Hazy Moon. The Elegance and Sensibility of Kyoto People. (April 24th)

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When I went out to Kyoto the other day, I was looking at the menu wondering what to order for lunch when I saw the words 'Tsukimi'.
'Tsukimi' is a dish where a 'raw egg' is cracked and dropped into piping hot soba or udon noodles.
Since it is dropped into boiling hot broth, one might think the 'raw egg' would cook, but unlike 'nabeyaki' udon, which you enjoy while blowing on it on a freezing winter night, it is not boiled afterward. You are relying solely on the temperature of the broth in the bowl.

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The outside of the egg touches the broth directly, so the edges turn white and it cooks somewhat. However, the yolk in the center does not get enough heat; while the surface may turn slightly white, unfortunately, the inside remains closer to 'raw' than soft-boiled.

I pull up the udon with my chopsticks with a look of tension.
If my chopsticks hit the yolk, which has flattened under its own weight while I'm eating, and break it, it will split and cloud the clear broth I was enjoying.

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Inside the bowl, the scene of 'Tsukimi' is a full moon floating in the night sky.
The night sky is the calm color of the broth, and the yellow moon is the egg.
I imagine 'Tsukimi' from this combination.

I admire the rich imagination of the 'ancients'.

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Now then. Still wandering the menu, undecided on what to have for lunch, my eyes caught the words 'Oboro-zuki' right next to the 'Tsukimi Udon' I had just been picturing in my mind.

Trusting my intuition, I decided to order the 'Oboro-zuki' here.

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My 'Oboro-zuki Udon,' which I ordered out of curiosity, arrived.

Kombu (kelp) shaved so thin that you can see your hand through it when held up to the light. In the Kansai region, centered around Kyoto, this served on hot udon is called 'Oboro Soba' or 'Oboro Udon'.

A raw egg is dropped into that Oboro Udon. The egg is the moon, and the Oboro kombu is the clouds.
The scene where the kombu melts in the heat of the broth and its boundaries with the surroundings become blurred is likened to clouds in the spring night sky.

They say it is called 'Oboro-zuki-yo' (hazy moonlit night) because it is a dim scene where a 'halo' hangs over the egg moon.

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When I eat the kombu that has dissolved in the heat and lightly coated the noodles, the scent of the sea and the flavor of the broth combine to be truly comforting.

It is a luxury to taste the wisdom of our predecessors and the elegance of the Kyoto townspeople in the Heisei and Reiwa eras.


May today be a good day as well.
(🎹MIYABI)