Fairy Diary: The Kitchen Revolution of a Fairy Enchanted by the Divine Item Called a Steamer (Seiro)

Today is my daughter's school opening ceremony.
I took the day off work to grant my daughter's wish, as she said she didn't want to go to the children's center after the ceremony.

After picking her up, we went on a lunch and shopping date.
While looking for shoes to replace the ones I got rid of during my winter decluttering, I found a pair of sneakers I fell in love with at first sight. They were originally 30,000 yen, but for some reason, they were half off, so I bought them immediately. It feels like a day off to a good start.

Lately, I don't feel like I want to quit my job, but I also don't feel like I have to keep doing it.
I am in a strange place where I am not putting any pressure on myself.

That is precisely why I have started to value the things that excite my heart. One of those things is that I am facing my notebook every day because I want to deepen my study of the Mayan calendar.

In the midst of that flow, I got my hands on a "steamer (seiro)" a week ago.
Just by putting vegetables in and steaming them, they cook easily, retain their nutrients, and their natural sweetness is brought out.

──What is this, magic?

Come to think of it, I had been seeing steamers in shops and books about steamed dishes had been catching my eye lately, so it was something I was curious about. I bought it on a whim because I had some Amazon points saved up—but the shock I felt when I used it for the first time last week might be the biggest since I first encountered ChatGPT.

In the early afternoon, I suddenly felt like cooking, so I went to my usual natural food store to buy ingredients.
For some reason, there were many people I wanted to see today, and that alone made me feel happy.
And with the feeling of "I just want to steam everything," I bought various vegetables.

What I steamed this time.

On the top tier, I put roughly chopped cabbage, shredded carrots, and potherb mustard.
On the bottom tier, I put pumpkin, lotus root with the skin on, and Japanese yam.

Pumpkin, lotus root, and Japanese yam—things I usually want to eat but put off because they are a hassle to prepare.
Just by chopping them up with the skin on, lining them up, and steaming them—oh, how wonderful. They become a feast full of sweetness.

And then, I used these steamed vegetables to make dinner.

The vegetables from the top tier were combined with canned corn and seasonings to make a steamed coleslaw.
The pumpkin was simply tossed with salt and butter, which is much simpler and tastier than a simmered dish.
The lotus root and Japanese yam were tossed with plum and miso for a refreshing side dish.

The bean sprout namul was made with bean sprouts I steamed yesterday.
For the soba noodles, I used whole wheat ones that were on sale at the natural food store. I topped them with whole steamed Kujo green onions.
Even though I don't like raw green onions, I was surprised to find that I could eat them deliciously.

And above all, this steamer.
Since I don't use oil, cleanup is easy. Of course, it seems I can steam not only vegetables but also fish, meat, and even eggs.
To think I could cook so easily and so deliciously... I have to take my hat off to it.

It is so wonderful that I get even more passionate about it than when introducing my company's insurance products.
I want to share this excitement with everyone who cooks.

While cutting-edge technology like ChatGPT is amazing, who knew that traditional cooking methods held such rich wisdom?

For the time being, this fairy will be living in the steam, playing with the vegetables.