[Creative Fiction x Recipe] Virtual Izakaya 'Sakana-roku' Episode 36: Grilled Corn and Rice Shochu
Content Introduction
Today's dish is 'Grilled Corn,' where you can simply enjoy its concentrated sweetness.
Please enjoy the story of rice shochu and heart-easing moments unfolding in a virtual izakaya, along with the recipe and ingredient introduction.
Main Story
When you pass through the noren curtain, you are enveloped in a small world.
Words unravel into sake, and we talk over snacks.
What shall be recorded tonight?
The silence after the cicadas stopped crying seemed to cling to my ears. Kaoru Yamase was walking through a deserted back alley.
Ten years since leaving Kumamoto for Tokyo. I ran around doing corporate PR for an advertising agency, and then moved to a mountainous area in Kyushu as a member of the Community Revitalization Cooperation Squad. Now, I am in charge of running a small project in the village.
—Is it okay to stay like this?
When I first moved here, I was enthusiastic about 'utilizing local resources.' But in reality, things never went as planned. A single choice of words would cause village meetings to reach a stalemate, and my social media posts were chided for being too 'outward-facing.' The local people are warm, but we aren't exactly close. Before I knew it, my place here had become half-baked.
This year, the corn I grew with my own hands for the first time didn't ripen well. It looked fine on the outside, but it was hollow inside. It had a weak core, like it could be easily snapped by the wind.
—Maybe I haven't been accepted by this land.
It wasn't that I was brooding over it. I was just walking aimlessly when my feet turned a corner. A familiar white noren curtain was swaying in the wind.
There were no letters on it. But I felt drawn to it and stepped forward. A light beyond the soundless night. As I passed through the noren, the scent of damp summer grass suddenly faded away.
There were no customers in the shop, and a man stood alone behind the kitchen counter.
“Welcome.”
“—Are you open?”
To that question, Ikkon Mashiro lifted the corners of his eyes slightly and nodded.
Water was served with few words, and Kaoru sat down at the counter seat.
It was quiet. All I could hear was the sound of ice creaking somewhere, and the rhythm of the refrigerator compressor breathing from time to time.
The air in the shop was humid, yet somehow dignified.
After a while, Mashiro carefully picked up an ear of corn and returned to the kitchen.
He peeled back just one layer of husk and put it straight into the oven. No sound or scent reached me from the trapped corn.
—Corn, huh.
Kaoru smiled faintly. I never expected to be facing this ingredient tonight.
“Here is your grilled corn.”
To Kaoru, the grilled yellow kernels seemed to hold more color than before. Placed on an oblong dish, it looked like a sculpture bathed in sunlight.
Kaoru nodded and picked it up with his hands. Enduring the high heat transferring to his fingers, the moment he took a bite, the sweetness that burst like water mixed with the aroma of charred soy sauce.
—Ah, this is it.
That savory aroma I couldn't produce in my own field. A complex depth born from the heat, something that sweetness alone cannot reach. I should have known that, but I had forgotten. Before I knew it, I was only chasing after 'success'.
I take another bite. This time, a little slower. The sound of the kernels crushing and the subtle nuances spreading across my tongue. This might be what the taste of the land is.
At that moment, Mashiro brought over a glass with ice and a bottle.
“It’s Toyonagakura on the rocks.”
The clear liquid was poured over the ice. Rice shochu. A gentle, faintly sweet aroma. The moment it touched my lips, my tongue was wrapped in cold. Then, as if joining hands with the sweetness of the corn, the sweetness derived from the rice seeped out. After it passed down my throat, a savory aroma wafted back up.
Kaoru closed her eyes instinctively.
—This, too, is the lingering effect of the fire.
Suddenly, a conversation from a few years ago came back to me. A man I met while setting up an art festival—Tsukasa Aizawa. He said it during the sound and food exhibition, 'Symphony of Senses'.
“You should become someone who can pick up the sounds of the land. With city ears, you can't hear the local area.”
I didn't understand what he meant at the time. But now, on this night in that very city, as I bite into corn and drink shochu, for some reason, those words sank in.
Perhaps my ears had only been picking up outside noises. But if I could get even a little closer to the sounds of this land...
“—What variety of corn is this?”
Mashiro opened his eyes in slight surprise and answered immediately.
“It’s from Yamaga, Kumamoto. Picked this morning. It was the day after the rain, so it’s packed with sweetness.”
“Ah, I knew it. It’s my home turf.”
As she answered, Kaoru gently swirled her glass. The ice made a crisp sound.
As the night deepened, the ice melted. The sake and the corn were disappearing, little by little, little by little.
There is no need to rush. Putting down roots in the land might not be about technique or effort, but about facing the flavors of the season like this, applying heat, and listening closely.
After eating the last kernel, I quietly held the remaining shochu in my mouth.
“Thank you for the meal.”
The silence that followed the words felt strangely comfortable.
Kaoru passed through the noren curtain once more. The second time, cloaked in inner sounds and sweet harvests.
After watching Kaoru leave, Ichikon Mashiro returned to the kitchen. Tonight, another dish and drink had been recorded.
Return to Episode 1
Return to Episode 35
Continue to Episode 37...
Magazine: Virtual Izakaya 'Shukoroku'
Bonus Recipe
Remove the husks so that only a portion of the corn is exposed.
Brush soy sauce onto the exposed part.
Steam-roast in an oven preheated to 200°C for 30 minutes.
Ingredient Introduction
Toyonaga-gura: Grilled corn from Yamaga City and Kumamoto Special.