At first, cooking at home was for saving money “I want my future husband to have a simple palate” When Kō started living alone and cooking for himself, he would sometimes send photos of his dishes to his mother with messages like, “Look what I made!” and receive replies like, “Amazing!” When he returned home, he would say, “Today, I’ll cook!” and serve his family. Being away from home made him realize the effort his mother put into cooking, and he probably wanted to show that he could cook well too. This reveals the warm and gentle relationship between Kō and his family. “Even if we ran out of cooking sake, we’d just use the leftover nihonshu—my mom did that too. I also loved eating snacks my dad liked with alcohol, like salted squid. Growing up in a family like that, it’s no wonder I naturally became a cooking-loving, alcohol-loving person (laughs).” One of the dishes Kō made for his family, also featured in his book, is the “Unwrapped Lazy Shumai.” For this, the shumai filling is fried in a pan in a circular shape, pieces of the shumai wrapper are scattered on top, and then water is added to steam it. It may seem lazy since it’s unwrapped, but it’s a practical and logical way to cook. “My older brother isn’t very talkative, but he ate the ‘Unwrapped Lazy Shumai’ saying, ‘Delicious! Delicious!’ and I was really happy. When I became a comedian and appeared on a cooking show with him, he was asked which dish of mine was the best, and he didn’t know the name. After thinking for a while, he said ‘Quiche’ (laughs). Sure, it’s not really quiche, but there was no proper name for it, so quiche it was.” Even while embarrassed, Kō adds humor—classic of a successful comedian. Like the “Unwrapped Lazy Shumai,” the focus of the recipes in the book is on being simple, with few steps, using ingredients and seasonings that are already at home, so nothing extra needs to be bought. “There aren’t any fancy-looking party dishes. I want people to cook casually, even using leftovers. Especially for those just starting to live alone, I hope it can be a reference.” What does cooking mean to Kō? “For me, cooking probably changes depending on the moment. Right now, I enjoy just adding seasonings freely and quickly cooking. I’m happy if people think it’s tasty. But in the future for example, if I get married, I might think, ‘I should make more formal, presentable dishes’ to show my husband. It might change again if I have kids. Even when I’m a grandmother, it’ll probably change again.” In these words, a girlish side of Kō peeks through. One might think his rough-around-the-edges persona is breaking down. “Marriage? I don’t have any plans yet (laughs). But I wouldn’t want a husband who cooks either. He’d probably be fussy and have a refined palate. In that case, a man with a simple palate would be better (laughs).” It seems the rough-around-the-edges Kō is still very much alive.