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.

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Megumi Fujii learned cooking under Misao Takiguchi while she was attending Kagawa Nutrition University.

Beside teaching at the university and its junior college, Takiguchi appeared in the Nippon Television Network Corp.’s cooking program “Kyupi 3 pun kukkingu” (Kewpie 3-minute cooking) from 1967 to 1994. Fujii worked as an assistant during the program for five years before and after graduating from university.

“She was a strict yet tolerant person. She was broad-minded to let a student work as an assistant even if it was meant to educate me. If I were in her shoes, I don’t think I could have been that bold,” says the cooking expert.

Takiguchi taught “Japanese-style side dishes” that incorporated the good aspects of Japanese, Western and Chinese cooking. Her recipes were easy to make at home. Fujii recalls that she “always stood by the person cooking” when creating recipes.

Among them, the clam curry and potato chip salad introduced this week made a lasting impression as an example of flexible thinking. Fujii recalled it was a recipe offered on Jan. 3. Back then not many shops were open from New Years’ Day like today and buying food ingredients was not easy. By Jan. 3, many people tire of traditional New Year “osechi” dishes and crave things like curry. The two dishes incorporate canned food and snacks, which are readily available, in ingenious ways.

Crushing potato chips into a salad is a bold step for a university teacher. The addition of the crispy and pleasant texture to the ingredients mixed with mayonnaise makes the salad irresistible.

Fujii also appeared in NTV’s cooking program for 18 years until last year. While building her career, she came to view the job of cooking experts as being able to “offer easily replicable dishes to the unspecified majority.”

Fujii always keeps her mentor’s cooking books at hand and opens them daily. “Precious tips and key points are offered, and I discover new things every time I open them,” she says. Pages that have fallen off are repaired with adhesive tape and the corners on many have turned round and become soft. Fujii’s resolve not to forget her origin is etched in the books.

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Megumi Fujii: Born in 1966 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujii is a cooking expert and national registered dietician. She is known for her wide repertoire, ranging from daily side dishes to small dishes to accompany drinks, and appears on magazines and television. She has also written many books including “Fujii Bento” published by Gakken Plus.

BASIC COOKING METHOD

Main Ingredients for clam curry (Serve four)

1 can of boiled clam (180 grams), 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 tsp grated garlic, 2 tsp grated ginger, 3 Tbsp curry powder, 2 Tbsp white wine, 150 grams tomato puree, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp each of salt and soy sauce, 20 grams butter, 1/4 apple grated

1. Finely slice onion. Wrap carrot in plastic wrap, microwave at 600W for 3 minutes and grate.

2. Melt butter in pot, add garlic, ginger and onion and cook until lightly brown.

3. Add curry powder and continue to stir-fry. When aroma rises, add wine, clams, carrot, tomato puree, 2 cups water and bay leaf. Simmer for 15 minutes while stirring occasionally.

4. Add salt, soy sauce and apple and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

For potato chip salad (Serve two)

1. Finely slice 1/4 onion, immerse in water to reduce pungency. Finely slice 1 cucumber.

2. Add content of 1 tuna can (without liquid) and drained onion to bowl. Pour 1 Tbsp lemon juice and mix.

3. Add cucumber, 50 grams coarsely crushed potato chips, 3 Tbsp mayonnaise, bit of pepper and mix.

4. Spread out 100 grams red leaf lettuce (“sani retasu”) on dish and place 3 on top.

About 170 kcal and 2.4 grams salt per portion of clam curry (sauce only)
About 380 kcal and 0.9 gram salt per portion of potato chip salad
(Nutrient calculation by the Nutrition Clinic of Kagawa Nutrition University)

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