Photo/Illutration Tomato pasta cooked in the microwave oven (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

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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Cooking expert Joe-san., who is making his mark on social media by introducing fuss-free recipes, used to work as a company employee.

The experience of living on his own while working in sales at a manufacturing company has led to his present time-saving recipes.

After graduating from university, he joined a company with a corporate culture that is often described as “taiikukai-kei” (university athletic club type) where hierarchy and guts are valued.

Faced with a one-on-one human relationship with a tough superior, he found himself becoming mentally exhausted.

Nevertheless, he continued to cook for himself. He could do so thanks to his experience of helping in the kitchen since childhood.

“In my busy life, simply moving my hands to prepare dishes without having to think too much was relaxing,” he recalls.

He made it a point to fix dinner quickly after coming home from work. A popular choice was to add his own touches to instant noodles. When he re-created a bowl served at a well-known ramen noodle shop in the neighborhood, it turned out superb when he topped it with grilled pork belly slices.

Pasta made by cooking dry noodles in the microwave also appeared often on the dinner table. Since the noodles stuck together when he tried the recipe posted online, he added his own twist such as pouring some olive oil to prevent the sticking. 

However, he reached the limit in coping with the work-related stress and found himself unable to get up one morning. This led him to quit his job and begin working with food.

There is a scene that comes to mind.

During his salaried days, he would get off the train at his station in Tokyo late at night and see a crowd of suits file into a convenience store. They would line up in front of the cash register with a blank look and tired eyes holding instant fried noodles or boxed meals.

Joe-san. remembers thinking back then that after arriving home, there was little difference in going to the trouble of boiling water to fix instant fried noodles or making microwave pasta.

Just as cooking was a relief for him, he hopes that “his recipes will lower the hurdle of cooking so that working people can start to enjoy it.”

Joe-san: Born in Yokohama in 1988, he is a cooking expert. After working at a food planning firm that creates recipes, among other pursuits, he struck out on his own as a cooking expert. His tweets introducing time-saving recipes are popular as well.

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Joe-san. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

BASIC COOKING METHOD

Main Ingredients (Serves one)

100 grams spaghetti, Ingredient A (200 ml water, 100 ml unsalted tomato juice, 2 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp granulated soup stock), 1 cm grated garlic in tube, 1 tsp grated cheese, a dash of parsley (to taste)

1. Break spaghetti in half and place in heat-resistant container. Add Ingredient A.

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After breaking the pasta in half, place in the heat-resistant container to form an “x.” (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

2. After microwaving at 600W for 4 minutes, remove container and mix as if turning from the bottom and loosening the noodles from one another.

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Remove from the microwave after the first heating and mix while loosening the noodles from one another. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

3. Return container in microwave and heat for the time shown on bag of spaghetti.

4. Add tubed garlic and mix. Serve and sprinkle with grated cheese and parsley.

About 500 kcal and 2.8 grams salt per portion
(Nutrient calculation by the Nutrition Clinic of Kagawa Nutrition University)

SHORT MEMOS

Since water boils when heated in the microwave, the heat-resistant container should be sufficiently deep and large with a capacity of about 1,100 ml.

When you wish to add ingredients such as bacon and sausage, do so after the first heating.

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

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