Chisato had to reassure the wary older man that there absolutely wasn’t going to be any physical exertion later. Meanwhile, the limited set lunch for that day arrived on their table. Each of them got a bowl of rice topped with white fish sashimi marinated in light soy sauce or something similar, with wasabi on the side. They were also given miso soup and empty plates lined with paper—it looked like they were going to get freshly fried tempura soon.
“Wow! Look at that! Amazing! Looks sooo good!” exclaimed Chisato.
The sushi chef half-smiled, embarrassed.
“For the lunches, I use leftover ingredients from the day before, so the food is not top quality. I’m glad you’re excited about it, but you might end up disappointed.”
Given that the lunches consisted of ingredients from the previous day, the type and amount of sashimi served with rice varied greatly. According to Mr. Doi, they were fortunate today.
“I can’t wait to try it!” Chisato said, pressing her hands together in a gesture of thanks.
By then, she had already lost sight of her original objective, and nobody bothered to remind her.
She split her disposable chopsticks and started with the miso soup. It was made with red miso, finely cubed firm tofu, seaweed, and julienned scallion. Chisato liked the feel of the little tofu cubes in her mouth, warmed by the soup.
After a refreshing sip of the soup, Chisato wet the tips of her chopsticks and was ready to dig into the centerpiece of the meal. She put one hand on the rice bowl, taking a closer look at the fish slices lying on top. She couldn’t tell what type of fish it was, but it sure looked good.
The sashimi being marinated was a plus, as far as Chisato was concerned, since it eliminated the usual sashimi donburi dilemma of whether to mix wasabi with soy sauce and pour it over the entire thing, put only a little on each piece of fish as you ate, or approach it in some other convoluted way. Everyone had their own individual preferences that could get in the way of enjoying the meal with others if they thought it should be eaten differently.
Anyway, Chisato peered closely at the fish, trying to identify it. On closer inspection, the sashimi could be more than one type of fish. The slices were of different shapes, reflecting either difference in the size of each fish or the sashimi block they’d been cut off from.
Chisato picked up one slice, along with some vinegared rice from underneath, and stuffed it into her mouth. She first tasted the still slightly warm rice, but the marinated sashimi’s flavor hit soon enough. The saltiness of light soy sauce, umami from kombu, and a hint of sweetness of mirin enveloped the fatty fish. Was it amberjack? Yellowtail amberjack or greater amberjack? Chisato couldn’t tell for sure as she continued chewing, but it was probably one or the other. Hold on, there’s something crunchy on the fish. No sooner had she noticed the unexpected texture than a crisp, refreshing flavor spread through her mouth. Then she realized—it was myoga ginger, very finely chopped and added to the sashimi to counter the fishy smell. It wasn’t pungent, so it must have been soaked in water first for a pleasant, clean taste. This chef sure paid attention to every detail.
“Mmm! So good! Isn’t it, Takina?”
Takina gave a slight nod, chewing her food.
“Yes, it’s delicious. This is sea bream, isn’t it? The marinade is excellent.”
“Wait, s-sea bream? Oh. Sea bream, of course!” Chisato quickly said, flustered at how far off the mark her guess had been.
The sushi chef smiled at them.
“Correct! You’re so young, but you know your fish.”
He started cooking the tempura at the far side of the kitchen. The sizzling sound was homey and carried to the counter.
Chisato couldn’t believe the sashimi was sea bream. Seriously, sea bream? She’d dodged a bullet by not saying first that she thought it was yellowtail amberjack or some other sort of amberjack. They’d think she had no sense of taste. Thankfully, Takina had identified the fish first…
“There is actually red-fleshed fish sashimi in there, too. It’s very thinly sliced so that the flavor won’t be so strong, but it’s yellowtail amberjack. It’s in season right now.”
“Sounds good… Chisato? Is something wrong? Did you have too much wasabi?”
Chisato was sitting with her eyes shut, head hanging down, clutching her chopsticks.
“I…I knew it. That was my first thought, that it was yellowtail amberjack!”
The chef chuckled while Takina rolled her eyes.
“There’s no need to feel bad, Chisato. Marinated sashimi can be hard to tell apart. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was sea bream either.”
“Argh! No, I honestly thought it was yellowtail, that slice I tried! I swear!”
“Girls, girls. You were both right. Let’s leave it at that, hmm?”
“You heard Mr. Doi, Chisato. We were both right. Are you satisfied now?”
Mr. Doi and the chef laughed.
“Nobody believes me…!”
“There’s more besides the sea bream and yellowtail amberjack,” said Takina.
“Oh?”
Chisato promptly picked up a different slice of fish with rice. But was that the sea bream? She wasn’t sure. The next morsel she uncovered had a very distinct taste and texture. It was shrimp, plump, sweet, and packed with umami. It added a new depth of flavor to the dish.
“The shrimp’s sooo good!”
“I’m happy to hear that. I think you’ll like this, too,” said the chef, placing tempura on the previously empty side plates.
It came in three bite-size pieces, but what was under the batter? Takina looked at it this and that way, but even she couldn’t tell.
“What’s in it?”
“Try it, and you’ll find out. I recommend a dash of salt.”
Trusting the chef, Chisato took the saltshaker, sprinkled some on her tempura, and picked up one piece with her chopsticks. Having just been made, it was scalding, but she could feel with the chopsticks that the batter was at peak crunchiness and should be enjoyed as soon as possible.
Mentally preparing herself to get her tongue burned, Chisato put the whole little tempura in her mouth. She felt the heat radiating from it, as expected. After a breath’s pause, she bit into it…through crunchy batter into a melty filling.
“Huh?! What’s this?!”
It was an unexpected texture. Chisato thought the little tempura might be made with chunks of shrimp, octopus tentacles, or possibly pieces of yam, but she was wrong. Under the deliciously smelling batter was an entirely different melt-in-the-mouth delicacy—a rich, creamy flavor filled Chisato’s mouth, blending with the savory batter. The filling didn’t taste fishy but was packed with rich umami. It was wonderfully delicious but too powerful to be paired with rice… It would be the perfect accompaniment to beer or some other kind of alcohol, Chisato supposed.
But what exactly was Chisato eating? There was something familiar about that flavor, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Ah, milt. But what kind? Not cod. Fugu?” asked Takina.
“I don’t do fugu here. It’s sea bream milt.”
“Sea bream milt! I’ve never had that before!” exclaimed Chisato.
Takina asked the chef how he made the tempura. Apparently, she had never had anything like that before either. The chef explained that first, he used salt to remove the fishy odor, then he lightly boiled the milt, chopped it up, battered it, and deep-fried it. He said that as long as the milt was fresh, it was guaranteed to taste great.
“Boss, weren’t you keeping this for the evening?”
“Consider it a special treat for you, my friend, since you’ve brought ladies with you today. Though they’re a bit too young for you, in my opinion.”
Chisato hastily swallowed her food.
“You shouldn’t discriminate based on age!” she said in Mr. Doi’s defense.
Mr. Doi scratched his head, looking a bit flustered.
“It’s nothing like what you’re imagining, Boss,” he said.
Chisato muttered under her breath that it was exactly what the chef imagined. She looked encouragingly at Mr. Doi and Takina.
The food was so good, they ate it ravenously, and the meal was over before they knew it. They’d really made short work of their food. Takina’s lesson in cooking lunches and her date with Mr. Doi were over.
Mr. Doi said he felt like sticking around to have a drink after their meal. Chisato thanked him for treating them, and she left the sushi bar with Takina.
Takina had insisted on paying herself, which Chisato thought was a smart move. It presented her in a good light and earned her points with Mr. Doi. Mizuki had explained that tactic to Chisato earlier.
As for Chisato, she’d just thanked the man for the meal without even thinking of offering to chip in.
“Chisato, why did we have to go out for this meal?” Takina asked while they were walking back to LycoReco.
“Well, Takina, not to be critical or anything, but everyone thought the lunch you served us today was a bit…lacking, you know? I thought it might be a good idea to show you an example of a good lunch!”
She told Takina a little bit of what the others had said about those protein shakes, and it seemed to get through to Takina that protein shakes weren’t a normal lunch option. She shot Chisato a downcast look.
“What is the right answer, then? I can’t spend too long making the lunch, but if I make it too simple, it’s not good either?”
“I mean, it’s okay to sometimes have protein shakes, I guess? I mean, take Kurumi, for example: She gets away with snacks. As long as it’s not shakes every time; that’d be too much. It’s always fun seeing what you come up with, though.”
“It’s…fun?”
“Yeah! Just be you, Takina!”
Chisato loved great food, sure, but what she also loved about lunch at work was having a good time with her friends. Life was short. You never knew how many more times you’d have to eat lunch with friends. Tasty food was great. Food eaten in good company was also great.
For the rest of her life, Chisato would remember how hilariously crushed everyone looked when Takina walked in with a tray of protein shakes for them. It would be one of her treasured memories from Café LycoReco.
“The shakes should generally be avoided, right?”
“Um, not necessarily, but… We like tasty food…”
A good time together could only be improved by good food. Chisato was internally torn about what advice to give Takina. Takina couldn’t help but notice and sighed.
“Okay. I’ll try to come up with a different menu.”