[Creative Fiction x Recipe] Virtual Izakaya 'Sakana-roku' Episode 38: Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings and Highball
Content Introduction
Today's dish is 'Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings,' a flavorful yet refreshing meal that you won't be able to stop eating.
Enjoy a heartwarming story set in a virtual izakaya, accompanied by a highball, along with the recipe and ingredient list.
Main Story
When you pass through the noren curtain, you are enveloped in a small world.
Words unravel in the sake, and stories are shared over appetizers.
What shall be recorded tonight?
The city, not yet free from the rainy season, welcomed the night while struggling to find a place for the heat born during the day.
Shuhei Mitani left the office building after clocking out. This was his third year as a night security guard. He used to be a newspaper reporter, but he put down his pen over a decade ago. Back then, his own words could no longer keep up with the justice of the world. He felt as if he were trampling on someone's voice while pretending to pursue the truth.
After retiring, he didn't even write for a while. Words felt stuck in his throat. But one night, while walking, he caught sight of a stationery store and found himself picking up a small notebook. Since then, during breaks in his night shifts or a few minutes before heading home, he began to jot down words, one by one.
He turned into a back alley to avoid the bustle of the station. As he walked through the quiet lane, a scent suddenly tickled his nose. It was as if someone, somewhere, was gently illuminating the night.
Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a plain white noren curtain. A faint lantern gently outlined the contours of the shop, which didn't even have a name written on it.
Shuhei passed through the noren.
The inside of the shop was quiet. There were a few counter seats and a kitchen in the back. Ikkon Mashiro was there alone, quietly setting down the back of a kitchen knife.
Welcome.
A low, resonant voice. He felt like he had heard it somewhere before. No, it must be his imagination. When you wander through many nights, even the contours of voices intersect in the maze of memory.
He took a sip of water. The coldness soaked into the back of his throat. There were no words. But that actually made him feel at ease. It was a space that felt as if the silence of the night had taken shape.
After a while, a small white bowl was placed in front of him.
Sweet and sour chicken wings.
Three pieces of glazed bone-in meat. Shredded green onions were lightly garnished on top. Their gentle brightness seemed to make the darkness feel incomplete.
When he touched them with his chopsticks, the meat fell apart easily. When he put it in his mouth, the sweetness and acidity spread softly, followed by the savory flavor of the meat wrapping around his tongue.
Ah, this is that taste.
He had a memory of eating this somewhere. But it wasn't a memory of a dining table. It was someone's voice reaching him from the other side of the radio late at night. What he remembered was a late-night radio program he used to participate in anonymously.
Radio name, Tanimisan. A regular letter writer, aren't you? Today's submission is sweet and sour chicken wings and shredded green onions. And the drink is, believe it or not, a Hakushu highball! That sounds like a stylish late-night staple.
The female personality reads aloud with a laugh. Her voice was my nightly light.
The next one read out was from radio name 'Higa-an'.
'Today, I left the chicken wings my mother made for me in the kitchen when I went out. But when I got back, they were still there. I reheated them, poured myself a drink, and ate them while crying a little.'
I was strangely drawn to this daily life described in such a laid-back tone. Two radio names connected over the airwaves in the night world. I didn't know their real name or face, but I felt like they were right beside me.
Suddenly, a glass was offered to me. A rocks glass with a pale green line. Inside, the carbonation made a light sound.
'It's a Hakushu highball.'
'...Thank you.'
The amber liquid swayed inside the glass. I took a sip. The scent of conifers drifted through my nose, and a crisp finish spread immediately. The fat from the meat vanished smoothly. The acidity of the sweet vinegar felt fresh once again.
...Maybe that person is drinking somewhere right now, too.
The moment I thought that, I started to take out my notebook but stopped. I felt like I wanted to take this night, with its incomplete words, home just as it was.
I quietly ate another chicken wing, tucked some shredded green onion into my mouth, and ate it. The acidity showed a different side of itself. When it overlapped with the finish of the Hakushu, the aroma of the green onion rose up like background music.
Shuhei smiled.
He was no longer a reporter. He was no longer in a position to deliver words to anyone. But tonight, this dish, and this drink had captured the feelings of those days.
'Thank you for the meal. What is the name of this place?'
'It's 'Shukoroku'. A place that records sake and appetizers.'
Shuhei felt that with that one remark from Mashiro, everything about today's events had fallen into place.
Shuhei passed through the noren curtain once again. The second time, wrapped in unfinished words.
Ikkon Mashiro watched Shuhei's back as he left, then returned to the kitchen. Tonight, too, one more sake and appetizer had been recorded.
Return to Episode 1
Return to Episode 37
Continue to Episode 39...
Magazine: Virtual Izakaya 'Shukoroku'
Bonus Recipe
Heat salad oil in a small pot and brown the chicken wings.
Add about 1 teaspoon each of grated garlic and grated ginger, 100cc of water, 50cc of sake, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 6 tablespoons of vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of sugar, then cover and simmer.
Ingredient Introduction
Carbonated water: Keep it in the fridge and try mixing it with anything at any time. Label-free bottles are also a nice touch.
Hakushu: A rare item these days. Buy it if you find it.