Gapao Was the Name of an Herb

Apparently, June 8th is Gapao Day.

I had assumed that Gapao was the name of the dish itself. However, when I looked it up, I found that in Thai, it refers to an herb called holy basil. The dish we call "Gapao" in Japan actually means something like "rice stir-fried with holy basil." It wasn't the name of the dish, but the name of the aroma.

Huh, I thought. I thought that, but the moment the plate was brought to me, that bit of trivia vanished somewhere.

There is a fried egg on top of the minced meat. The edges of the egg white are fried to a crispy brown, while only the yolk in the center is glossy, like it's ignoring a red light. My eyes are fixed only on that now. The name of the aroma, the holy basil part—nothing remains in my head. All that exists is the yolk.

I break the yolk with my chopsticks. The liquid that oozes out coats the spicy minced meat. I take a bite, and the center of my tongue tingles. It's spicy. Quite spicy. I can feel sweat beading at my hairline.

Even though it's spicy, I can't stop. This is the strangest part; it seems the part of me that feels the spice and the part of me that wants to eat more are operating separately. While sweating, I kept moving my spoon.

Before I knew it, the plate was empty.

I don't even remember how many basil leaves were on it. I feel like I didn't even taste the holy basil I was so impressed by earlier. What I tasted was the spice, the yolk, and the sweat. The aroma probably just passed through the back of my nose for a second before being washed away by the yolk.

By the way, I believe that truly delicious food has zero calories. This isn't science; it's closer to a religion. In that time I spent sweating while eating minced meat rice coated in egg yolk, the concept of calories did not exist. Or, to be more precise, I chose to pretend it didn't exist.

Well, I'll leave it at that. I can just remember the fact that Gapao is the name of an herb again next June 8th. I'll probably forget it the moment the plate arrives next year, too.

The manga was drawn in the Shin-Usami style.