A Warm Friendship That Is Always By My Side [Rice Companions]

In summer, when there are many cold things, it gently cares for you from within. In winter, when you long for something warm, it delivers warmth with all its might.

A warm presence that is always by my side. That is miso soup.

In our home, except on days when we have noodles, we always put some kind of soup on the table. Most of the time, it is miso soup. Even on days with yakiniku, mapo tofu, or curry.
It has been a habit since the children were small, and I am happy that they eat whatever ingredients I put in without complaining, as if it were only natural. That is why, even if the quantity is small, I make miso soup while thinking about wanting to increase the variety of vegetables as much as possible.

I often make it myself, but that wasn't the case from the beginning of our marriage. It started when my wife had a series of days where she came home late from work, so she would make the main dish and I would make the soup. That was when our eldest son, who is now in high school, was still in the lower grades of elementary school. Our second son was also young, and our third son hadn't been born yet.

In the beginning, we often had consommé-based soups using onions, wieners, and solid consommé cubes. Since it's finished by cutting the ingredients and putting them in hot water with the soup stock, you won't fail as long as you don't get the amount of water wrong. Even I, who am not good at cooking, was satisfied that I could make a respectable soup!

Eventually, my wife taught me how to make miso soup, and it became a staple. It usually contains several types of vegetables available at the time, such as onions, potatoes, taro, shimeji mushrooms, carrots, daikon radish, and cabbage, along with fried tofu and regular tofu. Since I like it sweet, I finish it with white miso.
My favorite ingredient is taro. The taro that my mother-in-law grows in her field is very sticky and delicious. I feel like I can tell how delicious it is from the moment I cut it with a kitchen knife.

At the time, I was also posting on social media, and when I look back, the first time I posted was in October 2012. I named it 'Papa Soup' because I felt there was meaning in a dad doing it. Let me pull out my feelings from that time.

There is something I make at home.
'Papa Soup'.
I have deliberately focused on making soup.

But, in truth, what I am making is not just soup. What I am making is our family's dining table.

Recently, the number of dads who cook has been increasing. Perhaps it's just that what was already being done is now coming to the surface. I think it's also the effect of social media.

In this modern age, there is a trend that 'Dads should also be able to engage in housework and childcare'.
Since both women and men can work vigorously, whichever spouse can do it should do the housework and cooking. If you build that foundation within the family, it broadens the scope for both of you to work, and you won't be in trouble in an emergency.
I really want people to work on that as well.

At the same time, there are moms who think, 'I want my children to eat the food I make.' My wife was like that.

My wife was the only woman on her team at work, and she was the first to return to work after maternity leave. There was a period when she had to attend meetings to discuss systems aimed at 'creating a workplace where women can also work easily' in the future, and she had to work overtime continuously.
At that time, I was relatively more able to adjust my work, so I responded by increasing the amount of housework I did.

But my wife was struggling with a conflict.

'I want to fulfill my role and work within the company.'
'But I don't want to neglect my family either.'

She was also very concerned about meals, and she kept up a method of 'preparing dinner and doing the prep work in advance, and just finishing it when it's time to eat.' All while thinking, 'I want my children to eat the food I make.' Even so, time was tight, and there were times when she could only prepare the main dish.
In that case, I should make the soup to respect my wife's wishes, lighten her burden even a little, and ensure the children's meals are fulfilling. That is how 'Papa Soup' was born.

As I continued, I realized something.

'At the family dining table created by the couple,' the children are eating their parents' cooking.

I think what a couple can do and what a family can do differs depending on the household. For those who have never tried cooking, you might think, 'I can make a simple soup.'

Talk about what you can do. Try doing even a little bit.

I would be happy if Papa Soup could be the trigger for that.

<From a post in October 2012>

Miso soup, an indispensable friend to our family's meals.

Very occasionally, my children make it for me.
My second son, who is in the 5th grade, said he had to make miso soup for his home economics homework, so that opportunity might come this weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

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The daily magazine 'Kaku-ngers' continues to be co-managed with a theme decided every week.
This week's theme was [ Rice Companions ].

I am Iori Yoshimura, in charge of Saturdays, who wants to spend the coming cold season with warm miso soup.

Thank you for reading until the end today.

Please take a look at what kind of [ Rice Companions ] the members use to color their dining tables. Your stomach might growl?

See you again.