Look for smart ways to cut corners: Ideas on making meals the easy way from culinary expert Imai Mami.

When people stopped going out during Covid, culinary expert Imai Mami decided to suspend the cooking classes she’d been teaching for years. She would look at social media, and among the comments about the loneliness and despondency, what particularly struck her were the posts complaining about the struggle of making meals day in and day out. Ahe asked herself what she could do as someone who had pursued a career in cooking. So she started posting recipes online.

Whether it comes to making daily meals or teaching your kids about proper nutrition, you don’t have to be a perfectionist. That is Mami’s approach to cooking, and it’s captured people’s hearts. We asked her about it.

Make meals more enjoyable and delicious by giving a twist to your regular ingredients.

Mami had been teaching cooking classes for over a decade. Then the Covid pandemic struck, turning her life upside down. For a while, she didn’t have a clue what to do.

“Looking at social media made me realize that lots of people were in a similar predicament to mine. I could really relate to what they were saying. On the other hand, I was bothered by all the comments fretting about constantly having to make meals because family members were spending more time at home. I started asking myself whether there was anything I could do as someone who had pursued a career in cooking.”

People were complaining about spending their whole day making meals and hating having to come up with a meal plan. Mami wanted to help, so she hit on the idea of sharing recipes on social media. People could then refer to them when deciding their own meal plans. Encouraged by her cooking-school students, she started posting recipes on an online media platform in March 2020.

Mami’s dishes involve giving an extra twist to your regular ingredients. They look delicious, fun, and like you could make them yourself. And they proved an inspiration to those who found preparing meals stressful.

In February 2022, Mami brought out her first cookbook, New Cooking for Every Day: Add a Spoonful of Surprise to Your Regular Ingredients (published by Kadokawa). This is packed with recipes inspired by the desire to make cooking fun. Now, these recipes are being tried out in kitchens all over Japan.

I share my home cooking online—even on days I slack off.

Mami posts her own culinary creations online under the hashtag #ImaiFamilyCooking. The photos are taken by her photographer husband.

“My husband does the shooting, and the photos are of our regular meals. So what you see is what we actually eat every day. On days I’ve slacked off, you can immediately tell. Just because I’m a culinary expert, that doesn’t mean I make elaborate meals every day. It’s okay to cut corners. Along with my recipes, that’s the message I wanted to get across.”

A typical meal at the Imai home

Ramen made in a casserole.
Each person dishes up their own portion and seasons it to taste. Even the most ordinary meals can be made exciting depending on how you serve them.

You can make even the simplest dishes doubly exciting, Mami says, just by being creative about how to serve them. For example, make ramen in a large casserole so everyone serve themselves. Or place a large pan of miso soup on the table, prepare lots of garnishes on small plates, and let each person flavor their own portion to taste.

Miso soup packed with ingredients is the ultimate powerhouse dish, according to Mami. “It’s a source of vegetables and meat. So as long as your loved ones eat the soup, you can kind of rest easy.” Mami’s older child dislikes miso soup, and her younger child is a finicky eater, so she started making her own miso in order to concoct a miso soup they would eat. Miso making is, along with pickling ume, now Mami’s lifework.

Miso soup packed with ingredients

“When preparing miso for fermentation, I deliberately left lumps by only partially mashing some of the soybeans (though I wouldn’t recommend doing that yourself, because it interferes with the fermentation process). Then I turned eating miso soup into a game. ‘You’re lucky if you can find a soybean in your soup!’ Well, even my daughter heartily ate her miso soup then. Also, I tried adding sour- or sweet-tasting vegetables like tomato and corn, or not using stock and just making the soup with the juices of the ingredients themselves. Using ingredients other than the same old thing and devising preparation techniques that better bring out their flavor makes things fun for the person doing the cooking as well.”

Just looking at things differently can spice up your daily routine.

Mami believes that even if a child has a poor appetite, it’s not a big deal as long as they get the nutrition they need overall. Not insisting that they eat at the dinner table can sometimes be an effective approach.

“When preparing a meal, call your child to the kitchen to sample whatever you’re making. It’s weird, but even if your child doesn’t eat a proper meal served at the table, they’ll happily sample stuff. Once, I set up a ‘sampling counter’ in a corner of the kitchen. I set out some food items along with condiments on small plates. Well, my kids kept coming back for more [laughs].”

Mami’s latest book, Meals by Me for Me, So I Can Sleep Soundly Knowing It Was a Good Day (published by Sayusha), offers ideas for moms wondering how to teach their children about proper nutrition. It also contains specific recipes. Here is one of those recipes, for dry-cured ham and sea bream sashimi on rice.

Dry-cured ham and sea bream sashimi on rice: an eye-pleasing dish perfect for spring

“If you don’t have salted cherry blossoms, you can use pickled ume or Japanese herbs like perilla leaf instead. Add ume vinegar if you like, or squeeze on lemon or sudachi、any of which tastes great with this dish. I’d encourage people to come up with their own variations.”

A custom printed handkerchief commemorating the book’s publication is available.
It was produced in collaboration with bookstore Cotogotobooks.

Avoid feeling rushed all the time. Look for smart ways to cut corners.

When you make one of Mami’s recipes, it’s a relief and a joy to discover that cooking doesn’t have to be difficult, and it still tastes great. Preparing meals becomes something you almost look forward to, believe or not, even though it was such a bother before.

“Cooking is more enjoyable if you look for smart ways to cut corners. I’m going to continue sharing cooking ideas designed to please the person doing the cooking.”