[Creative Fiction x Recipe] Virtual Izakaya 'Sakana-roku' Episode 33: Tomato and Pork Belly Skewers with Sweet Potato Shochu
Content Introduction
Today's dish is 'Tomato and Pork Belly Skewers,' where tomato juice overflows from behind the crispy, grilled pork belly.
Enjoy a heartwarming story, along with recipes and ingredient introductions, featuring sweet potato shochu at our virtual izakaya.
Main Story
Step through the noren curtain and be enveloped by a small world.
Words unravel in the sake, and we talk over appetizers.
What shall be recorded tonight?
A summer evening where the scent of a passing shower left moisture on the ground. Wataru Iwata was walking down a deserted back alley.
Tonight, he felt like taking a detour. He had left the elementary school where he worked a little later than usual. When he put the last few tomatoes left in the field into his basket to head home, he suddenly remembered the name Ayumu Makihara. The 'Notice of Vegetable Garden Atelier Opening' he had seen on the bulletin board. His heart warmed slightly at the thought that the instructor who had guided him with only a voice back then was truly living somewhere in this world.
For the past few years, he had hardly spoken deeply with anyone. Even when he was at school, where the voices of children echoed, it felt like a scene he was watching from afar. He was the person who quietly operated the lights from the wings of the stage, standing in a position where neither applause nor boos reached him. He had intended to choose that kind of standing position.
However, today was a little different. The tomatoes were very ripe. That was all, but still.
He wanted to have a drink somewhere. But he wasn't in the mood for the noise of a chain restaurant. Suddenly, he noticed a small lantern glowing at the end of the alley. There was no sign. But, as if drawn in, he stepped through the white noren curtain.
When he pushed the wooden door, there was only a small counter seat in the dimly lit shop. Standing behind the counter was Ikkon Mashiro, wearing a navy samue and a white apron. Without even knowing the name of the shop, Wataru sat in the seat at the very end, as if guided there.
“Welcome. ...By any chance, have you been playing in the dirt?”
When he looked up in surprise, Mashiro smiled quietly.
“Please wait a moment.”
From the kitchen, the savory aroma of skewers grilling rose up. While wrapped in that sound and scent, Wataru looked at his palms. Fingertips with thin traces of soil remaining. He thought he had properly washed off the dirt that had gotten into the gaps of his nails during the day, but it seemed some still remained.
What was placed in front of him were tomatoes and pork belly on small skewers. The sheen of the fat, sizzled to perfection, had transferred to the red, swollen flesh. A small amount of ichimi chili pepper was served on the side of the plate.
He reached out with his chopsticks and brought a skewer to his mouth. The pork fat melted with a sizzle, and the acidity and sweetness of the tomato burst forth. The scene behind the school building after class crossed his mind. The faint sweet and sour scent was the same as those fruits he had picked in the field.
“...This is probably grown the same way as the tomatoes in my field.”
Mashiro nodded as he quietly offered the skewer.
“I even know the origin of the seeds. Medium-sized. Resistant to heat, and the acidity turns into sweetness. It was recommended in the urban gardening course.”
“So that person is still doing the course.”
“Mr. Makihara, you mean? Yes, he even came by just recently. He dropped in between recordings.”
At that time, he had just let go of something. He had been obsessed with music, and nothing remained. His friends, his future, everything had disappeared somewhere. The choice to cultivate a field was, for him, almost a desperate escape route.
However, every time I touched the soil, something came back. My breathing, my senses, something like the outline of myself. Small changes I hadn't even looked at before. That is why I cherished the tomatoes above all else. I watched over them without fail, through sunny days and rainy days alike.
As Wataru was thinking about this, Mashiro brought out a bottle from the back.
“It’s Takura on the rocks.”
A simple bottle of sweet potato shochu. When poured into a rock glass, a scent reminiscent of the earth wafts up.
When I took a sip, the gentle sweetness of the potato spread, blending with the lingering taste of the skewer. The heat as it passed down my throat felt like lighting a small lamp in my chest.
“I used to play music. For a long time. And then, I lost everything.”
I found myself speaking without thinking. Was it the sake, or perhaps the skewer?
“I lost my job, and I had never even touched a field before. But I was told in that course, ‘If you face the soil, you will find yourself.’ It’s frustrating, but it was true. I didn't talk to anyone, but I talked to the seedlings every day. —It’s funny, isn't it?”
Mashiro said nothing, simply continuing to grill the next skewer. The scent of smoke drifting from his back and the delicate sounds coming from the iron plate served as his answer.
“Tomatoes don't lie. Today's light, the water—it all shows up properly in the taste of the future. I sometimes tell the children things like that.”
The ice in the rock glass clinks. Each sound soaks into the silence.
“This is a mysterious shop. Does it have a name?”
“Sake and appetizers, so it’s ‘Shukoroku’ (Record of Sake and Appetizers).”
“—That’s a nice name.”
Mashiro nodded quietly and returned another sake bottle to the shelf behind the counter. It was a gesture that seemed to protect the silence.
Wataru passed through the noren curtain once again. The second time, carrying the scent of summer soil with him.
Watching Wataru’s back as he left, Mashiro Ikken returned to the kitchen. Tonight, once again, a single sake appetizer had been recorded.
Return to Episode 1
Return to Episode 32
Continue to Episode 34...
Magazine: Virtual Izakaya 'Shukoroku'
Bonus Recipe
Cut the tomatoes into wedges.
Season thin pork belly slices with salt and pepper, let sit for 10 minutes, and pat dry.
Wrap the tomatoes with the pork belly, thread onto skewers, and grill until the pork is crispy.
Ingredient Introduction
Takura: The sweetness of the potato and its fragrance. How about pairing it with tomato pork belly skewers?