Overview
A story broadcasted in the Autumn 2009 special of the television series "Tales of the Unusual." Starring Atsushi Ito. Based on the short manga "The Last Supper" by Masayuki Izumi.
The Ideal Sukiyaki: Synopsis
First, spread beef fat across the entire surface of the pot. On top of that, place thinly sliced beef, and then sugar on top of the meat.
The seasoning is Kansai style.
After the sweetness of the sugar soaks into the meat, add soy sauce and sake.
It is preferable to add the ingredients at the following angles: beef at 60 degrees, leeks at 70 degrees, grilled tofu at 90 degrees, shirataki noodles at 60 degrees, shiitake mushrooms at 50 degrees, and enoki mushrooms at 30 degrees.
Since the calcium in shirataki noodles makes the meat tough, they should be placed away from the meat.
After that, add garland chrysanthemum and close the lid, waiting 3 minutes for the moisture to seep out from the vegetables.
These 3 minutes are called the time of the gods.
And the number of times to whisk the egg is nine and a half round trips.
At least three people are needed to eat it. Four people is ideal.
The protagonist, Kazuki Nishimura, has an obsession with sukiyaki. He has his own rules regarding the timing of adding ingredients, their placement, the surface area they cover, the angles, how to close the lid, and the number of times to beat the egg, among other things.
One day, he was visiting his girlfriend Shiori's family home to ask for permission to marry her.
In fact, after moving to Tokyo, he hadn't eaten sukiyaki even once in five years. According to him, eating sukiyaki alone is lonely, and eating it with just two people is unsatisfying.
He was ecstatic to be eating sukiyaki at her house, and moreover, with four people, which he considered the most ideal number.
The cooking method was Kansai style… premium meat… and familiar ingredients like tofu, shirataki, and vegetables. It seemed ideal, but he spotted eringi mushrooms, which he felt didn't belong, among the ingredients. He wanted to point out, "You don't put Western ingredients in sukiyaki!", but he held his tongue, telling himself this must be each family's unique taste.
Furthermore,
"What about that thing?"
"Later is fine, right?"
Hearing this conversation between the parents, he anticipated it was about the finale dish (shime) and felt hopeful.
Shiori's father was in charge of cooking, but since he doesn't usually cook, there were points to criticize, such as "the heat is too high" and "the soy sauce was added too early." Kazuki secretly adjusted the heat and bought time by complimenting the father's watch, pulling the strings of the sukiyaki from behind the scenes.
Thinking "pulling strings behind the scenes is kind of fun," he suddenly realized the lid wasn't on.
Even if he wanted to quietly put the lid on himself, it was too far away.
Sensing that giving instructions now would upset the good-spirited father, he couldn't say anything.
However, reminding himself that his purpose today was to get permission for marriage, he regained his composure.
Thus, the sukiyaki was completed.
He also has strict preferences for the order in which he eats the ingredients. He considers eating the least noticeable enoki mushrooms, leeks, and meat first to be the height of foolishness. Surprisingly, it apparently took him a week to figure out this single opening move.
However, the mother went ahead and took two-thirds of the meat all at once.
And the father grabbed a piece of tofu with his chopsticks and broke it apart inside the pot.
Though appalled, when he dipped an ingredient into the egg and put it in his mouth, it was delicious with the flavor of the meat soaked in.
The eringi mushrooms he was worried about weren't bad either… no, actually, they were good.
Kazuki thought it was about time to go for the meat, but when he realized, the meat was gone.
The entire family had eaten the rest of the meat in one go.
Kazuki was furious, but he managed to suppress it, sustained by the thought of marriage.
However, even after that:
When the meat got tender, they poured leftover sake into the pot; instead of finishing all the vegetables before adding the next batch, they added new ones while vegetables were still left in the pot; knowing the next batch of meat was cheap, they devoured all the expensive meat first; they served leeks that weren't ready to eat; despite his rule of using only one egg per person, they used a second one; they threw the used egg into the pot; and furthermore, it turned out that even Shiori ate her sukiyaki without using an egg. To him, this was a fundamental denial of sukiyaki. Sukiyaki without eggs, he believes, is just a sweet and spicy beef stew.
With complaints piling up, his anger finally exploded at them: "You sukiyaki amateurs!!" He declared that he could never become family with people like this.
Then the father blurted out, "Shall we get to that now?"
Realizing they were moving on to the finale dish, Kazuki decided to give them one last chance. He resolved, "If udon comes out, I will stay; if rice porridge (oziya) comes out, I will leave this place and never show my face again."
According to him, rice porridge's flavor is too strong, so udon is the ideal finale.
However, what was brought before him was:
"A black, jiggling, jelly-like sphere."
"What on earth is this?!"
Ignoring his bewilderment, the object—allegedly a natural find from the supermarket—was matter-of-factly dropped into the pot.
Apparently, salt was the ideal seasoning for them, and the udon that Kazuki considered the ideal finale was described by the family as "gross."
"Don't call this sukiyaki! This isn't sukiyaki! The sukiyaki I've believed in isn't like this…!"
Caught in the crossfire of the family's gazes, he hesitated over whether he should eat it or not…
Several years later…
Kazuki married Shiori and they were blessed with two children.
Today's dinner for them is sukiyaki. The one cooking is Kazuki.
The basic cooking method follows his old principles… but his minute obsessions are gone.
He quickly devours the boiled ingredients, and then drops the "black, jiggling, jelly-like sphere" into the pot.
He explains that eating it 1.3 minutes later, once it has turned oval-shaped, is the most delicious way to eat it.
It seems he has grown to like this object after all.
Postscript
Regarding the "black, jiggling, jelly-like sphere" that appeared in this work, discussions about what its true identity might be are still ongoing.
According to viewers, one theory is that it is turtle jelly.
Meanwhile, the original manga "The Last Supper" depicts the protagonist, a man in a bowler hat, and certain thoughts about sukiyaki he experienced during his college days. This mysterious ingredient does not appear at all in the original.