Being sick in Japan, and How to Make Tamago-Zake

It’s funny how being sick makes you revert to what you know best. I’ve got the flu that’s been going around the J-List office, so yesterday I headed home early, took some of the various U.S. cold medicines I stock, and laid down to rest. For dinner I wanted noting other than good old Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, which we’d brought back with us from our last trip. (The Japanese don’t know what Chicken Noodle Soup is, the only soups they eat here being miso and corn potage.) When Japanese get sick, they naturally turn to their own cultural remedies. Supposedly, it’s common to broil a leek (which they insist on calling a “long onion”) until its soft, folding it inside a tenugui (a traditional hand towel), then they wrap that around their neck and go to bed. Then there’s shoga-yu, which is hot water with grated fresh ginger in it and a little honey to improve the taste. The most famous folk remedy is probably tamago-zake, or egg and sake. To prepare it, put one cup of sake in a pan with a beaten egg, and heat it until just before boiling. Stir in some sugar if you like, the drink it back, and you’ll be feeling better in no time. Or so they tell me anyway.