December 10 ~ Nyapan
in
"Nabe-nomics"
Konbanwa. This is your friendly Japan Cat. I am not a generally expressive cat, but I have been known to meow and wiggle my short tail whenever the topic of food comes up at my house. Small quarters and dull white snowdrifts in the suburbs of Tokyo leave little room for a cat to explore, except for journeys of tasty sensation. I am the first to recommend new flavors to my kitty friends when they come over, but I find when I travel to their homes, the cuisine is… I will not say that it is not satisfying, but in a satisfactory sort of way, it is acceptable to say that it is nourishing in a way that would be considered standard but subjectively… it is okay.
I have circled my outdoor territory for the day. The neighborhood cats did not have any interesting news. Chi-Chi and Hime continue bringing me manga magazines they stole from their humans' houses, but I am too polite to tell them flipping the pages with my tiny toe pads is annoying. Nonetheless, my human is amazed when I bring the magazines back for him in the evenings. He thinks I stole them, but he is too invested in the new series to scold me. The dynamic is settled.
With shorter days in the winter, it is important for me to conserve my energy. After I got back from my visits and scratched at the sliding door for a while, my human was not surprised to find me curled up into what he calls a "furry fruit" on my cat tree. He now sits below me on the living room couch, sending emails and losing himself in new throwaway content on YouTube.
"Germany has put a costume on his cat to celebrate Christmas. What a cute picture," he comments. I tilt my head down and peer at the image on his laptop screen. It is worrisome that he would find that picture cute! Germany Cat is clearly not pleased with the santa hat and the red tinsel ring around his neck! I would not be surprised if Prussia Cat put him up to it. He is always planning those kinds of schemes.
"Would you like to watch the new video about the woman who dresses up her cat and owl?" My human asks. I give a yawn and roll over on my cat tree so my tail is facing him. Why would he want to watch a different cat when I am here? I can be perfectly cute without a costume. Although perhaps that is also a subjective argument.
I feel a sudden pressure on my stumpy tail. My human likes to grab it gently whenever it's exposed. He squeezes and strokes it until I spin around and rub my face against his hand. He smiles and pets me under the chin. See? I am cute! I am cuter than an angry Germany Cat! Meow! Meow! Cute!
We both freeze, and his smile falls. His stomach is making noises.
My human sighs. "Not a very productive day, but I can make some food. How about that new squeezy cat food for you and yukinabe for me? That would be delicious for such a cold, snowy night."
I practically jump down into my human's lap in excitement! A new treat to try! Perhaps it is the one from the video of the cat and owl in the Nutcracker Christmas costumes…
Maybe those videos are entertaining to me, but I will leave it as an open-ended thought.
My human calls me over into the kitchen. I would jump up onto the stool, but it is too high for my little body, so I need a little help getting into my seat at the end of the counter. Once there, my human takes the new box of squeezy tubes out of a high cupboard. He cuts one open with scissors and holds it out for me, slowly squeezing the tube so a salmon-smelling puree oozes out the top. I sniff some, then lick it. Hm… not as good as the regular salmon sashimi, but licking it out of the top is a wonderful idea. I only wish my human's hands didn't smell like lemons. He has been out of kitchen soap for three days now, and the hand sanitizer is too strong.
Once we're finished, I place a paw on his right hand and look into his eyes. "More please," I meow. But he does not listen. His stomach is still rumbling, and he needs to make food for himself.
My human sings while chopping up a daikon radish he's been storing in the dry cupboard. Traditionally, it is good to finely grate the radish by hand to maintain a certain level of juice. My human throws the slices right in the food processor. The electric grinding and pulsing catch me off guard. I almost jump into the air when the machine turns on. He laughs and checks the inside. The radish has been ground to a pulp even juicier than my squeezy salmon! He must be hungrier than usual to forsake the process!
The radish is spooned into my human's big green pot on its personal burner, with some water flavored with kombu seaweed. Then he cuts a block of tofu with a butter knife and plops the cubes on top. A layer of salty pork belly strips is added, and then a splash of sake to make it fun. Clunk goes the lid.
My human bends his knees and holds himself up by the elbows on the counter. His brown eyes crinkle as he watches and waits. Shoulders shiver. Knees twitch. Voice comes out in a groan, and stomach still grumbles. I know he did not have a snack today. Too many cat and owl videos and not enough attention to his own health. Yet he tries so hard to be a role model. I decide tomorrow I will pad onto his futon even earlier to put my paws on his face and wake him to work!
After fetching some fuzzy socks for himself, my human is happy to find the pot is hot, and the pork is cooked. All relaxed, he fills a bowl with the radish, tofu, and pork. Green onions are sprinkled over the top, and a tiny bowl of ponzu sauce is poured for dipping. With a blessing and a bow, he takes his chopsticks and digs in to his new creation.
My stumpy tail twitches.
I can smell the pork belly from where I sit at the end of the counter. So salty and savory, along with the citrus sweetness of ponzu to balance — and the crunchy onions, too! I have not eaten grass in days! What a good source of fiber!
"Can I have some, too?" I meow over the counter.
"You can't have any of this. You already had your squeezy food," my human says.
"But it smells so good. Can I please have some?"
My tail is wiggling faster. I step up onto the white marble countertop and softly tread over to the bowl. The smell is so much stronger over here! I rub my whole body against my human's chest and purr.
"I want some yukinabe. I was outside today. I want to be warm."
"This is not food for cats."
"But seven gods live in a grain of rice! You are not going to eat all of it yourself, are you? Let me help you pay respect to this lovely meal. You spent so much time cooking it with love, and you made the radish into a soup, but that makes it easier for me to lap up!"
I step down and cuddle into my human's lap. He pinches a dripping strip of pork belly between his chopsticks and dips it in the ponzu, then raises it to his lips. A glob of fat splatters down on the counter. I sniff, then lick it up. Oh, good. So good.
One white paw ventures forth. My human knows how delicious that was, and he does not notice as I reach up, just tapping the edge of the bowl. The hot steam condenses on my paw pads, and my claws extend in pleasure. I can already taste more. If I can just pop up and take some…
My head and shoulders lift. My paw goes further. I nab a chunk of tofu soaked in pork juice and pull it out. A pile of radish spills out of the bowl with it and lands with a splat on the countertop. I would rather have pulled out some pork, but this will do for me. I nip and lick the tofu, and my tail wiggles uncontrollably.
My human pushes my head away from the tofu, but I grip my claws into his pajama pants and stay firm. My breathing turns to purring once more as I rub against his lemon hands.
"Please let me share with you! This food is so good! Let's eat it all and snuggle up to watch a movie."
My paw reaches out again, this time up onto my human's chest. I purr and look him in the eyes. He reaches up and grabs my tail again. He knows how cute I am.
Soon enough, I have my own bowl of yukinabe, and we share it while looking out the window at the snowflakes.
It is better than okay.
~N~
Japanese bobtail cats are actually quite lanky and loud, as opposed to the fluffy, stumpy Japan Cat. But food is what sets him off. I got so hungry watching nabe cooking videos~ Nabe (hot pot) can be made with anything for a warm, winter soup. Yukinabe (Snow pot) is made with mostly white ingredients — pork belly, daikon radish, and sometimes mushrooms and fish.
My larger cat is constantly trying to steal food. When he smells it, he's reaching out and saying "This is mine."