” says Igarashi.

* * *

Miyuki Igarashi: Born in 1974 in Tokyo, Igarashi is the owner-chef of a Chinese restaurant. She drew attention by appearing in the TV program “Iron Chef” when she was 22. She opened Chugoku Ryori Miyu in Tokyo in 2008.

BASIC COOKING METHOD

Main Ingredients (Serves two to three)

300 grams coarsely ground pork, 300 grams pumpkin, 1 medium-size tomato, 1/2 Tbsp each of finely chopped garlic, finely chopped ginger, and doubanjiang, 1 and 1/2 Tbsp curry powder, 500 ml chicken stock, 100 ml milk, 4 Tbsp white ground sesame seeds (surigoma), Seasoning A (2 Tbsp oyster sauce, 1 Tbsp each of soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar), some chili oil, some finely chopped green onion (aonegi type), some rice

1. Chop pumpkin. Place in heatproof dish, cover with plastic wrap and microwave at 600W for 3 minutes. Remove calyx from tomato and cut randomly.

2. Thoroughly stir-fry ground pork in frying pan, add garlic, ginger, doubanjiang, curry powder and stir-fry lightly. Add pumpkin and cook further.

3. Add chicken stock, milk, ground sesame seeds, Seasoning A and simmer over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Serve rice, top with tomato and pour curry. Sprinkle with chili oil, green onion to taste.

About 825 kcal and 3.8 grams salt per portion if shared by three people
(Nutrient calculation by the Nutrition Clinic of Kagawa Nutrition University)

When serving the curry to children or those who have an aversion to spicy food, the doubanjiang can be replaced by the same amount of miso.

* * *

From The Asahi Shimbun’s Jinsei Reshipi (Life Recipe) column