Ramen Toppings

After some hesitation, I decided to try the brown one first.

Using the two sticks, I pressed the brown bundle against the rim of the bowl and, with some difficulty, managed to pick it up.

Then I brought it to my mouth.

The softly simmered thing appeared to be some kind of plant. It had a pleasantly crunchy texture, with a faint fibrousness against the teeth. It had absorbed a sauce with a sharp hint of chili pepper, a subtle sweetness, and an aged, fermented depth of flavor… and my eyes flew wide open!

“Th-This is…! Could it possibly be bamboo shoot!?”

At my words, the regular beside me raised his voice.

“B-Bamboo shoot…? What the heck is that?”

This man had been wearing a smug expression toward me this whole time.

I was not about to let him have all the satisfaction, so I turned toward him and explained with a knowing look.

“Far to the east grows a plant called bamboo. Before that bamboo fully matures, its young shoot is called a bamboo shoot. But I’m amazed… To think I would encounter such a delicacy here…!”

Bamboo shoots were currently all the rage among gourmets.

Because bamboo shoots continued to grow and harden during transport, the only way to eat them was to travel directly to the eastern lands, search through bamboo forests early in the morning for young shoots, surround them with a bonfire, and roast them on the spot.

I had always believed that was the proper way to enjoy bamboo shoots, and the other gourmets surely thought the same.

And yet this man in white… had simmered bamboo shoots in a sweet-and-savory seasoning… Astonishing!

I see. Once cooked, they would stop growing, and if soaked in oil and a strongly salted sauce, they could even be transported without spoiling.

W-Wonderful! What an ingenious idea! This was cutting-edge culinary technique!

I was thoroughly impressed by “Ramen,” which incorporated not only ordinary ingredients but even the latest fashionable delicacies.

At last, I turned my gaze toward the white, ridged piece.

Now then… this object.

Just what in the world was it?

Those regular serrations, and that pink spiral pattern… At a glance, it resembled the feeler of a Mud Roper.

But surely something like that could not possibly be edible. For one thing, Mud Ropers possessed lethal poison.

My heart pounding, I picked it up with the sticks and carried it to my mouth.

I took a bite… Hmm…?

…To be perfectly honest, at that moment, I felt “disappointed.”

This thing simply did not inspire the same amazement as everything else had.

It was soft and flimsy, barely had any flavor, possessed little aroma, and seemed unremarkable in every respect.

Hmph… So that was all…

Apparently, this topping had failed to “shatter” my “common sense.”

And yet, when I tried another bite of ramen, I was stunned.

W-What!?

…Why!? These strands and this broth taste just as astonishing as they did when I first tried them!

Until moments ago, I had been devouring the ramen so eagerly that I had already eaten half the bowl.

Because of that, I should have been getting a little “tired of the flavor.” In fact, the reason I had remembered the toppings in the first place, despite being intoxicated by the magnificent taste, was precisely because that slight sense of “fatigue” had begun to set in.

And yet the ramen I was eating now tasted exactly as fresh and exciting as when I first encountered it!

Suddenly struck by an idea, I put the white, ridged piece into my mouth.

That springy texture… After slurping the rich, oily ramen until my mouth had grown salty, its gentle flavor brought an almost comforting sense of relief….

“I-I see! This thing exists to reset the palate after the ramen has made your mouth feel heavy!”

Overcome with excitement, I sprang to my feet.

“My word, I underestimated you! I thought there was a pointless topping in here, but I could not have been more wrong! Every ingredient in this bowl has a purpose… By eating them in sequence, the flavors expand, the palate is refreshed, and you can enjoy the dish again with renewed appreciation. Why, it is almost like experiencing an entire full-course meal in a single dish!”