It was raining this evening.

I didn’t have any classes in the afternoon and was back at home.

Just as I thought of going to bed early after taking a bath, it suddenly started to rain. Because of that, I hurriedly went to the café.

I thought this job had quite strict conditions, but since it hadn’t rained at all recently, this rain could be called a blessing.

Although I had considered taking on another part time job, since I only had irregular work on rainy nights, I thought that it would be difficult to balance a second job.

Still, I had time to study thoroughly, so I thought it would be nice to have a leisurely first year of university life.

Taking a tram from my apartment, I got off in front of the municipal hospital and walked up the Dutch Slope as the rain splattered down on the stone pavement.

I was a bit relieved when I saw the dimly lit cafe in the rain. Was it because it was closed all this time!? Was it? Or rather, hurray! Maybe it was because I could earn some money, I didn’t really understand myself.

It was so I could meet the handsome Owner! That was definitely not the reason why. Probably.

 

I went inside from the back door.

 

As I wiped the moisture from my clothes with a handkerchief at the entrance mat, Owner Mukai appeared from the back of the room.

 

「Ah, Owner! It’s been a while hasn’t it.」

「……Ah.」

 

The Owner, who I hadn’t seen for a week, gave a brief reply. He wasn’t particularly social, as usual. I thought that if I smiled now, I would start laughing. So only my eyebrows crumpled slightly. Why did I think of that, I wanted to quip back and desperately tried to suppress the urge.

It seems that there were no customers as usual.

The shop was already open, so I started today’s work.

Listening to the explanation of the sweets and drinks here.

What was written on today’s menu and placed on the table was something like a round slice of rice cake.

 

「This is–?」

「Akumaki.」

「Chimaki, is it?」

 

It wasn’t rice cake. It was Chimaki.

It was a rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves, originating from China. Chimaki is usually eaten during the Tan Go Festival in May and is a traditional Nagasaki confectionery.

It is made using a mix of Chinese lye, made up of sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, which gives it a unique flavour and elastic texture. It a confectionery made from soaking the rice in lye water before wrapping it in bamboo leaves or cloth and boiling it.

The famous Champon noodles are supposed to use the same lye mix as well. It is similar to the brine that is used to make ramen noodles. However, the Owner said that production of the lye mix was different.

The Chimaki made here uses Nagasaki’s own lye water recipe, compared to when it was brought in from China. In the old days, it seems it was made from dissolving natural lake salt in water.

 

When I heard the story, I wanted to ask ‘Is it delicious?’. But before I could ask, the Owner sprinkled roasted soybean flour on the ocher coloured Akumaki before dripping brown sugar syrup onto it from above. It was a mesmerising looking sweet. On a side note, sugar wasn’t used when making it. It seems to be a confectionery where you enjoy its texture.

 

「This will make it easier to eat.」

「I see!」

 

Incidentally, it is said that Chinese lye has the effect of neutralising oils in the stomach. I thought that it was the perfect dessert for a get together with Chinese food to finish up everything.

 

Boiling water in a kettle, I brewed Chinese tea using the method I learned from the Owner.

The tea brewing utensils are very different from the ones used in Japan, so it took a lot of effort to prepare.

Firstly, hot water has to be poured into a teapot. Then, the hot water is transferred into a vessel called a tea pitcher, tea cups and Hakufa cups to warm them up

Placing the teapot in a tub, an appropriate amount of tea leaves were added and hot water poured vigorously in. As bubbles and lye foam floated to the surface, I quickly removed them with something like a skewer that was used to eat Japanese confectionery.

Although the tea would overflow if I close the lid, there was no problem as it was placed in a tub.

After that, I poured more water into the teapot.

Once the tea leaves have been extracted, the hot water in the other vessels are discarded into the tub and the tea is poured from the tea pot into the vessel called the tea pitcher.

The tea in the tea pitcher is then poured into a shallow cup, called the Hakufa, after which a tea cup is placed on top like a lid.

The tense moment was after this.

You had to tip the Hakufa cup and the tea cup on top of it upside down. Showing courage, I flipped the two of them.

Even though I flipped it, no tea spilled out. When I was told to do it for the first time, I was really nervous.

 

With this, the preparation of Chinese tea was complete.

I offered a cup of tea to the Owner.

 

「Here is some cheap tea.」

「This is something called Imperial Court Pu’er tea.」

「Oops, pardon me. It’s not a cheap tea.」

 

Pu’er tea is characterised by its dark brown colour and is considered to be a type of black tea.

Chinese tea uses a variety of tea leaves, green tea made by roasting, white tea from exposing it to sunlight, blue tea made by semi-fermentation of the familiar Oolong tea, yellow tea made from fermentation and black tea from oxidation and fermentation.

 

Right after, I thoroughly enjoyed the Imperial Court Pu’er tea while it was still warm.

First of all, I picked up the Hakufa cup, which looked a bit like a lid.

Chinese tea starts with enjoying the scent of the tea. In literal terms, it is called hearing the scent of the tea.

Moving the Hakufa cup close to my nose, I covered it with my open hand and breathed in the refreshing aroma of tea. It was a time of bliss.

Then, a mouthful of Pu’er tea. It had a slight bitter and astringent taste,surprisingly mellow and easy to drink. This, I was impressed by the taste that the Imperial Court loved.

 

Then, while the flavour of the tea remained, I bit a mouthful of Akumaki

 

「This is……um, yes.」

 

How can I express it? How should I say it, it’s a bit peculiar,or something like that. It has a unique sweet fragrance that matches its bitter taste, mm~~~.

 

「What is it. It tastes full of individuality……?」

「Don’t push yourself, it can be tough if you’re not used to drinking it.」

 

The Owner seemed to like it and quickly ate up three pieces.

While I was eating, its texture and unique taste became quite addictive. I feel like I will get hooked onto it if I eat a little more, it was a mysterious sweet.

 

I drank up the remaining Pu’er tea.

Finally, I looked at the container and gave a sigh.

 

「Even so, the articles used here, they are all of high quality.」

 

Red, yellow and green floral patterns were drawn all over it and it was delicately and beautifully inlaid with foreign cultures.

 

「That reminds me, it’s the season for pottery isn’t it? Seeing these, I want some too.」

 

Since the tableware at my home could be easily broken, I didn’t bring it with me when I moved.

I thought that it would be good to buy some local ones I could find at a 100-yen store.

But because I’m in a place famous for pottery, I also thought of buying some nicer pieces.

 

「This cup, it’s especially wonderful isn’t it~.」

「You have good eyes.」

「?」

「That’s Nabeshima porcelain.」

「Nabeshima porcelain?」

 

Speaking of porcelain, I only knew of Arita porcelain. When I asked about it, the Owner replied.

 

「Nabeshima porcelain are items that were once offered to the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, they are also considered to be the finest porcelain.」

「!?」

 

I gently paced the cup in my hand onto the table.

When I asked how much Nabeshima porcelain there was in the store, the Owner replied that most of it was. I was told that they were purchased directly from the potteries. I didn’t know that. I think my hands will start shaking when I wash the dishes now.

 

「To me, that’s an item out of my reach.」

「If you want affordable pottery, you can go to Hasami. There’s a lot of Arita porcelain there.」

「Hasami, is it.」

「Ah. There’s a pottery festival in Hasami city in Nagasaki prefecture.」

 

There is something called Hasami porcelain in Nagasaki as well. I didn’t know that.

Hasami porcelain specialises in tableware for the masses and seems to have spread quite far. The price is also cheap and is loved by the common people.

 

「That’s great, I want to go!」

「There are few young people there.」

「Ah, I see.」

 

I had a bit of a bad feeling. Similar to when I invited a friend to try Shippoku cuisine, I don’t think any of my friends would come even if I invited them.

When I frowned and gave an uncertain expression, the Owner gave an unexpected proposal.

 

「……Would you like me to take you there?」

「R-Really?」

「Well, I happen to have a few free days of holidays.」

「Uwa~, thank you very much! I’m very happy!」

 

When I was thinking that it would be somewhat lonely to go alone, I was suddenly invited!

I accepted his invitation right away.

 

We decided where we were going and scheduled the trip for the day after tomorrow.

 

「Then, let’s we meet at Nagasaki Station around 8 in the morning?」

「Are we going by train?」

「Yes.」

「I thought we would be going by car.」

「The traffic would be heavy though, wouldn’t it?」

「Well, that’s true.」

 

It is about a 30 minute trip by bus to the pottery market from the nearest train station, so I thought that it would be better than a long traffic jam in a private car.

 

「The day after tomorrow, I look forward to it!」

「Excessive expectations are forbidden.」

「Okay.」

 

Thus, the Owner and I decided to go to the pottery market.

[Previous Chapter] [Table Of Contents] [Next Chapter]