At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I had been enjoying a 5-pack of Kagoshima pork bone ramen in various ways, adding my own ideas and making different arrangements. But now, I have finally reached the last pack, so I decided that, at least for the last one, I would eat it just as it is, without changing anything.
When I took my time and really savored it, I realized that it was actually quite delicious. My impression this time was that, rather than simply having a strong “tonkotsu” flavor, it was more like ramen with a pork bone soup and a rich, flavorful broth.
I don’t know whether this was due to variations in flavor consistency at the manufacturing plant or simply a change in my own sense of taste, but my impression was quite different from when I ate the first pack. This time, I found the flavor of the broth especially delicious.
I prepared it using the specified amount of water written on the package, 400 cc, and it fit perfectly in a small ramen bowl.
Cup noodles are easier to prepare and come in many varieties. I already knew from the news that they had overtaken bagged instant ramen in sales quite some time ago. However, I personally like bagged instant ramen.
I prefer boiling water in a pot, cooking the ramen, choosing a bowl, adding seasonings as if I were eating ramen at a restaurant, and decorating it with toppings such as nori seaweed. I enjoy eating it that way much more.
When I go shopping, I plan to buy another pack of instant ramen, but I’m still trying to decide what to choose next.
Trying to decide which ramen to buy next is, for me, a very enjoyable dilemma.
In the “Osusume #OuchiGohan” Amazon Storefront, the ramen section features many of my favorite kinds of ramen that came to mind while writing this, as well as many other ramen products that I like.
Please take a look. You can find them at the link above.
Yokohama Chinatown, Panda Buns, and Enjoying Eating Out! — Osusume #OuchiGohan Blog
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, yesterday I took a break from my usual home cooking and enjoyed eating out because I attended an event near Yokohama Chinatown.
On the way to the event, I did not take any photos, but I stopped at Matsuya and had a beef bowl. It was the first time I had eaten one there in a while, and I found Matsuya’s beef bowl delicious because the flavor suits my taste. The restaurant did not have the Japanese pepper seasoning, sansho, which I had liked when I ate there in the past, but I was still very satisfied to enjoy a professionally prepared meal outside the home for the first time in a while, rather than my usual “OuchiGohan.”
The price used to be in the 300-yen range when I went there in the past, but it has gone up. At highway service areas, I have seen beef bowls in the 500-yen range.
The event near Yokohama Chinatown finished in the evening, and although it was raining, we decided to walk around Chinatown. Since we had come all the way there, I felt that it would be a waste to go home without eating something in Chinatown.
We enjoyed various Chinese dishes with authentic flavors. As shown above, I chose mapo tofu and a fried rice set from the choices on the menu. I also shared some of my companion’s shrimp chili dish.
Just like the beef bowl I had on the way, when I eat out, I often want to try the same kind of dish that I make at home and compare the differences.
The Chinese restaurant we visited had lighter seasoning than I expected, but it had a truly authentic “Chinatown aroma” and a deliciously well-crafted flavor that I could never reproduce at home.
After finishing our Chinese meal, we went to a nearby shop and tried what I heard is currently popular: “Panda Manju,” or panda-shaped steamed buns.
I chose an anman filled with sweet red bean paste because I was in the mood for dessert after the meal, while my friend chose a nikuman filled with meat.
The last time I visited Chinatown, grilled xiaolongbao, which released hot soup when you bit into them, were very popular. We stood in line and tried them back then. This time, it was “Panda Manju.”
I absolutely love the cute design.
I became a big fan of pandas when Xiang Xiang was at Ueno Zoo. I also once received a commemorative Xiang Xiang towel at an event around Ueno Station. Even now, I simply love pandas as animals. I like their innocent movements. They are such cute animals no matter when you see them, and they make me feel relaxed and happy.
As mentioned above, I thought the Panda Manju captured that feeling very well.
That was all enjoyable in its own way, but eating while standing in front of the shop in the rain, holding an umbrella, taking photos for SNS posts with my smartphone, and dealing with the crowded streets of Chinatown, where umbrellas kept bumping into each other, was actually quite challenging.
As I walked around Chinatown, I noticed something that was different from my previous visits: there were many more restaurants selling Taiwanese food.
When I watch the news at home about Taiwan, China, and Japan, there is not always much that makes me feel good. But in Chinatown, everyone was simply enjoying delicious food and having a good time.
For a while, I forgot about the news and felt peaceful and relaxed.
This time, three other people rode with me as we traveled round trip by highway from Tokyo to Yamashita Park in Yokohama.
The trip there went smoothly, but on the way back, we got caught in a traffic jam.
Normally, traffic jams make me irritated, but this time the traffic jam actually had an unexpected benefit. Because we were moving slowly, our conversations were not drowned out by the loud sound of the car engine on the highway. I was able to have many quiet conversations with people I had not seen for a long time.
On the way there, when traffic was moving smoothly, the engine noise was quite loud, and despite having this precious time together, it was difficult to talk, especially between people sitting in the front and back seats.
Of course, I would not want traffic jams to happen all the time, but I thought that an occasional traffic jam when riding together with acquaintances might not be such a bad thing after all.
While writing this blog, I found out something afterward: apparently, there are various kinds of “Panda Manju.”
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, yesterday I made and ate the spaghetti described above: “Sauce-Fried Spaghetti with Pork, Onion, Mayonnaise, Aonori, Bonito Flakes, and Pickled Ginger.” However, when I looked at the photo afterward, I thought it looked just like okonomiyaki.
In fact, the seasoning is almost the same as that used for okonomiyaki. The ingredients—pork, onion, mayonnaise, aonori (green seaweed), bonito flakes, and pickled ginger—are also similar to those used in sauce yakisoba.
In particular, Japanese-style thick Worcestershire sauce (Chuno sauce), mayonnaise, aonori, and bonito flakes are flavors I really like and eat often. Aonori is especially important for this combination. Even though I am trying to reduce my expenses, whenever I run out of aonori, I find myself wanting to buy more. I really like its aroma.
The other day, I used up the small amount of Chuno sauce that was left in the container. Since there wasn’t quite enough, I also added some soy sauce. Thanks to that, the soy sauce became slightly caramelized and gave the spaghetti a fragrant, savory flavor.
I searched through my posts on X for meals I have made using aonori. I would like to introduce a few of them.
Miso Ramen 5-Pack, 97g x 5 Bags, Topvalu Best Price ¥308 — I Came to Love It More and More While Eating It | Osusume #OuchiGohan Blog
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I had one package left at home of the “Miso Ramen, 5-Pack, 97g x 5 Bags, Topvalu Best Price ¥308” that I had bought previously. As mentioned above, I decided to eat it yesterday.
At first, I did not think it was anything particularly special, but for some reason, the more I ate it, the more I came to love the flavor of this ramen. By now, I had been saving it and eating it carefully because I did not want to use it up too quickly.
When I make this ramen, I simply follow the instructions on the package without doing anything unusual. This time, as usual, I added pork, onion, and cabbage.
Then, after placing the bowl on the table, I put the nori seaweed on top just before taking the photos. Nori becomes soft and soggy very quickly when it absorbs moisture, so I have to be quite careful about the timing when taking pictures.
This ramen comes with one packet of powdered soup and two packets of liquid seasoning, and you are supposed to add all of them when eating it. Perhaps there is some secret in those liquid packets that made me fall in love with this ramen.
Even though this is an inexpensive ramen, there must be some reason why they went to the extra expense of including liquid seasoning separately from the powdered soup. I wonder if that liquid seasoning might be one of the secrets behind its delicious flavor.
As always, and just as I expected, I enjoyed it very much.
This time, there was nothing wrong with it at all, but I noticed that the soup has a rather light color for a miso ramen.
In today’s blog, I would also like to introduce another blog that I run.
I am using an account that I created a long time ago and have started using it again.
On this blog, along with the latest articles published on this blog, I also introduce some of my older blog posts that I have found are frequently viewed through search engines.
Perhaps because Ameba is easy to use, many people also leave likes and comments on my posts.
“Napolitan Spaghetti—Perfect for Using Up the Last Little Bits of Ketchup, Tonkatsu Sauce, and Mayonnaise!?” Osusume #OuchiGohan Blog
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I frequently use ketchup, mayonnaise, and tonkatsu sauce. By coincidence, I had almost run out of all three at around the same time, so it was time to switch to new ones. I had written them down on my shopping memo, so I did not forget, and I bought new ones of all three when I went shopping. However, there was still a little bit left at the bottom of each of the old containers.
For this Napolitan spaghetti, I started cooking with the purpose of using up those small amounts that were left. This time, I used a little more ketchup, mayonnaise, and tonkatsu sauce than usual. As a result, I completely used up the ketchup.
I use the new mayonnaise when I want to apply it neatly to my breakfast toast, and I have already opened the new one. When there is only a small amount of mayonnaise left in the old container, I cannot apply it neatly, so I use it for dishes like this Napolitan spaghetti, where appearance is not important.
This morning’s breakfast was one of those times when I wanted to apply the mayonnaise neatly, as shown below, so I used the new mayonnaise. When there is only a little left, it is difficult to apply it neatly.
For breakfast, I put tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise on croquettes and cabbage. I like the taste of this combination. I also enjoy eating the same combination with okonomiyaki and takoyaki.
Getting back to the main topic, after making this Napolitan spaghetti, only a very small amount of the old tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise remained. There was just a tiny bit left. I had planned to use them up completely, but I decided that, from a taste perspective, there was no need to add any more.
I’m sorry if this sounds like a rather stingy story, but in the past, when only a little was left, I would use all of it and finish the container because it seemed like a good opportunity to do so. This time, too, I had planned to use up all three ingredients completely with the Napolitan spaghetti.
In the end, however, I left a little of everything except the ketchup. Or rather, whether consciously or unconsciously, I ended up leaving some behind.
Recently, I have changed into someone who tries to save money and reduce expenses by keeping even a small amount for the next time instead of using it all up.
There are many other seasonings in my kitchen that also have only a small amount left.
The Parmesan cheese and Tabasco that I put on this Napolitan spaghetti are also running low, but I only use a small amount each time. Therefore, I decided that it is not yet time to buy more, so I did not put them on my shopping memo.
I may even put them on my list of things that I do not need to buy. I am still considering it.
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I made “Curry Tonkotsu Ramen” using the leftover curry from the pot of the spice-packed curry I made the other day and introduced on my blog, together with a package of instant ramen called Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen that I had bought recently and had at home.
The recommended amount of water for Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen is originally 400 cc, so I reduced the amount of water slightly and added the curry. As I had hoped, it turned out to be just the right amount for a small bowl.
The flavor was a little strong, but I like strong flavors, and it turned out to have a rich taste somewhat like “Cup Noodle Curry,” so I was very happy with it.
The other day, I used Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen to make Sendai Miso Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen, which I introduced on my blog, and it was quite delicious. This time, too, “Curry Tonkotsu Ramen” was a great success.
I feel a little bad for the people who made Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen, but so far, I have only eaten it as it is, without changing the flavor, once.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the fact that the appropriate amount of water is 400 cc makes it relatively easy to create ramen with other flavors.
Using this method, I think I could make other delicious variations of ramen as well. I am thinking about what to try next.
Actually, I have been wanting to eat Tom Yum Goong Ramen lately, but I have run out of it at home. However, it would be difficult to recreate the flavor using the ingredients I currently have at home, and I don’t think I could make it successfully with this tonkotsu ramen, so I decided not to try it this time.
I also decided to ask artificial intelligence to come up with some ideas.
I’m looking forward to seeing what ideas it comes up with.
“Aeon Fruit and Honey Curry, Hot — 128 yen. This time, I added lots of spices.” Osusume #OuchiGohan Blog
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I made this curry using Topvalu Best Price Fruit and Honey Curry, Hot — 128 yen, adding plenty of nutmeg, thyme, Sichuan pepper, curry spices, and S&B curry powder.
I had felt that this curry was lacking in aroma and spiciness, so I decided to give it a try. To be honest, I don’t really know what nutmeg and thyme are supposed to do, but I found bottles of them at home, so I decided to add them. Sichuan pepper is one of my favorite spices. I had bought it to use when making spicy, numbing mapo tofu.
This time, I added the spices shortly before the curry was finished because I didn’t want their aroma to disappear. Honestly, I had no idea how it would turn out, but since I am the only one eating it, even if it failed, it would be fine.
As a result, I ended up with a curry full of the aroma I like. It also leaves a refreshing, lingering spiciness in the aftertaste. I added the spices deliberately so that their flavors would be noticeable, so they are not really a “secret ingredient.” The curry tastes quite different from the curry made with just the Topvalu Best Price Fruit and Honey Curry, Hot — 128 yen that I bought.
I ate it twice yesterday and once this morning, three meals in a row, but I haven’t gotten tired of the taste. There is still some left, so I will keep eating it.
For lunch, I am thinking of making curry ramen. Curry flavor is my favorite when it comes to Cup Noodles.
AtOsusume #OuchiGohan, as shown above, I made and ate tomato toast for breakfast both this morning (Breakfast: Tomato, roast ham, balsamic vinegar toast, mayonnaise, cabbage, onion) and yesterday (Tomato, roast ham, cheese toast, mayonnaise, ketchup, whole black peppercorns).
For some reason, I really like tomato toast in the morning. Although it may be difficult to tell from the photos, there is one major difference between this morning’s toast and yesterday’s. Can you tell what it is?
It may be difficult to see in the photos, but this morning’s toast (the photo above) has the mini tomatoes cut in half with a kitchen knife. I often use mini tomatoes for toast, so I usually choose the smallest ones I can find when I buy them. This time, however, the supermarket only had slightly larger mini tomatoes, so I ended up using ones about this size.
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, when I make toast, I bake the entire toast, including the tomatoes, in an oven toaster. This is because I think the tomatoes become sweeter and taste better when they are baked, too. I always carefully place the whole toast into the oven toaster so that the ingredients on top do not fall off.
Actually, yesterday (the photo below), when I was carefully putting the toast into the oven toaster, one of the slightly larger mini tomatoes rolled off the bread and fell onto the rack inside the oven toaster.
I noticed it immediately and picked it up, so nothing serious happened. If a tomato were to get crushed inside the oven toaster and its juice spilled out, cleaning it would be a real hassle.
This morning (the photo above), I used mini tomatoes of about the same size, but I cut them in half.
I first inserted the tip of the knife into the small hole where the stem had been and then cut the tomato in half. From experience, I know that this method allows me to cut even small mini tomatoes without crushing them, so I was able to cut them cleanly even with the old, rather dull kitchen knife I use.
This morning, when I put the toast into the oven toaster, the tomatoes were stable and did not roll around, so everything went smoothly and I felt relieved.
I could simply do this every time, but normally, cutting the tomatoes is quite a hassle. So, as I did yesterday, I usually put the mini tomatoes on the bread whole, without cutting them, bake the toast, then sandwich it and eat it. I just make sure to be careful while baking so that the tomatoes do not roll off.
I have gone on at length about a small detail that some people may think is not important at all. But I actually like tomato toast quite a lot. So I think I will continue buying mini tomatoes at the supermarket, even though their price has suddenly gone up, and eating tomato toast in the morning. For me, this is actually quite important.
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I made and ate a bowl of ramen with the following ingredients: “Sendai miso Kagoshima tonkotsu ramen, stir-fried pork and garlic, toasted sesame seeds, onion, cabbage, sesame oil, and nori.”
I used the “Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen” that I introduced in my food blog the other day. Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen
From what I remember reading about the history of ramen, I heard that Sapporo miso ramen was created after Hakata tonkotsu ramen. Since I thought tonkotsu and miso would go well together, I decided to give it a try.
The original Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen called for 400 cc of water, so this time I increased the amount to 500 cc and added Sendai miso. I also switched to a larger bowl.
As I expected, it turned out delicious.
When I ate the Kagoshima tonkotsu ramen the other day, it had a relatively light taste. Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen But this time, the ramen had a much richer flavor.
In addition to the Sendai miso, I adjusted the flavor to my liking by adding pork, garlic, toasted sesame seeds, and sesame oil.
I liked it so much that the next time I eat the remaining package of Kagoshima tonkotsu ramen, I am thinking of making it the same way again.
Miso also seems like something that should be good for the body.
On Osusume #OuchiGohan, I occasionally make and eat something like gratin. This time, as described above, I made “Spaghetti Gratin with Tomato, Loin Ham, Onion, and Cabbage.”
The preparation is very simple. First, I spread the already-boiled spaghetti in a gratin dish. Then I layer the cabbage, onion, and loin ham, in that order. On top, I add mayonnaise, ketchup, and finally shredded melting cheese, followed by tomato. I then heat it in the microwave for about three minutes.
The dish becomes very hot, but I don’t have oven mitts, so I use a towel to hold the dish and move it to the table.
This gratin-like dish tastes pretty much exactly as it looks. It isn’t anything surprising, but it is tasty, so I occasionally make it this way.
In the past, I sometimes sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top and used a toaster oven to brown the surface. However, that takes more time and effort, so recently I have been using the microwave instead.
“Bell Pepper, Cabbage, Onion, Shimeji Mushroom and Pork Salt Spaghetti — Delicious with Just Salt” — Osusume #OuchiGohan Blog
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I have recently become interested in seasoning dishes with just salt. My peperoncino, which I have been making and eating repeatedly for some time, is one example. This time, I made the above-mentioned “Bell Pepper, Cabbage, Onion, Shimeji Mushroom and Pork Salt Spaghetti”. It was the first time I had tried making a stir-fried meat-and-vegetable dish using only salt as the seasoning.
When I normally make a meat-and-vegetable stir-fry, I think about how to make it delicious using various ingredients and seasonings I have at home, such as chicken stock, consommé, bonito stock, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and ginger. I choose one or more of them and add them to the dish.
This time, however, I decided to go all the way and use “just salt.”
I wanted to see what kind of flavor I could create with only salt. I also felt like finding out exactly what the individual ingredients tasted like.
The conclusion was that it turned out delicious with just salt.
There were many ingredients—bell pepper, cabbage, onion, shimeji mushrooms, and pork—so it may be natural that all of their flavors blended together to create a delicious taste. But it was so flavorful that I almost wondered if I had added some kind of seasoning. It tasted as if I had used several seasonings, even though I had used only salt. At the same time, I could clearly taste the individual ingredients.
The thing I have to be especially careful about when using salt as the only seasoning is the amount of salt.
The same is true with peperoncino, which I make with just chili peppers and garlic. Even a small difference in the amount of salt can make a noticeable difference, and our sense of taste quickly judges whether something is delicious or not. If I get the amount wrong, there is no easy way to fix it, and the dish can end up being disappointing.
With sugar, even if the amount is slightly off, it usually does not cause a major problem. But with salt alone, the adjustment has to be very delicate.
When I cook, I don’t measure any of the seasonings, including salt. I rely on my eyes, the feeling in my hands and fingers, and my sense of taste when I sample the food. Because of this, I do make small mistakes fairly often.
Recently, when I make peperoncino, I don’t even taste it anymore. I have become familiar with the process, so things have happened to work out well based on experience. In that case, the amount of salt used when boiling the spaghetti affects the flavor of the entire dish.
With salt-seasoned spaghetti, I can notice not only the flavors of the ingredients, but also the subtle taste and aroma of the spaghetti itself.
I often eat dishes with strong-flavored seasonings, such as ketchup and mayonnaise on my toast for breakfast, so perhaps my sense of taste has become a little less sensitive.
I think I will occasionally make dishes with “just salt” as a kind of training for my sense of taste.
Cooking with “just salt” is actually quite interesting, so when I feel like it, I think I will do it again.
For everyone who reads my blog, why not try it occasionally, too?
Put all the various seasonings you have at home aside for a while and make a dish with “just salt.”
I don’t have a particularly positive image of salt when it comes to health, and I am careful about how much I use. However, during a season like this, when we sweat a lot, perhaps it can be a good time to enjoy a simply salted dish.
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, yesterday I ate the above-mentioned “Eel Sauce Fried Rice with Pork, Onion and Garlic, served with a Cabbage and Tomato Salad with Mayonnaise.”
I haven’t eaten eel for quite some time, but I still had some of the eel sauce left over from the last time I ate it, sitting in a corner of my refrigerator. So, I decided to use it this time. I thought the eel sauce would make the fried rice more flavorful, and it actually did. However, the rice coated with the sauce stuck to the frying pan, and scraping it off was quite difficult.
Rice sticking to the frying pan when making fried rice is something that happens fairly often. I had wanted to find a solution before, so I had been using more oil and heating the frying pan well before adding the rice. However, this time, perhaps because of the sauce, the rice stuck to the pan much more severely than usual.
So, I decided to ask artificial intelligence how to solve the problem.
At Osusume #OuchiGohan, I have tried many different kinds of ramen from various regions, both at restaurants and as packaged instant ramen. However, the Kagoshima ramen mentioned above was a first for me. I happened to find it while shopping, and I was looking forward to trying it for the first time.
When I was researching the ramen for this blog post, I found the following description in the AI Overview that appears in Google Search:
“Kagoshima ramen is a local specialty noodle dish that combines a pork-bone-based broth with the umami of chicken bones and vegetables. It is characterized by fried green onions and pickled daikon radish served as a complimentary side. Representative long-established and popular restaurants include Komurasaki, Kuroiwa Ramen, Zabon Ramen, Ramen Kogane, and Butatoro.”
Come to think of it, I had actually been to Zabon Ramen in Roppongi a long time ago, but I had no idea that it was originally from Kagoshima.
As for the instant ramen I tried this time, the character for “pork” on the package made me expect something rich and heavy. However, compared with other tonkotsu ramen, this one had a surprisingly light taste. It did not have a particularly distinctive flavor, and if you ate it without looking at the package, you might even think it was a salt-flavored ramen.
Personally, I would have preferred a stronger and more distinctive flavor.
The package says that the appropriate amount of water is 400 cc. This is considerably less than the 500 cc recommended for many other instant ramen products. Because of this, I decided to eat it in a small bowl with a swirl design that I like. In terms of portion size, it was just right. It was also small enough that my hands did not get hot while carrying it.
Since it was tonkotsu ramen, I added some beni shoga (pickled red ginger), roasted sesame seeds, and nori that I had at home, giving it a Hakata-style touch. However, I wonder if people in Kagoshima actually eat their ramen that way.
When I think of Kagoshima, I have an image of bonito flakes from Makurazaki, but I did not notice any hint of that flavor in this ramen.
At Recommended #OuchiGohan, I often take on various challenges—or rather, experiments. This time, I started making spaghetti inspired by Nagoya-style miso nikomi udon. However, I quickly realized while cooking that it would not really turn out like Nagoya-style miso nikomi udon because I did not have the most important ingredient, Hatcho miso, at home. The only miso I had was Sendai miso.
So I suddenly changed my plan. I put Sendai miso, doubanjiang (Chinese chili bean paste), oyster sauce, chili oil, granulated chicken stock, and sugar into a pot, then added the boiled spaghetti and simmered everything together.
In the end, I decided to call the dish “Miso-Stewed Spaghetti with Pork and Onion” and posted it on social media immediately after making and eating it yesterday. It did not have the Nagoya-style character I had originally imagined, but it turned out to have the rich, slightly spicy, delicious flavor that I personally like. It was actually much tastier than I expected, but I could not come up with a title that sounded particularly appetizing. I felt that the deliciousness of the dish was not really being conveyed to people who saw the post.
Since I already had the ingredients and liked the flavor, I may make it again. So, for next time, I decided to have four different AI systems—Gemini, ChatGPT, Charade, and Grok—come up with appetizing title ideas, as I usually do, and then choose my favorite title.
On Recommended #OuchiGohan, I often make curry rice and post it on social media. However, for some reason, I find myself paying much more attention to the number of likes when I post curry rice than when I post other dishes. I try to plate it carefully, aiming to get as many likes as possible.
As mentioned above, the two recent curry rice posts received 104 and 89 likes. For some reason I cannot explain, the curry rice that I reheated in the microwave:
Both dishes used exactly the same rice and curry sauce. I paid considerable attention to the plating of both, so this is a rather mysterious phenomenon.
received 1,030 likes. I also have no idea why that particular post received so many likes.
So, I decided to ask artificial intelligence what might explain these differences.
Below is the response.
I asked four different AI systems and read their responses. This time, I am reproducing the response from Grok, the AI operated by the company behind X.
The following is reproduced from its response.
Let’s analyze the possible reasons based on the post content, images, posting times, and how X works.
1. The difference in posting time may be the biggest factor
Freshly made curry (lunch): Around 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, 2026 (JST)
Reheated curry (dinner): Around 6:35 p.m. on the same day (JST)
On X (formerly Twitter), the period from around 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. often tends to be a “prime time.”
After work or school, more people are relaxing at home and looking at their smartphones. In particular, food-related posts about dinner are more likely to match what people are feeling at that time: “I’m getting hungry” or “What should I have for dinner tonight?”
In contrast, many people are busy during lunchtime, so they may scroll through their feeds more quickly.
In fact, although the freshly made curry received slightly more views, the number of likes was reversed. The important point is that the engagement rate (likes ÷ views) was higher for the dinner post.
2. Subtle differences in the impression of the photos
Although you paid careful attention to the plating of both dishes, there are some differences when comparing the images:
Freshly made curry: The potatoes are large and chunky, and the ingredients are clearly visible. The overall impression is clean and simple.
Reheated curry: There appears to be more curry sauce, with a glossy appearance and an overall impression of being “thick, rich, and substantial.” The ingredients look as though they are nicely coated in the curry sauce.
With photographs of curry rice, qualities such as glossiness, the amount of sauce, and a thick, creamy appearance tend to make the food look more appetizing.
It is possible that reheating the curry made the sauce slightly thicker, or that using a little more curry sauce when plating it resulted in a more visually appealing photograph.
Also, a spoon appears in the freshly made curry photo, while it does not appear in the dinner photo (or appears differently). This may also have affected the overall composition.
The #Dinner hashtag may resonate more strongly with people who are viewing X in the evening.
Although including detailed information about the ingredients and describing the curry as “spicy” provides more information, some people may find the simpler “Dinner / Curry Rice” easier to understand at a glance and therefore easier to like.
4. Difference in the number of reposts
The dinner post received more reposts (11 vs. 2).
When a post is reposted, it reaches more people, making it easier for likes to accumulate.
It may be that the post received slightly better initial engagement, was favored by the algorithm, and subsequently reached more people.
5. The previous post that received 1,030 likes
That post was made in September 2022.
The number of followers and the X algorithm at that time were probably quite different from today.
The composition, lighting, and visibility of the ingredients may also have been particularly well balanced, creating a situation where the post happened to reach many people at the right time.
Even when the dish is the same, it is common for the response to vary greatly depending on the timing, the audience of followers, and changes in the algorithm.
Summary: A mysterious but common phenomenon
Even when the ingredients are exactly the same and the plating is given the same amount of care, it is not unusual for the number of likes to be reversed because of:
“When the post was published” + “subtle differences in the visual impression of the photo (glossiness and volume)” + “the initial response.”
In particular, posts about “home cooking” are strongly connected to people’s daily routines and lifestyles.
The tendency for dinner-time posts to perform well is quite common in this genre.
The next time you make curry, you might try:
Paying attention to the glossy appearance of the curry when plating it
Posting during the evening or nighttime
Making sure to include the #Dinner hashtag
These approaches might help the post reach even more people.
Both dishes look delicious, so while it is fine to keep an eye on the numbers, I hope you continue with the attitude of, “I did my best again today!”
おすすめ #おうちごはん Blog: “Japanese-Style Soy Sauce Spaghetti That Tastes Like a Grilled Rice Ball”
At おすすめ #おうちごはん yesterday, I made Japanese-style spaghetti for dinner.
To be honest, I didn’t particularly feel like eating anything specific, and I hadn’t decided on a flavor. However, I had exactly one serving of cooked spaghetti noodles left, so I decided to use some of the large amount of soy sauce I still have at home and simply stir-fry the spaghetti with soy sauce.
In the end, the dish became “Japanese-Style Soy Sauce Spaghetti with Pork, Cabbage, Onion, Nori, Pickled Plum, and Tomato.”
The distinctive feature this time was that I didn’t add any seasoning other than soy sauce. Normally, I might want to add some additional flavor, such as chicken stock, bonito stock, consommé, or garlic. However, I’m running low on these seasonings, so I decided to resist the temptation and keep it simple with just soy sauce.
I stir-fried the soy sauce and spaghetti thoroughly in a frying pan, which gave the dish the taste and aroma of slightly burnt soy sauce. It tasted almost exactly like a grilled rice ball (yaki-onigiri). It turned out delicious.
I realized afterward that I had also added nori and pickled plum, which made it feel even more like an onigiri.
I haven’t been eating onigiri lately because I haven’t even been going to convenience stores recently. I naturally ended up making spaghetti with this kind of flavor, but perhaps, somewhere in the back of my mind, I had been wanting to eat an onigiri.
At Recommended #OuchiGohan, I gave my usual Napolitan spaghetti a summer-inspired twist and made it for dinner yesterday, as shown above. The dish was “Napolitan Spaghetti with Ham, Green Pepper, Onion, Parmesan Cheese, and Tabasco.” It looks exactly the same as usual, but there are two key changes that make it more suitable for summer: I added a little vinegar, and I used plenty of Tabasco.
These two changes completely transformed the usually rich and hearty Napolitan into a refreshing summer dish with a pleasantly sour and spicy flavor. As I realized in my recent blog post, I actually like the acidity of ketchup, so this is almost like taking that acidity and turning it up another notch.
Of course, everyone has different tastes, but my prediction was exactly right, and the result was a flavor that suited me perfectly. Come to think of it, one of my favorite dishes, Tom Yum Goong, is also quite strongly acidic. If I had to make a comparison, the overall impression is somewhat similar.
This time, I realized that there is a refreshing way to enjoy Napolitan even in summer. In any case, though, this version uses quite a lot of ketchup and mayonnaise, so I plan to buy more the next time I go shopping.
Writing this blog has also made me want to have another refreshing-tasting dish of peperoncino. It is economical, too!
Recommended #HomeCooking Blog: “Fried Rice and Pork Rice Bowls — I’m Eating Rice More Often Now That It’s Getting Cheaper”
At Recommended #HomeCooking, yesterday I cooked one go of rice and, as mentioned above, made two of my favorite dishes for lunch and dinner: a pork rice bowl and fried rice.
ARecommended #HomeCooking Blog: “Fried Rice and Pork Rice Bowls — I’m Eating Rice More Often Now That It’s Getting Cheaper”s for the pork rice bowl, I used a freshly cut onion and added more onion than usual. There was so much onion that, visually, it was becoming difficult to call it a typical pork rice bowl. So this time, I decided to call it a “Pork and Onion Rice Bowl.”
The fried rice also contains pork, although I forgot to mention that.
One distinctive thing about this fried rice is the way I served it in a round shape, like the fried rice you might get at a traditional Chinese-style restaurant in Japan.
At those restaurants, the cook can apparently use a ladle and shape the fried rice into a neat mound in one quick motion. At Recommended #HomeCooking, however, I first put the fried rice flat on the plate and then deliberately shaped it into a round mound using a spoon.
I did wonder whether there was really any need to go to that much trouble. But for some reason, I felt like doing it this time.
This amount of rice is 0.5 go. I cooked one go of rice in total and divided it into two meals, 0.5 go for lunch and 0.5 go for dinner.
According to Google’s AI, one go of uncooked rice is about 150 grams, and after cooking it becomes approximately 330–350 grams. This is roughly two lightly filled bowls of rice.
For fried rice, I would say this is a slightly small portion.
While I was at it, I also looked up how much rice there is in a 5-kilogram bag. Apparently, 5 kilograms of rice is about 33.3 go, or roughly 80 bowls of rice. Since one go of uncooked rice weighs about 150 grams, you can calculate this by dividing 5,000 grams by 150 grams.
In my case, I eat one go of rice per day, so if I have rice for two meals a day, one 5-kilogram bag would last about a month. (I eat toast for breakfast.)
The rice I am eating now cost 3,000 yen for 5 kilograms, so eating rice twice a day works out to about 50 yen per meal.
Lately, in pursuit of an economical lifestyle, I have been eating a lot of spaghetti. I buy it for 199 yen per kilogram, or roughly 1,000 yen for 5 kilograms. So, in terms of economy, I think spaghetti still wins.
However, I don’t measure exactly how much spaghetti I eat every time. And when I feel that one serving of spaghetti isn’t quite enough, I also eat Mygra (granola), which makes the calculation of the actual cost even more complicated.
With inexpensive Aeon ramen, which costs around 300 yen for five servings, one serving comes to about 60 yen. Since the seasoning is included, though, it isn’t really possible to make a direct comparison with rice or spaghetti.
Recently, I bought a 5-kilogram bag of Miyagi-grown Tsuyahime rice for 2,799 yen during a supermarket sale, so I am thinking about increasing how often I eat rice.
Mentally, I am eager to start eating the new rice as soon as possible. However, I still have some of the previous rice from Hokkaido left, so I am holding myself back for now. I think I will increase my pace a little so that I can finish the old rice sooner.
I have liked the taste of Tsuyahime from Yamagata Prefecture for quite a long time, but this is my first time trying Tsuyahime from Miyagi Prefecture. I am really looking forward to tasting it and seeing how it compares.
As I was writing this, I realized it myself: there is a bit of a contradiction here.
I am trying to pursue both economy and enjoyment at the same time, in a relaxed and flexible way.
Recently, at Recommended #HomeCooking, I have been eating the above-mentioned Topvalu Best Price Miso Ramen (5-pack), priced at ¥298 before tax. It is an instant ramen that comes in a bag. To prepare it, I boil the noodles in a pot, then add the powdered soup and seasoning packet that come with the noodles, and finally put everything into a bowl. I actually like this slightly more hands-on way of preparing and eating ramen. I have not eaten cup ramen for the past several years.
I have tried instant miso ramen from various manufacturers, and I like this one because it is reasonably tasty. At about ¥60 per serving, it is also cheaper than many others. The noodles are firmer and more substantial than those of ordinary bagged ramen. The flavor is not particularly distinctive, but it is pleasantly straightforward, and I never get tired of it, even after eating it several times. Maybe it simply suits my taste.
I have eaten four of the five servings, so there is only one serving left. The more I ate it, the more I came to like it, so I feel a little sad that it is almost gone. For some reason, it tastes delicious even on hot days. In fact, those are the days when I sometimes find myself wanting to eat it.
I have been eating this ramen whenever I run out of the cooked spaghetti noodles that I keep in the refrigerator. The spaghetti costs ¥199 per kilogram, so I usually have plenty of it prepared, but when I happen to run out, this ramen is a good alternative.
Below, I am also introducing photos from the first three times I ate this ramen. I did not intentionally try to make them look the same, but when I looked at the photos, I was surprised to see that all four meals had an almost identical presentation. I thought that was interesting and kind of funny.
I have come to like this miso ramen quite a lot. I have already tried the Topvalu Best Price ramen, the Aeon private brand, in both tonkotsu and miso flavors, so next I am thinking of trying a different flavor.
I actually enjoy tasting a ramen I have never eaten before, especially the very first time I try it. One characteristic of mine is that I usually buy things without looking much at other people’s reviews online. I prefer to taste something myself first. After eating it, I look at other people’s opinions online and compare them with my own impressions.
Recommended #OuchiGohan Blog: “My Spaghetti Can Be Classified by Flavor Direction, Not by Dish Name”
At Recommended #OuchiGohan, I think about and decide what to eat for every meal. Recently, since spaghetti has become the type of dish I make most often, I have developed a way of deciding what kind of spaghetti to make: I first think about the flavor I want.
Yesterday, for example, I made “Asian-Style Fish Sauce Spaghetti with Pork, Cabbage, Onion, and Tomato.” The first thing that came to mind as the seasoning was fish sauce.
Rather than consciously thinking about it, I think my desire for a particular flavor made me think of fish sauce. I had not eaten it recently, and I had started craving an Asian-style flavor.
Of course, even if I suddenly think of a particular flavor, I cannot make the dish if I do not have the necessary ingredients at home.
I have recently realized that the flavor directions of the spaghetti dishes I can think of and make at home have become patterned into the categories below. Most of the time, I make spaghetti based on one of these flavor directions.
I think my mood at the time is important, so I do not make many plans in advance. The dish is often suddenly decided based on what I feel like eating about half a day beforehand.
Yesterday, I had a Chinese-style dish for lunch and an Asian-style dish for dinner.
Japanese-style → Dashi made from bonito, soy sauce, miso, nori, toasted sesame seeds
Western-style → Ketchup (Napolitan), chili peppers, garlic, and salt (Peperoncino)
Salad-style → Mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar
I forgot to mention one more category:
Curry-style → Curry roux, curry powder
Sometimes I get an extremely strong craving for this flavor.
I just wrote down these ideas as they came to mind, but then I became curious about what would happen if I asked artificial intelligence to classify these flavors.
