# Fileset

[Emi_hakase.pdf](https://mdr.nims.go.jp/filesets/5cbf49c1-1458-4521-83d3-bec5f9baa33a/download)

## Creator

[TODOROKI, Shin-ichi](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3986-1900)

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## Other metadata

[The professor's beloved cooking pan](https://mdr.nims.go.jp/datasets/91685bc3-77e2-4757-898f-c59eaa3bd04c)

## Fulltext

The professor's beloved cooking panThe professor’s beloved cooking panS. Todoroki∗May 8, 2010AbstractThe late professor Hiroshi Kobayashi (1926–2008) invented a special pan that helps us cooktasty dishes by heating the food at a suitable temperature below boiling point. It also helps us tosave energy when cooking. His eagerness to popularize the pan can be felt in the patent specifica-tion.A utensil that applies chefs’ secret techniquesFor twelve years I have been enjoying cooking with a special thermally insulated pan, called “HakaseNabe” in Japanese. The word “Hakase” is a noun that means Ph.D. This was used because the panwas invented by a professor of physics at Waseda University [1, 2]. The word also sounds like a verbmeaning “dress” since the pan is dressed in a stainless steel skirt (see Fig. 1 and 2). This specialstructure enables us to cook tasty dishes easily because of its following two basic functions; it heatsfood efficiently (see Fig. 2 left) and it keeps it warm (see Fig. 2 right).It may seem counter intuitive to suggest that we do not need to maintain the food at boilingpoint during cooking. Once we have brought food to the boil, we should keep it in a heat insulatedatmosphere to avoid excess heating and loss of flavor. This also helps us to reduce the energy requiredfor heating and the time taken up watching the stove. In addition, Prof. Kobayashi found that theseasoning of boiled foods is optimized when their temperature is reduced gradually [1, 2]. HakaseNabe helps us to cook this way very easily.Figure 1: Hakase Nabe ( ; Courtesy of AMI Corp. http://www.kabuami.com/)The original article in Japanese will be published in Materials Integration, 23 [6] 91–92 (2010).∗National Institute for Materials Science, JAPANhttp://www.geocities.jp/tokyo 1406/1http://www.kabuami.com/http://www.tic-mi.com/publ/mi_new.htmlhttp://www.geocities.jp/tokyo_1406/The professor’s beloved cooking pan / S. Todoroki(b)(a)(c)Figure 2: Cross-sectional view of Hakase Nabe for heating on a cooking stove (left) and for keepingfood warm on a table (right). It comprises an inner vessel (a) and an outer shell, or skirt (b). Theyare combined via the handles (see Fig. 1). On heating, the shell enhances the thermal efficiency byeliminating any flow of hot air. After heating, the food in the pan is kept warm on a flat table becauseof the air insulation layer that is formed between the table and the shell. An outer cover (c) also assiststhis heat insulation.Prof. Kobayashi and his wife became acquainted with Monsieur Nobuo Murakami (1921–2005),the father of French cuisine in Japan, after they had started developing Hakase Nabe. During theirconversation, the professor was convinced that this pot would help people to employ the secret tech-niques of professional chefs, i.e. cooking foods at their appropriate temperatures below the boilingpoint of water [3]. I strongly agree with this because I’m only a good cook when I use this pan.Patent specification including a recipe for cookingI was interested in the way the professor developed this pan. First of all, I retrieved his patent ap-plications with respect to the pan. The first was submitted in 1985 when he was 59 years old. Thecommercial products are based on another patent application that was submitted two years later [1, 2].As I read it I felt the professor’s enthusiasm.In this specification, he pointed out the problems of conventional home cooking methods, anddescribed how this special pan overcomes them as described briefly. He added two extra sections thatwere not necessary for the standard patent specifications. He described the differences between ordi-nary pans and this invention numerically . After presenting a recipe for vegetable stew, he comparedthe time for each procedure, and the amount of gas consumption and water evaporation.Furthermore, he compared cooked dishes based on comments from 10 housewives. I was im-pressed by his intension to extract objective judgements from the tasting, and his sincere desire topopularize his invention.Inventor’s prideOne year after his second patent submission, Prof. Kobayashi and his wife embarked on some educa-tional activities, including starting up a company called “Kitchen Science” and publishing their firstrecipe book [4]. Although Chef Murakami helped with some of their activities, Prof. Kobayashi didnot allow the chef’s fame to be used to promote the sales of his pan [5]. The knowhow as regardscooking food below 100 ◦C is the accumulated wisdom of many chefs [6]. The professor must havethought that Hakase Nabe was merely one of many ways to accomplish this. This episode reflectsboth his humility and his pride in his invention.2The professor’s beloved cooking pan / S. TodorokiFigure 3: Handmade cooking apparatus for heat insulation comprising a milk pan (14 cm), an ice pail,a glass cover and a bowl.I usually employ this cooking knowhow using Hakase Nabe, but sometimes I use with my hand-made apparatus as shown in Fig. 3. This is useful for cooking small amounts of food. However, Iconcede that Hakase Nabe has a more sophisticated structure.His enthusiasm continuesAlthough Kitchen Science Co. Ltd. went into liquidation, educational activities related to HakaseNabe are still conducted by the professors’ followers. Recently, a new recipe book was published [7].I thank them for extending my family’s menu and giving us a happy time. I believe this pan can evenwarm an engineer’s heart.References[1] “Cooking utensil”, US Patent No.4872445. (Issued: Oct. 10, 1989, Filed: Jun. 29, 1988).[2] “Cooking utensil”, Europian Patent No.297412. (Issued: Sep. 8, 1993, Filed: Jun. 22, 1988).[3] H. Kobayashi and M. Kobayashi: Mado-Sha (1998). (ISBN: 9784896250095, in Japanese).[4] H. Kobayashi: Kobun-Sha (1988). (ISBN: 9784334051532, in Japanese).[5] M. Kobayashi: “Watashi no Kami-sama (Monsieur Murakami, my respectable chef)”, KitchenScience News, 23, pp. 33–34 (1996). (in Japanese).[6] H. Kobayashi, M. Kobayashi and M. Murakami: Bunei-Do (1998). (ISBN: 9784578129470, inJapanese).[7] H. Sawaguchi: Bungei-Sha (2009). (ISBN: 9784286073811, in Japanese).3