“Today's main dish is cooked sardines," Kinoshita explained, "and the side dish is okara, soybean pulp, cooked using the broth from cooking these sardines. This combination appeared several times in her books. It was probably something she herself enjoyed. Plus there's a side dish of kenchinjiru, root vegetable soup. This also appears a few times in her essays and novels. The rice is yukari rice, rice mixed with dried pickled plums and red shiso flakes." "I've been meaning to ask you, Mr. Kinoshita, but were you a fan of Seiko Tanabe's works before you came here? She's the only author where you serve so many different dishes." "No, truthfully I'd never heard of her before. The owner gave me the book The Many Flavors of Seiko Tanabe, which came out while the author was still alive, and I planned to make a few of the dishes listed there. In that book they gave the sources for the recipes, and I went ahead and read those too. She wrote a lot about cooking and I really got into it.” InspiredSoupSardinesRecreatingJapanese Authors Book:Dinner at the Night Library Source: Dinner at the Night Library
“In a donburi bowl, on top of the rice, were four or five little fish, and a scattering of sliced scallions. Accompanying this was soup in lacquered bowls. "And this would be...?" "Try it first." Otoha picked up the donburi bowl and put one of the small fish and rice into her mouth. "It's delicious, Mr. Kinoshita. It looks so very simple, but it's amazing." "I just warmed up canned oil sardines in a frying pan, added some soy sauce, and put it and the sardine oil over rice. That's it. The scallions I bought at a convenience store on the way her 'cause it was the only place open. But it works, doesn't it?" "It does. I could eat a ton of this rice." "It's a recipe in an essay by the novelist Yoko Mori. The soup is an egg soup with dried wakame seaweed and eggs.” EggsSoupRiceSardinesCanned FoodsDonburi Book:Dinner at the Night Library Source: Dinner at the Night Library
“The sardine dish was cooked sweet and salty and went well with the rice. And when you took a bite of the yukari rice when the somewhat fishy taste still remained in your mouth it was totally refreshing. Otoha felt like she could eat white rice and yukari, switching back and forth between them, forever. The okara had completely absorbed the umami from the cooked sardine broth and was flavorful and tasty. The carrots and dried shiitake provided a pleasant accent.” VegetablesJapaneseSardinesUmamiWhite Rice Book:Dinner at the Night Library Source: Dinner at the Night Library