【October】 Packed with Vegetables and Love for My Daughter! "Rich & Savory Champon" That Impresses Even Ramen Lovers
It had already been five months since the ramen ban was handed down. My endurance was finally nearing its limit. Every time I passed by the ramen shop I used to visit twice a week, a desolate autumn breeze would blow through my heart. Even the fleeting nature of the cosmos flowers blooming by the roadside made me want to weep. When my subordinates said, "Chief, you've been looking a little gloomy lately,” they didn’t just mean that I looked thinner.
But today... yes, today. Today, for the first time in a long while, my spirits were lifted. Clutching my wallet, I headed to Yayoi Ken. My daughter finally gave me permission, saying I could eat the Rich & Savory Champon noodles here. Champon wasn’t ramen, but noodles are noodles! To me right now, this was nothing short of a blessing.
Why was ramen, which I love second only to my family, taken away from me in the first place? It started when my weight hit an all-time high. Seeing my belly resting heavily over my slacks, my daughter, who had just started her third year of junior high, shrieked and proclaimed bitterly: "If you don't do something about that belly by next spring, I won't let you attend my graduation ceremony!" ...How merciless!
Thus began my days of tribulation. At first, I was full of motivation, thinking, "Will I lose weight just by quitting ramen?" But then I hit a plateau; forced to endure without seeing results, my heart dulled to a grayish-brown color. Unable to watch any longer, my wife told our daughter, "If you don't let him have a breather once in a while, he won't last until spring." The result of that conversation was today.
That said, honestly, I had underestimated it. My daughter, who eats there occasionally with friends on her way home from club activities, said, "The Rich & Savory Champon's got tons of vegetables, and the soup tastes like it's good for you." So I assumed it wouldn't have the punch I desired. However, taking one sip of the soup, I was astounded by the depth of its richness. The white chicken broth was accented by vegetable and seafood stock. It was light enough that you could drink as much as you wanted, but had a satisfying heaviness that settled in the stomach. The noodles are chewy and cling well to the soup, and eating them with the vegetables provides plenty of texture.
And they even had spicy miso on the side to mix it up... Isn’t that incredible?
Looking at the cosmos flowers, I don't feel wistful anymore. After all, in the language of flowers, they mean "affection." If I think of these days of suffering as proof of my love for my family, I can endure it. Even grayish brown, if you change your perspective, is a glossy chestnut color. Autumn! What a beautiful and precious season!
It is the halfway point until my daughter's graduation ceremony. After today, I will likely go back to working hard on my diet starting tomorrow. But just once, I would like to go pick up my daughter after her club activities and eat this together.
Story: Momo Tachibana Illustration: Mog Hatakeyama