“On the tray were two plates of a yellowish curry. "Today's menu is shirobanba. Monday is shirobanba day." "Curry always perks me up." Minami nodded. "What do you mean by shirobanba?" Otoha asked. "You don't know?" Kinoshita asked. "You haven't read it? It's from Yasushi Inoue's novel Shirobanba. It's a re-creation of the curry an old woman in the story cooks. Shirobanba, by the way, are the so-called snow bugs, teeny tiny insects that have a white puff on their wings that looks like cotton. They look like little flakes of snow.” InspiredSnowJapanese LiteratureFleasCurry Book:Dinner at the Night Library Source: Dinner at the Night Library
“Otoha picked up her spoon and took a bite. It was typical curry and tasted good. At first it seemed mild, but then it got spicier, with a unique aroma. I could really get to like this, she thought. "It's good, isn't it?" Miami whispered. "Sure is." The carrots and onions cut in small cubes she recognized, but there was another vegetable, likewise stewed to translucency, she didn't. When she tasted it, it felt like it would easily fall apart. "What is this?" Otoha asked. "This vegetable is so soft and fresh..." She'd never seen this sort of vegetable in curry before. "That's daikon radish." "Seriously? Daikon?" Daikon in curry--- now that was a first. It worked, surprisingly. "When Mr. Kinoshita was scouted for this job, the owner made it a condition that he re-create and serve several recipes from novels and essays the owner chose. Since Mr. Kinoshita's an excellent cook as well as barista." "What else is in this?" Otoha asked. "It's savory, as if there's meat, but I don't see any." The small cubes of vegetables were front and center, with torn-off scraps of some kind of meat hidden beneath. But this, too, must lend the curry its unique flavor. She raised her spoon and stared at it intently. "Ah---!" "You get it?" "It's corned beef!" Otoha exclaimed.” VegetablesCurryRadishesCorned Beef Book:Dinner at the Night Library Source: Dinner at the Night Library