閑話休題。
　夫婦の暮らし方は「世に連れ」なのでしょう。わたしのような年代は年上の世代と比べて「協働」型タイプが多いように思います。ある友人夫婦は、夫がたいへん困難な病気で余命いくばくという状況に陥ったなか、奥さんが献身的に看護してくれて無事に健康を回復し、その後、今度は奥さんが寝たきり要介護の状態に陥ると、今度は夫が他者に頼まず自分で献身的に看護している。
　高齢期のひとつの「よき生き方」と尊敬しています。
　わが家の場合、健康面はいまのところありがたくも、毎日１万歩程をふたりとも動けるほど。夫婦とも健康でいる最大のシアワセ。なんですが、家事全般のことはやはり役割分担が重要。
　健康のためには日々の食生活は最大の「戦場」。新鮮な野菜たっぷり調理こそすべての源。そのなかでカミさんがいちばんキライなのが、このタマネギの「下処理」。
　買い物に出掛けるとカミさんは、高価な「大玉」タマネギを買おうとする。わたしは、廉価な「小玉」たくさんでいいじゃないかと思う。栄養価には違いはないだろう、という考え。
　で、どうしてそうなんだろうと思っていたら、どうも下処理で皮を剥く作業がキライなのだと伝わってくる。大玉であればその作業量が少しでも軽減できるというのが動機だったのです。
　「なに言ってるのよ、そしたらオレがやるから」ということで廉価な「小玉」購入の方向にチェンジ。
　写真は10個ほどの小玉を集中作業で皮むきして、それを切った様子。

　で、それを小分け袋詰めして、そのまま冷凍保存させておいて、適時料理に使う作戦。
　タマネギのこういう小分け状態であれば、そもそも「解凍」手順もほとんど不要。すぐに加熱調理する素材なので、合理的なのですね。
　この下処理では当然目が辛くなるのですが、どうせタマネギはそうなるので、まとめてやっちゃった方が気分的にも「片付けた」感が大きい。わたしの場合はそういう気の持ち方。夫婦でも人間それぞれ感じ方には違いがある。相互扶助。
　カミさんからは「いよっ！夫の鑑〜かがみ」とまでの賞賛。思わず「ドヤ」と思わせられてしまう。このあたり、操縦術ははるかに上手（笑）。まったく敵いません。

お知らせ
拙書「作家と住空間」幻冬舎から電子書籍で発刊
お求めはAmazonで。
https://amzn.asia/d/eUiv9yO

English version⬇

【Onion Prep: Husband and Wife’s Preferences for Prep Work (lol)】
The motivation for buying big, expensive onions? Purely to avoid the hassle of peeling them. I’ll handle it all myself. Mutual support between husband and wife. Healthy eating habits. …

　But enough digressions.
　The way couples live together is shaped by the times. Compared to older generations, I think people of my generation tend to be more collaborative. One couple I know: the husband fell seriously ill with a difficult disease and faced a limited life expectancy. His wife devoted herself to nursing him back to health. Later, when she became bedridden and needed care, he devoted himself to nursing her without relying on others.
　I deeply respect this as one “good way to live” in old age.
In our household, thankfully, we’re both healthy enough to walk about 10,000 steps each day. The greatest happiness is both spouses being healthy. However, dividing household chores remains absolutely essential.
　For health, daily meals are the biggest “battlefield.” Cooking with plenty of fresh vegetables is the foundation of everything. Within that, what my wife dislikes most is the “prep work” for onions.
When we go shopping, she insists on buying expensive “large” onions. I think cheaper “small” ones in bulk would be fine. I figure there probably isn’t that much difference in nutritional value.
　Then I realized why she feels that way—it seems she dislikes the peeling work involved in prep. Buying large ones seemed to be her way of reducing that workload, even just a little.
“What are you talking about? Then I’ll do it!” So we switched to buying the cheaper small ones.
The photo shows about ten small onions peeled in a focused effort, then sliced.

　So the plan is to bag them up, freeze them as-is, and use them for cooking when needed.
With onions portioned like this, you barely need to thaw them at all. Since they’re mostly ingredients you cook right away, it’s really efficient.
Of course, prepping them this way makes your eyes sting, but since onions do that anyway, doing it all at once gives you a much bigger sense of accomplishment. That’s how I see it. Even in a married couple, people feel things differently. Mutual support.
My wife even praised me, saying, “Wow! You’re a model husband!” It made me feel a bit smug. She’s way better at handling these situations (laugh). I’m no match for her.

Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” published as an e-book by Gentosha
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 12月 15th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類