Anyone can easily do professional-grade cooking Magical cooking appliances have landed in Japan! : Dawn of Gaia | TV Tokyo Plus

The theme of "The Dawn of Gaia" (every Friday at 10 pm), which was broadcast on Friday, January 14, is "What is Food Tech !? An era where anyone can make delicious food." Special feature is "Food Tech" that incorporates high technology into the field of food. We interviewed cooking appliances that work with smartphones to make professional-quality dishes, and companies that quantify invisible tastes and use them for optimal eating and developing new products.

A frying pan that automatically cooks professional-quality dishes

Food tech is becoming more widespread in Japan, such as cooking robots and meat substitutes that use plant-based proteins. Meanwhile, there are two people who have launched with epoch-making cooking appliances. Yutaro Ueno and Shusuke Kogen of "Felicida", which imports food-related products. Mr. Takahara, who was at a food-related import trading company, and Mr. Ueno, who was at a company that handles beauty and health foods, have been close friends since middle school when they were born and raised in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Independent in 2016 to challenge a business that changes the world with his own hands. What I found was the latest American-born cooking utensil called "Hestane Kew," which is a set of an IH heater and a frying pan. The two approach the American company that handles Hestan Kew directly. Although I didn't have any connections, I became an import agent in Japan in January 2021 because of my enthusiasm to change the future of food. And it started for the release in December. Hestan Kew works with smartphones to perfectly handle difficult fire control and time adjustments. At the kitchen studio, program guide Nao Matsushita cooks the "NY strip steak" in the recipe. She leaves all the temperature and time to Hestan Kew. When you enter the thickness of the meat into your smartphone, the temperature rises automatically, and when you bake one side, an alarm sounds and you turn it over. The heat is automatically adjusted from high heat to medium heat. After about 10 minutes, it was baked into a wonderful medium rare. Regarding the essential taste, Matsushita says, "It's the taste of the store." In addition, she tried all the dishes that the program staff had never cooked, such as "paella" and "chicken stewed in tomatoes", and all of them were delicious. The menu of Hestan Kew is about 600 in English, and the recipes are supervised only by the chefs of famous restaurants in the world who cannot make reservations. The number of recipes is increasing, and you can enjoy the taste of popular stores at home.

When an exhibition was held in June 2021 inviting retail store buyers, various companies such as the major consumer electronics retailer "Yodobashi Camera", the liquor retail chain "Kakuyasu", and the major department store "Shinjuku Takashimaya" showed interest. rice field. On the other hand, he also pointed out that "if there is a dish for Japanese people in the recipe". Japanese recipes are essential as long as they are sold in Japan. Mr. Takahara and Mr. Ueno set out to develop 50 recipes for Japanese food by the time they were released in Japan, and installed the cooperation of the cooking magazine "Orange Page". However, it was "Teriyaki yellowtail" that struggled. There was a problem of sticking to the frying pan. The Hestan Kew frying pan is made of professional stainless steel, so it has high heat retention, and while the ingredients are evenly cooked, it is easy to stick. Mr. Takahara and his colleagues remotely consulted with the recipe development manager of "Hestin Smart His Cooking," the company that created Hestan Kew. The temperature when baked in Japan was 170 degrees, but in the United States it is 224 degrees. When I actually started baking ... it didn't stick. The road to the development of Hestan Cue is long, and it seems that the test was repeated once every second in order to determine the optimum temperature and heating time for each material. It was the accumulation of these data that quickly resolved the temperature problem. A month later, I decided to try the recipe that was returned from the United States with the cook who made the Japanese recipe. First of all, from the problem of "teriyaki yellowtail". When made at the specified temperature and time, the frying pan did not stick. Mr. Takahara also said, "Technology breaks through the preconceived notion of cooking. It made me realize that it is a food tech." Late October. It's been less than two months before it goes on sale. However, the faces of the two do not float. I sent an email asking me to sell a collaboration with a famous chef, but all of them were refused. The contents of the reply are "I do not intend to use smart kitchen appliances", "It is convenient to cook while watching videos such as YouTube", "I will decline" .... But there is no time to be discouraged. What is the new strategy that the two of you have come up with?

Expressing "deliciousness" numerically

The next thing that came into close contact was the venture company "IC" from Keio University, which was offered by all major companies. Ryuichi Suzuki, a specially appointed lecturer at Keio University, started the company, and Mr. Suzuki has been working on "Taste Sensor Leo" since he was a student. "Sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness, and umami are quantified, and all tastes can be expressed by combining these five. AI is used to learn whether it is delicious or not. "Mr. Suzuki. Leo is a rare device in the world that can express the overall "deliciousness" numerically. For example, in the case of unsweetened coffee, the bitterness and sourness are strongly expressed in the numerical values, and when sugar is added, the sweetness is produced but the numerical values ​​of bitterness and acidity are lowered. It is said that it can faithfully express the taste that people feel. Suzuki used Leo's analysis to launch a "business that proves deliciousness." One of our customers is Kirin, a major beverage maker, and in 2016, when we renewed our green tea beverage, Nama-cha, we were asked to analyze the taste. Originally, Nama-cha was characterized by a bitter taste, but it was redeveloped with a strong umami taste. Leo proved that the product is richer than traditional Nama-cha, and the number of sales after its launch increased 1.8 times from the previous year. Mr. Suzuki also gathered Keio students and conducted a demonstration experiment to expand the range of deliciousness. Its name is "Devil's Eating". This is an attempt to have Leo experience a meal that proved "delicious". When natto and pudding are mixed, students say that they feel uncomfortable. However, when I say it, "I can go" and "The smell disappears. Maybe I don't feel unpleasant." The combination of shirasu and banana is also popular, saying "I may like it quite a bit" and "I like the sweetness." Why do you feel that such a combination is "delicious"? In the first place, there are rules for deliciousness, such as a balance of two strong tastes, a balance of three tastes, and a mellow taste that stands out. The reason why the devil's eating is delicious is because Leo's analysis is compared with this law. "The taste sensor is artificial intelligence, so there is no prejudice," says Suzuki. "Ideally, pudding comes out as a topping at a ramen shop. It's like char siu, menma, pudding. Then it's a revolution." If you want to watch this broadcast, go to "Tele East BIZ"!