What exactly is 'wabi-sabi'?

After a moment of frightening from the afternoon nap, the answer in Xia Yu's heart became clearer.

See the moss of the stone lamp?

Xia Yu's eyes flickered, and the corners of his mouth hooked up a faint smile.

That's right, this is 'wabi-sabi'!

It's not an incomprehensible aesthetic, it's a mystical truth.

To put it simply, it refers directly to things, the simple inside.

Such an essential beauty can stand the test of time. Just like this stone lamp, crawling with moss, it becomes deeper and deeper, revealing the beauty of the sense of time.

However!

This is the 'wabi-sabi' that is revealed in the object.

Abbot Ichijin has said that 'wabi-sabi' is everywhere in the environment of the island country.

There is it in the tea ceremony.

There are also utensils and decorations.

So, in cooking, in the way of cooking, how should 'wabi-sabi', or in other words, such a food meaning that points to the origin, or even the realm of "the road to heaven", be reflected?

Xia Yu has multiple levels of understanding of the 'wabi-sabi' in cooking.

Looking at personal understanding, the shallowest layer should be 'in the ugly show'. This is very understandable, in fact, the chef's skill has reached a certain height, and he can cook a famous dish for state banquets such as "Boiling Water Cabbage" if he takes a Chinese cabbage.

The second layer is the passage of time.

This layer, it is not difficult to understand, don't you see the moss on the surface of the stone lamp? This is the accumulation and precipitation of time!

This third layer, in fact, Xia Yu is not very sure, after all, this is his personal thoughts and opinions.

You know, if 'wabi-sabi' is an aesthetic taste, it is bound to be closely related to life.

And cooking, food, and cooking are simply the focus of life!

The people live on food.

If the ruler starves his people, it is a matter of course to change the dynasty.

"Speaking of which, 'wabi-sabi' has returned to Zen. My understanding should be fine, wabi-sabi is not dying, it contains the vitality of time......"

Xia Yu picked up the stone lamp on the table, and rubbed the layer of moss on the surface back and forth with the tips of his fingers.

"Rough stone, useless? It can be chiseled into something like this. ”

"This is the principle of the use of old things. ”

"When the stone becomes a stone lamp and is placed in the courtyard, it becomes a dead thing? Look at this layer of moss, useless things, rejuvenated ......"

This third layer of perception turned into a poem in Xia Yu's mind:

Thousands of sails passed by the side of the sinking boat, and ten thousand trees were spring in front of the sick tree.

"Yes!"

groaning, Xia Yu's eyes lit up.

In the nap just now, that unknown existence has actually "expressed" him!

“…… In my time, I was able to make my 'wabi-sabi dragon noodles'...... Now I want to eat fresh food......" When the phrase came to mind, Xia Yu stood there and smiled quietly.

Old trees blooming?

A legacy?

No problem!

Let me satisfy you!

The confusion in his eyes was gone, and in his place, there was an endless eagerness to try, Xia Yu clenched his fists, "Let's try it." ”

All perceptions must be turned into practice after all.

Knowledge and action are one.

The way of cooking, if you don't do it, you will never get the truth.

……

Hojo-in.

The electric fan was in the tea room, babbling and shaking his head to blow the wind.

Speaking of which, Shilin Temple is obviously a giant in the food industry, and even uses helicopters to transport ingredients, but there is no air conditioner in the temple, what is the situation? In addition to the equipment of the professional kitchen, outside, an electric fan is a very rare cooling machine in the middle of summer.

And the fan has a breath of the eighties and nineties.

"Whew-"

After several cups of hot tea in a row, the sweat on Sota Aoki's head seeped even more.

The monk's uniform is half-dissolved, and Aoki Sota sits with a look on his face, just one word:

Forget oneself.

But the old abbot of Yizhen also showed his chest and exposed it, sipping hot tea, and making a smacking sound.

Bang.

As soon as Aoki Sota put down the teacup, he smiled and said, "Teacher, how long did you say that our Lecturer Xia will come out?"

He raised his hand and gestured down the hill.

The tea house is open on all sides, and the abbot's courtyard, in the temple and in a high place, is condescending, but you can also see the situation of Xia Yu's room. A door has not moved for a long time from noon to midday.

"It's easy to get out, hard to get in. The old monk smiled.

In the old abbot's opinion, within a few days, the young man could not realize the Zen machine attached to the stone lamp.

As for 'wabi-sabi', it's a higher depth, don't even think about it.

The old monk obviously hadn't eaten Xia Yu's masterpiece yet. So, his judgment, there is no dime problem.

Of course, Aoki Sota heard the "Zen machine" and sighed, "Actually, teacher, we should have cleaned the temple a long time ago, this time it's Lecturer Xia, who will it be next time? ”

There was a subtle caution in his tone, observing the old monk's expression as he spoke.

The old monk just hummed lightly.

Aoki Sect sighed secretly.

The current situation of Shilin Temple can also be regarded as the connivance of the abbot.

There are some past events, and the teacher still can't let go.

He didn't know how to continue persuading.

……

In the afternoon, there is a cool breeze.

The temple was already deserted, and it was not the time for dinner, and the temple cafeteria, located in a secluded corner, was shaded by a bush of trees, dim, and more shady than other places.

The sound of clogs "clicks" on the stone path leading all the way to the cafeteria.

The old monk who was still in the tea house before, chatting with Aoki Sota and drinking tea, at this time, walked into the canteen with a wooden tray in his hand.

On the tray, the heat is curling.

A bowl of fragrant ramen was placed on the table by the old monk.

This table is a very special position, no one usually dares to sit, which is equivalent to the "forbidden area" of the canteen, but every time a meal is served, if there is such food as ramen, there must be a copy on the table.

"Eat. ”

A real old monk, sitting on the tatami mat on the side of the desk, greeting the air.

Rightfully for no one.

The ramen noodles on the table are hot and steaming, and there is nothing abnormal about the fluctuations in the airflow.

"Really, it's the same as before, do you want me to help you set the dishes and chopsticks every time?" said with a grumbling mouth, the old monk still bent down to pick up a pair of black chopsticks from the wooden tray on the ground.

Chopsticks clink and place on the bowl.

At the same time, outside the cafeteria, two young monks happened to pass by, and when they heard the movement stop, they looked at the dim room from a distance, and began to whisper:

"Wow, it must be the abbot who secretly cooked the noodles and ate them himself!"

"Actually, I really want to tell the abbot, can I stop cooking noodles? I have to eat ramen for at least two or three days a week, I really can't do it!" one of the teenagers grimaced.

"Then you tell Senior Brother Aoki. Companion said.

"Good!"

Before the two of them could turn around, someone spread their arms behind their backs and pressed their palms against their shoulders.

"Senior brother!" the two of them were startled.

Aoki Sota glared at him, "You two, don't go to the evening class yet, otherwise you won't talk about ramen, there won't be a grain of rice!"

The little monk had no choice but to flee.

After a pause, Sota Aoki went straight to the cafeteria, and the expression on his face changed from the reluctance of calm in front of the little monk, revealing an anxiousness, "Teacher, Xia Yu...... He's cooking!"

The scene inside the house did not surprise and surprise Aoki Sota.

The old monk sat quietly next to the desk, and on the table was a ramen that he had never eaten before, but the ramen gradually became colder, and the mist at the mouth of the bowl was much less.

Is "it" there?

Aoki Sotsu glanced too vaguely.

He never saw it, and his strongest feelings came from his instincts.

It was as if there was a very stubborn spirit floating there.

"Cooking?"

A look of astonishment welled up in the eyes of the abbot of Ichizhen.

"Yes, it's cooking!"

Sota Aoki took a breath and said with a very positive expression and tone, "And he also asked Semoto to help him find flour ......"

Ramen!

The old monk's pupils shrank, and he blurted out to the empty seat on the side of him: "Is this what you expect?"