Aside from instant noodles or soup, I would be hard pressed to think of a food-related use for kettles in Japan that isn’t making tea. Maybe you were using the

Aside from instant noodles or soup, I would be hard pressed to think of a food-related use for kettles in Japan that isn’t making tea. Maybe you were using the wrong setting? Lots of Japanese tea isn’t meant to be made with boiling water, so it'll warm the water to ~just below boiling.