【August】 "Ginger Pork" to Refresh Tomorrow

It was supposed to be ginger pork.

 

Smoke, rather than a savory aroma, was rising from the frying pan. It had been a little over four months since I started living alone to attend university. I had psyched myself up to cook a meal for once, and this was the result. I force the charred object into my stomach. It was hardly edible, and filled with a sense of emptiness, I grabbed my wallet and dashed out of my room.

 

In the apartment garden, deep blue morning glories were blooming in profusion, bathed in the golden sunlight. "A refreshing tomorrow.” That’s what the landlord had told me morning glories meant in the language of flowers, but now it just made me feel worse.

 

I knew there was a Yayoi Ken nearby. But I had never been inside. I figured I could cook rice myself, and that stir-frying meat and vegetables would be simple enough. I’d been wrong.

 

Upon entering the restaurant, I bought a meal ticket for the Ginger Pork Set Meal without hesitation and took a seat at a table. Although the lunch rush should have passed, the place was bustling. Young women, old men, and even solo customers were sitting here and there. None of them looked lonely at all. If anything, their faces lit up in front of the set meals that were brought to them. Seeing that made me feel a little better.

 

Before long, the Ginger Pork Set Meal was brought out, and I immediately took a deep breath of its aroma. The sweet sauce and the fat of the meat blended together, tickling my nose. Yes, this. This is what I wanted to eat. I dipped the meat in plenty of mayonnaise and stuffed my mouth. And then...

 

A tear spilled down.

 

Why?

 

It tasted almost exactly like the flavor of home I had been craving, the one I had been longing for. This was just like what my dad used to make.

 

In my dad’s recipe, he mixes thick cuts of meat with bean sprouts and shredded cabbage. The way they get soggy with the sauce yet still retain a crunchy texture is addictive; I loved it more than the taste at any restaurant.

 

Then it hit me. I took a photo of the half-eaten ginger pork and sent it to my old man. I added a brief message:

 

I remember hearing a story about a restaurant my old man used to frequent during his college days. He said the ginger pork he ate there was so delicious that he started trying to replicate it.

 

My smartphone pinged.

 

Along with a sticker of a rabbit giving a thumbs-up came a short message:
Did he mean I should learn to cook it, too? Or did he mean I should do my best so I can stand on my own two feet?

 

I wanted to ask him, I thought. About his college days, while eating ginger pork together. No, first, I wanted him to teach me how to make it.

 

I decided I'd send him a photo of the morning glories later, too. Thinking that, I stuffed my mouth full of meat and rice. Strength surged through my entire body, and a refreshing breeze blew through my heart.

 

Story :Momo Tachibana  Illustration: Mog Hatakeyama