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THE next morning, after our usual breakfast, I saw Techi off before diving into housework. That is, until Kon’s signature footsteps echoed out from the garden. I glanced at the veranda, and Kon’s petite head popped into my vision.
“I’m here!” he announced.
He then headed to the bathroom and washed his hands before assisting me with housework. With the Swiffer mop, he wiped the floor with utmost effort. As he worked, he called out to me. “Mikura, Mikura! Your pork steaks yesterday were SO good! Mommy and Daddy both loved your cooking, especially Mommy! Mommy seems to like sour things, and she said she’ll try to make plum jam too! Oh, and they told me to tell you, ‘Thank you very much for your wonderful food!’”
I was wiping the glass windows along the corridor while I replied with a smile, “I’m glad they liked it so much. Plums are a traditional ingredient in both traditional Japanese confectionery and savory Japanese food. I guess it really appealed to your mom’s palate in that sense too.”
Kon raced down the corridor, moving the mop left and right as he went. “We don’t often use umeboshi when we’re cooking, but Mommy said that she’ll start trying! Like…what was it again? Umeboshi pulp! She said she’ll try to use that!”
“Ahhh. Yep, umeboshi pulp. You remove the umeboshi pit and chop the fruit finely. You can use it as a topping or mix it with rice, salad, pasta, deep-fried food, and even tempura. By the way, it might sound strange, but as long as you choose the right combination of ingredients, cheese and umeboshi pulp can be criminally addicting.”
I paused, slightly pensive. “For example… You can use umeboshi pulp and green shiso as topping on chicken tenders. Sprinkle on plenty of cheese before slowly baking in a covered frying pan. The mild flavors of chicken tenders have a simple elegance, but it transforms into the taste of high calories and sinful delight through this recipe. This one’s addicting too.”
His eyes lit up. “Umeboshi pulp and cheese! Whoever came up with that is a mad genius!”
I was on a roll, and I gave him a few other examples. “You can cut into a piece of meat in the middle and stuff it with umeboshi pulp, cheese, and green shiso before deep-frying it. There’s a specific tempura dish where you sprinkle a topping of green shiso and umeboshi pulp on sillago fish fillet before coating it in tempura batter. You can add cheese to the mix, or you can sprinkle on cheese after it’s fried. Fine Parmigiano-Reggiano powder would be a luxurious garnish—the top tier of sophisticated food.”
Kon gasped. “Frying umeboshi pulp and cheese?! That’s nice food, plus nice food, plus nice recipe! That’s so unfair!”
The end of the conversation also signaled the end of our cleaning session. I went to retrieve the laundry from the washing machine, which I’d switched on before I’d started cleaning. I hung the laundry on the clothesline in the garden.
The first thing I did when I returned to the living room was to look at the clock, checking whether it was lunchtime. Then, my gaze shifted to Kon. “Well then, time to decide on a menu for lunch. Kon, do you have any requests?”
Kon puffed out his cheeks like tiny balloons and narrowed his eyes at me, as if to say, “Do I have to spell it out for you?”
Feeling his intense stare on me, I cracked a smile and replied, “Okay, okay. Gotcha. I guess I’ll make one of the dishes I just listed. Oh, or maybe…” I paused. “Umeboshi pulp and cheese pizza sounds like a valid option too. For toppings, we can use asparagus, tomatoes, okra, corn, and whatever else we prefer. Umeboshi pulp, green shiso, and cheese will provide the flavors. It’ll be a pizza that’s healthy and light on the stomach with plenty of fiber. What kind of meat would go well with this combination? Hmm… I mean, I could be a bit adventurous and use fish, but if I remember correctly, we don’t have any of that. In that case… Hmm… What about leftovers? Do we have anything that—”
“OH!” Kon cut me off with a gasp. He seemed to have recalled something. He darted to his backpack—which he’d had left at his usual seat in the living room—opened the zipper and began rummaging through the contents. From inside, he fished out a thin, folded item made of cloth. “I completely forgot! Mommy told me to give you this as thanks for always taking care of me!”
He proceeded to unfold the mystery item—it turned out to be a shopping bag made with sturdy cloth. He held it out to me and continued, “Here you go! It’s a reusable shopping bag! She says that we’ll start the…eco-point? System? In the Wilds too, just like the other side of the border! We need to use reusable bags to earn points! That’s why Mommy made this! Let’s go buy fish, carry it with this bag, then make fish pizza!”
I accepted it with a smile and voiced my thanks, but on the inside, I was completely baffled. I mean, having reusable shopping bags is always better, but did he just say the eco-point system? If I remember right, the eco-point system was a nostalgic incentive program by the government over a decade ago. Purchasing specific energy-efficient electric appliances will earn you points or something like that. Why would they implement such an outdated system here in the Wilds? I also don’t understand the correlation between reusable shopping bags and eco-points.
My mind was churning away, trying to make sense of the information. The Beastly Wilds is a place of thriving nature, as its name suggests. This forest has developed a unique harmony between nature and civilization—for example, power cables run between branches, and the center of the settlement is surrounded by Fusang trees.
The citizens living here, as a matter of course, cherish mother nature, for she is a major part of their lives. Japan is infamous for having one of the strictest and most complex waste sorting systems in the world, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the Wilds. The regulations concerning plastic waste are especially strict—if you litter, you will be fined on the spot.
The standard lifestyle here is already quite sustainable and friendly to the environment. I couldn’t imagine what an eco-point system in such a place would involve, and I tilted my head in confusion. But I quickly snapped out of my analysis, because our stomachs wouldn’t wait for us. I hung the cloth bag on my arm, fetched my wallet, then headed to the supermarket with Kon.