生まれはじめて衝撃を受けたメニューと言えば、それはもう、しゃぶしゃぶで決まりです。小学３年生の頃が初体験だったんですけど「しゃぶ、しゃぶ……ってやるんだよ」と、例の箸の動きを母親が手本として見せてくれて、そのアクションがもう衝撃的でしたもん。しかも、その「しゃぶ、しゃぶ」ってアクションのあとに大根おろしとポン酢にお肉をくぐらせて、さらにお茶碗のお米にバウンドさせて食べるという一連の流れが、無条件に感動的ですらありました。

実は僕、同じく小学３年生の頃から、日曜日になると「そばを茹でて」と母親にねだるような子供だったんです。はじめてのしゃぶしゃぶで思い出すのが無条件な感動であるのなら、そばを食べるという行為は＜どうすればおいしく食べられるんだろう？＞という「様式」を研究していた節があって。一度に掴むそばの量。箸を基準にして麺をどこまで垂らして、いかほどそばつゆにつけるのか。自分で振り返っても「落語家か！」とツッコミたくなるような嫌な子供ですけど、なぜか、そばの様式美みたいなものを模索していたんです。
様式というか型というか、そういうのも含めてそばが大好きな子供だったんですけど、でも、衝撃という意味で言えば圧倒的にしゃぶしゃぶでした。
だって、主人公のお肉はもちろんですけど、お茶碗にバウンドさせた結果、名脇役のお米までおいしくなるなんて聞いてなかったですもん。え？　しゃぶしゃぶデビューが小学校３年生って早い？はい。その件については否定できません。なぜなら、僕んち、ボンボンでしたから（笑）。もちろん、豚肉ではなく牛肉のしゃぶしゃぶです。なんせ、ボンボンなんですから（笑）。

ところが、人生と食卓はなにが起きるかわからないもの。
小学校６年生の時に、食卓からふっと、しゃぶしゃぶが消え去りました。
ある日突然、うちがボンボンじゃなくなってしまったんです。
アパレルの仕事をしていた両親の事業がうまくいかなくなったみたいで。小学校５年生までは東京でしゃぶしゃぶでボンボンだったのに、小学６年生の４月１日からは兵庫県に転校、その日を境にしゃぶしゃぶが食卓に並ぶことはありませんでした。兄のイチ推しメニューだったすき焼きも牛肉から鶏肉に、わかりやすくランクダウンする有様……。
ただ、うちの母親は料理が得意な人で、いつもおいしいご飯を作ってくれたから、食卓が痩せるような貧しさは一切感じませんでした。
料理と言えば、ちっちゃい頃から母親がキッチンに連れて行ってくれたんです。とにかく、片っ端から手伝わされていました。ケーキも焼く母親だったので、「洗っといて」「玉子割っといて」「粉振って」って。ふつうは小さい僕じゃなくて兄に手伝わせると思うんですけど、なぜか弟の僕だった。そのおかげで、料理に対するイメージが、はなっから肯定的で、将来を決める時にも「料理の世界で生きていきたい」とすごく自然なことのように選択ができた。そばのこともそうなんですけど、ちっちゃい頃から母親が料理を手伝わせてくれたことには、いまでも感謝しかないです。

ちなみに、しゃぶしゃぶと再会できたのは16歳の頃のこと。
僕だけ東京に出てきて、高校に通っていたんですが、すでにアルバイトを始めていたので、友達とごはんに行くぐらいの余裕はあったんです。ある時、食べ放題のしゃぶしゃぶのお店へ行って再会を果たすんですけど、「やべぇ、天国だ！」と心の中で叫ばずにはいられませんでした。いまでも、「しゃぶ、しゃぶ」ってアクションでお肉を温めていると自然と口角があがる。僕にとってのしゃぶしゃぶは、そんな無条件な感動があり続けてくれるものだと思います。

Speaking of the menu that I was shocked at, for the first time from the birth, is no other than shabu shabu. The first shocking experience of doing shabu shabu was took place in the third grade of my elementary school. My mother showed me how to move chopsticks back and forth in the pot and it was quite impressing.

Furthermore, after those chopstick swinging shabu shabu action, we are supposed to dip meat in grated radish and ponzu (Japanese sauce made primarily of soy sauce and citrus juice). And then, we bouncingly put those meat on the rice in rice bowl. These series of action flow was unconditionally touching to my soul.

To tell the truth, I am a kind of a precocious kid who asks his mother to boil the genuine soba on every Sunday since third grade. Shabu shabu is unconditionally but that is not the case of soba. I want to research how I can eat the best soba in the world. There should be some sort of style like the amount of Soba (buckwheat) to grab at once, and how deep the noodle should be down and how long we should dip them in the soup. Looking back to myself, I feel that somehow I am an unpleasant children like a joke. But somehow I was very attracted to the beautiful pattern of eating soba and I researched seriously.
I was a child who loved Soba very much including those ceremonial patterns of eating it. But the impact I got from shabu shabu was far stronger than soba.
It was overwhelming. It could be because of the meat, but I had never heard that the rice would become tastier as a result of the beef bouncing in a bowl. What? Is it too early for an elementary third grader for a Shabu Shabu debut? Yes. I cannot deny on that. Because, I was a typical bonbon (a rich kid). Surely, it is the shabu shabu made up of beef, not of pork. Yep, because, I was the bonbon.

But we have never known what will happen in life and on the table next.
Shabe shabu disappeared from the table when I was in the sixth grade.
Suddenly, I was not bon bon anymore.
It seems that the work of my parents who did an apparel business did not go well.
I was bonbon until elementary fifth grade while in Tokyo, I had to move to the school in Hyogo prefecture from the six grade. After that day, shabu shabu was not lined up on the table. Sukiyaki which is my brother's favorite menu was not prepared with beef anymore, it was replaced by cheap chicken. It was clear from the eyes of elementary school students that our life had a fall from a certain rank.
However, my mother was an awesome cook- who always prepared delicious food, I did not feel the poverty from our table.

Talking about food, I followed my mother to the kitchen since I was very small. I was helped her thoroughly. My mother used to bake cakes, and she said to me like, “Wash them”, “Crack the eggs", “Sprinkle the flour” etc. Normal mother would expect her older son to help her but I, younger son, was the helper. Thanks to that advantage, I had positive image about cuisine. I could have very natural choice like “I want to live forever in the cuisine world.” It is not only about Soba, but I have no words to appreciate my mother`s support in helping me with cuisine.

Incidentally, I had a happy reunion with shabu shabu at the age of 16.
It was only me who came to Tokyo and studied in High School. I had the allowance enough to go out for dinner with friends since I had already started doing part time job.
Everytime I go to all-you-can-eat shabu shabu restaurants, it feels like heaven from the bottom of my heart. Happy reunion. Those ritual swaying movement of chopsticks and the series of action makes me smile from the cheek. Shabu shabu has an unconditional touching impact on me and it will continue to do so in the future.