In America it has always been soup for me, as well as a large majority of the population. I am also pretty certain that that same population will also agree that it is most often Chicken Noodle soup, though I mean any should do just fine.
Well in Japan it is kind of similar. By that, I mean that they have their very own Chicken Noodle type of sick food sick food.
Not too long ago I was sick and had bronchitis and in the process of being cared for I was made a very warm, gently tangy type of udon soup. It was actually the end of August, so you can imagine how odd it might seem eating hot soup then; however I have come to learn that a good number of Japanese people believe that heat is the best way to beat a sickness. They will often wear warmer clothes and long sleeves to help expedite the healing process. I have known heat to help overcome things like fevers via the process of elevating body temperature to burn the bacteria out of you, but perhaps, as they seem to believe, it works for non-fever illnesses as well.
Back to the soup. It turns out later, with another of my Japanese friends, the tables were turned and I was the well one taking care of them. Interestingly they too requested udon as a get well food. They instructed me to put a fair amount of ginger and spices in it, saying that both are good for patients needing to get better. It also included the large green onions and chicken as well. Therefore it WAS in fact chicken noodle soup, only with a n Asian twist.
As a secondary get-well food, once the broth of the udon contains no noodles (but it can still have green onions or meat), it can then be reused to make a rice porridge called okayu. I have never been a big fan of this stuff. Pretty much you just add rice to the mix and heat it up a bit. Two dishes in one, it is a really simple mix for making a sick person better, if only in the feels.
This is very helpful. Thanks
ReplyDelete