Last time, Mr. Adachi from the Nishinomiya Board of Education(former principal of Higashi High School) went undercover as a “Nishitsu Detective” at Kurakuen Junior High School.
Salmon with vegetable sauce, with a secret touch of Hakushika.
And for Nishinomiya’s signature soup, kasujiru, the sake lees were from Nihonsakari.
On top of that, even the seasoned nori had a Miyatan design, and it said “Miyacco School Lunch”!
…But it didn’t end there.
This time, the setting is Koroen Elementary School.
Thursday, November 27: To Koroen Elementary School
On this day, Mr. Adachi went to Koroen Elementary School to see, eat, and photograph the school lunch.
This room has lots of 100th anniversary flags. What could it be?
This is the kitchen for school lunches
The staff are working hard to make lunch for the students. Still, isn’t this pot absolutely huge?
Apparently, it’s nicknamed the “magic pot”.
Dried soybeans become soft in about two hours, and simmered dishes and curry apparently soak up flavor like they’ve been left overnight, just by sitting for 10 to 15 minutes.
Even if the 120L pot is only used to about 70% capacity in practice, it can apparently make about 420 servings of miso soup in one go.
The pot is overwhelmingly bigger than those stockpots they bring from the lunch kitchen.
What side dish do you think this is? If your child is currently in elementary school, try quizzing them.
この大鍋の正体は？
Something for 5-1 and 5-2 is inside!
A huge number of meals are being made one after another. And this happens every day. Amazing.
Can you tell what they’re doing here?
These are called “retained samples,” and they’re used to investigate the cause if something like food poisoning were ever to occur. They really do take proper precautions.
We Ate in the Principal’s Office!
This is Principal Hashino of Koroen Elementary School.
To protect the safety of school lunches, there’s something principals do for school lunches in Nishinomiya.
It clearly looks like a meal, but it’s actually about protecting all the Miyacco children.
Saying “Itadakimaaasu”, he clearly looks like he’s enjoying the school lunch, doesn’t he?
Actually, the principal does what’s called “kenshoku”, or meal inspection, 30 minutes before the students eat.
Checking whether any ingredients have spoiled
Checking whether any foreign objects have gotten in
Checking whether the taste is off
That’s what they confirm. In older terms, it’s basically poison tasting. The principal taking on that role really puts their body on the line.
So, with that said,
Now that the tasting is done, let’s have Mr. Adachi eat the school lunch too.
This is the “kasujiru” we introduced last time as well. The sake lees are from Nishinomiya’s Nihonsakari.
It’s packed with so many ingredients. I’m seriously jealous!
And this is what caught my eye. It looks kind of like karaage? But it’s a bit dark.
That’s right. Apparently, this is whale tatsuta-age.
