I have graduated from deep-frying

Do you like deep-fried food?

Tempura is delicious, isn't it? That happiness of picking up a shrimp tempura by its tail with chopsticks and eating it with a crunch.
Simple, but with many fans: sweet potato and pumpkin.
Sweet onion tempura.

Three years ago, I graduated from deep-frying.

Of course, in our home too,
the whole family loved tempura and fried shrimp.

My mother's specialty was tempura.
Even to her strict mother-in-law, for some reason, she was only ever praised for her tempura.
Because of that, my mother had strong feelings about tempura.
Hospitality meant tempura.
Tempura with soba noodles,
tempura with somen noodles,
and if anything came up, fried shrimp.

My mother got old and stopped cooking.
Meals for three generations—my parents, my husband, me, and my daughters—were left to me.

Whenever people gathered, my mother would always request tempura.
For some reason, it was often in the summer.

When Obon came around, I would make as much of a feast as I could, with things like somen, mixed rice, and spinach with sesame dressing.
I would place them on small trays to serve the spirits of our ancestors.
The most popular item was the tempura.
Vegetable tempura like pumpkin, onion, carrot, shiso, and green beans.
For some reason, I also made shrimp tempura.

In the hot kitchen,
(Thinking back now, I should have just turned on the air conditioning to cook),
when I fried a lot of tempura,
I would be so exhausted
that I didn't feel like eating it myself.

Cooking appliances evolved, and with an IH induction cooktop, I was able to control the temperature well.
That's when I became able to fry tempura well, too.

I worked hard and kept frying.
Summer tempura was truly hot, and I would be drenched in sweat.
I was tired and worn out.

Moreover, cleaning up afterward was a hassle.
Everything was greasy from the oil.
Disposing of the oil itself was also a pain.
Solidifying it or soaking it up with newspaper.
------

When my children became adults and my mother went into a care facility, something just snapped.

I said this to my husband.

My husband nodded silently.

It's delicious when I occasionally eat tempura bought outside.
Fried shrimp, too.

It's probably even more delicious when I make it myself.
But I don't do it.

I've already fried a lifetime's worth of tempura.

Goodbye to sweat-drenched cooking and greasy oil...

Today's temperature is 38 degrees.

When it's this hot,
I remember myself
with a towel wrapped around my neck, continuing to fry food.

I love the freedom of having decided not to deep-fry.

Getting older is also a good thing.
Because you become able to be yourself.