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Soba Noodles and Midnight Diner
I've become a big fan of 'Midnight Diner'.
It's a Japanese TV series available on Netflix. The series is set in a small diner in a backstreet of Kyoto - it caters to the late-night trade from midnight until 7am. 'Master' (which I suspect is a generic term of respect for a chef in Japan) has a small establishment which can only take about 10 customers. The 'table' is basically a horseshoe- shaped shelf, so the diners can all see each other and converse, and the Master serves food in the centre and cooks in a tiny open kitchen at the rear.
The customers are a mixed group of people - some, like the trans owner of a local gay bar, are regulars, others are just passing through. The charm of the series lies in it's gentle nature. People have problems, some are solvable, some are not. Their choice of food often tells a lot about a customer: dishes that their parents cooked for them; the pack lunch given to a young man departing to live in the big city; a shared meal with a loved one.
Each episode is only half an hour, each focuses on one or two people (while never ignoring the regulars, who all have their own view on things), and their story, major or minor, happy or sad, will be resolved in that half hour.
There's no car chases, no murders, no steamy sex, no big punch ups, just a gentle look at people who have so often missed out on their dreams in life. The one rule of the diner is that everyone is treated the same. It's a neutral territory for policemen, yakuza (Japanese crime syndicates), young women complaining about the lack of decent men, middle age men who watch strip shows, loners, the destitute, businessman with clients, delivery workers, sex workers, the flotsam and jetsam of Tokyo..
It's a lovely little show. I always watch it with English subtitles. (I can't remember if it has an English audio track, but I've found that I sometimes prefer subtitles to dubbing)
The episode I've just watched was all about noodles. Apparently sharing soba noodles is a Japanese New Year tradition. This basically an episode about different kinds of noodles, and the fact that many people in Japan like to make their own noodles.
'Soba' is buckwheat - which isn't actually a kind of wheat at all. (It's more closely related to rhubarb), but it can be eaten in many of the ways that wheat is and you can make flour from it. It's a complete protein, but lacks gluten, which means that people usually add a bit of wheat flour when baking with it.
It's actually quite fascinating and relaxing watching a master chef make soba noodles.
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I'm not sure it's something I'd watch, but I might give it a tray. Thanks.
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Have you tried (also Netflix) The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House? Also cooking, compassionate, younger people finding themselves and plenty going on with the adults too. And an unexpected genre episode towards the end. They all learn the same stylised performances but it's fascinating watching them develop self expression within it. Like Tai Chi.
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I tried it again yesterday with the original language and subtitles and found I preferred it that way.
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