Japanese homemaker はっちゃん Hatchan says she "doesn't like cooking much." Maybe that's why she developed cooking methods and lifehacks to make food that looks good and tastes good while also cutting corners. On her YouTube channel called レンチン食堂 renchin shokudō (zapper's cafeteria), she mainly uses microwave ovens and toasters. It's always easy to clean up afterward, so you can prepare food in a jiffy even when you're short on time.

Take corn on the cob, for example, which is great in summer. Most people are familiar with the classic method of boiling it. First, you need to remove the husks. Then, you need to prepare a very big pot (if you even have one), fill it with water, salt the water, bring it to a roiling boil, add your corn cobs and boil them until they're cooked just right. Next, you have to throw out all that water. Finally, for those who are particular about it, you have to remove any extra silk that's still stuck to the corn. It takes time and effort, wastes water and adds extra sodium you could do without.

What's more, standing in the kitchen during hot weather while cooking over a fire with steam filling up your kitchen can easily make you feel sweaty and uncomfortable. Who needs that?

Hatchan introduces a better way of cooking corn cobs that not only saves time, energy, and resources but also makes tastier, sweeter corn with no need for salt. If you hadn't guessed it by now, the secret is using a microwave oven.

Hatchan introduces two scenarios, one for cooking ears of corn which still have their husks on and one for cooking corn cobs that already have their husks removed, since you can find both of them in Japanese supermarkets. According to Hatchan, "ears of corn with husks are better since they have a richer flavor" when you cook them like this.

There's no need to wash any pots or dishes, as you can simply wash the husks directly and put them straight into the microwave oven.

Put your ear of corn directly in your microwave oven and set it to 600 W for 5 minutes. Remove it, place it on a chopping board, and make a clean cut through it, husk still on, at a point about 2 cm from its thick end (you may want to use a small towel when you hold the cob down with your other hand to protect yourself from the heat). Finally, hold the ear upright from the thin end a few centimeters above your chopping board, give it a good downwards shake and the cob should simply separate from the husk and fall down.

Another advantage of this method is that almost all of the silk stays attached to the inside of the husks when you cook the ears, so you're ready to bite into that sweet, juicy corn as soon as it slides off the husk.

After that, you can use Hatchan's technique for breaking off the kernels which she introduces in the latter half of the video, or you can remove them with this amazing corn peeler, now available at grape Shop, that work so smoothly that the kernels will slide off the cob like butter.

Of course, Hatchan's repertoire isn't limited to corn. For example, here's another video introducing a great way of cooking edamame in the microwave oven:

If you follow the traditional boiling method, you need to carefully rub and washing the pods, get out your pot, fill it with water, add salt, boil the water, etc... Isn't it a hassle?

With Hatchan's method, you don't even need a pot or a frying pan, just a microwave oven!

According to Hatchan, it's more delicious than boiling in salted water, since it doesn't absorb so much salt. Moreover, the microwave oven not only saves time but also prevents the nutrients and umami from escaping, so you can enjoy all of the natural flavors!

レンチン食堂 renchin shokudō has many videos with cooking methods and lifehacks that are convenient, time-saving, and delicious. Why not take a look and see what you can learn?