You know what I’m craving?? That soup from the Pokemon anime that Brock/Takeshi used to make. That creamy looking one. In my mind it’s warm and savory with that hint of natural vegetable sweetness and hearty and filling and absolutely delicious.
It can’t be all that complicated cuz he always made it out in the open in those little campsites the gang would set up. I mean, that’s one of the reasons why it looks so good, right?? Simple, classic, ‘rustic’, good for the soul. I’m thinking some kind of cream base with chicken or vegetable stock, maybe a nice brown flour roux, ham or chicken or sausage (uh… or the Pokemon equivalent!!) and the fond from the pan when you brown the meat, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, salt and pepper… And a nice crust of bread for dipping. I’m absolutely not a cook so this could be totally off base but that’s just how it feels in my mind. Nice and warm, smelling like heaven.
When I was a kid I could almost smell that soup right off the teeny tiny screen. I never got to eat much Western food when I was a very young kid so it was kind of like a rare treat, but I certainly smelled it in the air whenever we passed by the white people neighborhoods, and of course I knew and loved Asian-Western fusion cuisine. I’d rewatch those same couple of episodes from Season 1 on VHS and imagine the protagonists were Asian-Americans like me, and Brock was cooking up some amazing soup that was sure to taste so so good. Even simply colored line drawings in potato quality on a shitty tiny TV screen can be so romanticized in the mind of a hungry kid.
I’m a hungry adult now. I want soup. I wish I had that soup right now. In real life. Right in front of me right now. But regular real life meat, no Taurus or Miltanks or Torchics in there.
I want cream stew. Ideally cooked in a pot over a fire by a beloved friend, but normal indoors kitchen stew is fine too. But I want it. I want it!!!!
