Article 009: Spare Ribs and Chopstick Movements — A Quiet Pleasure

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Article Summary

How meat preferences shift as we age.

From yakiniku feasts in younger days, I now savor small portions of spare ribs finished with marmalade.

A cooking method learned from an acquaintance nearing eighty, now part of our home table.

Clumsy as I am, I attempt eating spare ribs—normally finger food—with chopsticks.

Though meat tumbles off, I sense with my teeth how flesh separates from bone, moving my chopsticks accordingly.

This chopstick practice has become a quiet pleasure, making me conscious of how my hands move each day.

Category

Cooking

  • I write about moments from daily life as I've encountered them within Japanese food culture.
    I hope you'll read this with the gentle feeling of sitting around glowing embers.

1. Spare Ribs Finished with Marmalade

  • Spare Ribs (Marmalade Finish)

Spare ribs (marmalade finish) served in a chrysanthemum-shaped medium bowl

My spouse and I, regardless of season, crave meat dishes about once a month.

But we can no longer eat yakiniku until our stomachs are full, the way we did when younger.

Hormone and kalbi used to taste wonderful—now I find myself choosing tongue steak or tongue stew instead.

  • (Note: Hormone refers to beef or pork offal; kalbi is meat around the ribs.

    Tongue refers to beef tongue.)

Back then, we'd go to a nearby restaurant once a month for an extravagant yakiniku day.

The finish was always light-broth ramen noodles.

A nostalgic memory of eating until completely satisfied.

Now, I've come to feel content with delicious meat in quantities that leave me slightly wanting more.

Recently, a remarkably energetic acquaintance nearing eighty taught me various things about how to grill spare ribs and prepare them.

I decided to adopt this right away at our home table.

Indeed, once the preparation was done as instructed, we simply waited for the oven to finish—quite convenient.

I have the butcher cut the meat slightly smaller.

It takes effort, but making deep cuts in the meat before marinating makes it easier to eat.

Store-bought marmalade is too sweet for us, so I make it by hand with reduced sweetness.

I want to preserve as much as possible the faint bitterness that citrus naturally carries.

And the marmalade, having absorbed plenty of meat juices, becomes a companion to rice.

It pairs well with freshly cooked rice—the more you chew, the more sweetness emerges.

2. Chrysanthemum-Shaped Medium Bowl

For information about the chrysanthemum-shaped medium bowl used this time, please see

Article 001: Pumpkin and My Mother's Memory — Seasons Held in a Chrysanthemum Bowl

It's perfect for serving round, tumbling ingredients like these.

Also, this vessel has a shape that's easy to hold and serve from.

Even if something threatens to slip from your chopsticks, it catches it firmly.

3. Oil and Chopstick Movements

  • Spare Ribs (Garlic Soy Finish)

Spare ribs (garlic soy finish) served in a chrysanthemum-shaped medium bowl

For some reason, I'm terrible at eating spare ribs.

My wife eats them skillfully using only the tips of her thumb and index finger.

I, on the other hand, get all five fingers covered in oil.

When I ask my wife for tips on how to eat them, she replies, "Anyone should be able to do it if they move their fingertips."

So I decided to eat spare ribs—normally eaten by hand—with chopsticks instead.

I do the same with chicken wings.

However, this attempt depends on how the ingredients are prepared (size, scoring).

I avoid forcing chopstick use if it would dirty the table.

Eating difficult foods with chopsticks has become practice in chopstick use within Japanese food culture for me.

As a result, it's become a good opportunity to be conscious of how my hands move daily.

Still, when I'm rushing, I drop bits of meat.

Lately I've learned to sense with my teeth how the meat separates from bone, moving my chopsticks accordingly.

This chopstick practice has become one of my quiet pleasures.

Since this is merely chopstick practice, when eating out I eat according to the atmosphere of the place.

4. This Time's Summary

  • 「めしとほね　てもとまなばし　よわいぐさ」

  • [Messhi to honé témoto manabachi iowaï goussa]

  • Mets, Si, Tôt, Oh, Nos, Thé, Mot, Mât, Nage, Bas, Si, Yo, Voies, Guy, Sâ.

  • Le parfum fait le ménage : le sommeil du vent.

Audio data (sound): 2025_009_ja01


Audio data (reading): 2025_009_ja02 (in progress)

Microsoft Clipchamp: Brigitte, VOICEVOX: 四国めたん

End of Article

  • I hope to bring small discoveries and nostalgia to your table.