I got off at Takadanobaba Station and walked toward my destination, and the area was packed with Chinese supermarkets and restaurants. Durians were sitting right out front of the shops, and seeing such an unusual food displayed so casually made me think — maybe the lives of people from other countries have really taken root around here. I walked for almost ten minutes, thinking I’d stop by these shops on my way back. It was such a hot day.
When I got to the shop, a group of two women friends were waiting ahead of me. I thought waiting outside for a long time would be really rough, but since I was alone, they let me in first.
It was a Chinese milk pudding shop. I ordered cold milk pudding topped with red beans and taro balls. I also got a warm dish — probably taro and mochi rice balls in a sweet coconut milk broth. There were two kinds of mochi balls, one filled with peanut paste and one with black sesame paste. Everything was supposedly handmade by people from mainland China.
The milk pudding and red beans had a clear handmade feel. Biting into the taro balls, it really tasted like the real thing — a faint aroma of taro filled my mouth, along with a starchy, slightly grainy texture and a chewy mochi-like bite. It really felt like it was made from actual taro. As for the warm soup, the taro was delicious — a firm, non-sticky texture, kind of like satoimo (Japanese taro). I love that kind of bite. When I bit into the mochi ball, a smooth, melting peanut paste oozed out. Somehow I felt a deep sense of Chinese atmosphere in that moment — like I was tasting a piece of the Chinese sensibility itself. Something I probably never knew existed. I found myself thinking, this is the kind of pleasure Chinese people must experience in their everyday lives.
A long time ago, my piano teacher once told me that in “Clair de Lune,” Debussy also expressed a kind of longing for China. (Something like that, anyway.) The way the paste melted out when I bit into the mochi ball was so exquisitely timed — the way it emerged was delightful, and the sweetness gave a little candy-like thrill of excitement. It was really romantic.
Eating food from another country — I realized there’s a real joy in discovering sensations you never knew existed. With that feeling still lingering, I walked home, browsing the selection at the Chinese supermarket along the way.
良縁糖水
高田馬場駅で降り目的地へ向かって歩いていると、中国系のスーパーや飲食店だらけだった。店先にドリアンが置いてあって、あまり見ない食べ物がこんな当たり前に置いてあるなんて、異国の人たちの生活がここらへんに根付いているのかな？と思った。帰り道にこれらの店に寄ろうと思いつつ10分弱歩いた。とってもアッチー日だった。店に着くと私の前に友達づれの女性一組が待っていた。店の外で長い時間待つのは辛すぎると思ったけど、一人だったので先に入れてもらえた。
中国のミルクプリンのお店。冷たいミルクプリンに小豆をのせ、芋園をトッピング。あと、多分ココナッツミルクの甘い汁にタロ芋と白玉が入っている暖かい食べ物を頼んだ。白玉の中にはピーナッツ餡と黒胡麻の餡が入った2種類。全部が本場中国の人の手作りという情報です。
ミルクプリンと小豆は、手作り感あり。芋園は食べると本物だ～という感じだった。口の中に入れると芋の香りが少しして芋の粘りとザラザラ感が感じられ、もっちりとした食感。芋から作ってますという感じがした。汁粉の方はタロ芋が美味しい。粘りのない里芋のような歯応え。この歯応えが大好きです。白玉を噛むとトロッとしたピーナッツ餡が出てきた。何だかものすごく中国の風情を感じてしまった。まるで中国人の感覚を味わったような気持ちになった。多分私が知らなかったやつ。こんな感覚を楽しみながら中国の人は生きてるんだなあ～て。昔、ピアノの先生がドビュッシーは「月光」で中国への憧れの気持ちも表現してるのよ、的なことを言っていた気がする。白玉を噛んで餡が出て来るトロッと感はものすごく絶妙で、出てき方が楽しいし甘さにときめくキャンディー見たいな感じがするし。とてもロマンチックだった。
異国のものを食べるって、知らなかった感覚を知る楽しさがあるんだなあ～て思いながら中華系のスーパーの品揃えを観察しながら帰りました。
