The Banmian from The Grand Hotel was super salty.

On January 11th, I returned from Taiwan and pulled the Banmian from The Grand Hotel out of my luggage.

It was for myself. The one I bought at that red building. No one asked me to get it; I just thought, 'It would probably be delicious to eat at home,' and bought it. That's all.

At night, I made it by myself.

I boiled the noodles, drained them thoroughly, added all the included sauce, and mixed it. It should be perfect, right?

I took one bite.

...So salty.

Wait, hold on. It's super salty. What is this? This is The Grand Hotel. Would that Grand Hotel really sell something this salty? Do people in Taiwan eat this and say it's 'delicious'?

Since I was alone, I couldn't tell anyone. I muttered 'so salty...' in the kitchen and drank some water for the time being.

Curious, I looked it up on my smartphone.

...Huh.

I wasn't supposed to drain it completely. Leaving a little bit of the boiling water and mixing it with the sauce—that's the correct way.

I had drained it perfectly with a colander. Thinking, 'If you don't drain it well, the flavor will be diluted,' I drained it carefully. The more carefully I did it, the more wrong I was.

Thinking back, there was always liquid left at the bottom of the bowls of people eating Banmian in Taiwan. Seeing that, I used to think, 'Their draining is sloppy.' No matter how many times I went to Taiwan, I thought that every time.

That was the correct way. They were doing it right, and I was the one not doing it right.

I remade it, leaving some of the boiling water. It was just right. I said out loud, 'Ah, this is it.' Even though I was alone and no one was listening.

Why did I assume the 'draining was sloppy'? It's probably a habit from Kasumigaseki. I think that following the procedure is correct, and when I see someone deviating from it, I reflexively think, 'Do it properly.' I've been doing that for 24 years. Even when I saw how people in Taiwan made it, I looked at it with the same eyes. Thinking my procedure was the 'official' one and that they were the ones off-track.

They were the official ones. My 'official' way was wrong from the start.

When you visit Taiwan every month, the 'official' way inside you gradually melts away. It's not scary to have it melt away. Rather, it becomes easier. Ah, so that was the correct answer, I think. I relaxed, and it was delicious.

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