(Miyuki) Fresh scallops from Hokkaido
that just arrived through the hometown tax program.
I still have two left — how should I eat them tonight?
(Narrator) The last drink of the day —
how can one make it as delicious as possible?
This drama is
the story of one woman who pursues that question relentlessly.
The taste of alcohol
can go from zero to one hundred depending on how you spend your day.
(Miyuki) I'm off!
♪～
～♪
(Shimamura) Right then.
There have been a lot more foreign visitors lately, haven't there?
(Aoi) You're right.
(Aoi) Yesterday a foreign visitor asked me for directions
and I couldn't really help them.
(Shimamura) I get that.
When someone suddenly starts talking to you, it throws you off.
(Umino) You should have called me!
(Shimamura) Really? Umino-san, you speak English?
(Umino) Not just English —
French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Korean...
I pretty much cover most languages.
(Door chime)
Umino-san, a foreign visitor has arrived at just the right moment!
Ah, what a shame.
Well...
I've got a meeting with the New York branch starting now, so...
Buenas tardes!
(José) Buenas tardes!
(José) How did you know I was Spanish?
(Miyuki) Oh, I could tell right away from your presence.
Miyuki-san, you speak Spanish?
My dream is to drink around the world, so I've picked up the basics.
Miyuki-san always effortlessly exceeds expectations.
Oh, by the way — my name is José.
(Miyuki) I'm Izawa Miyuki.
Your Japanese is excellent.
I studied it because I love "Captain Tsubasa."
But Miyuki, your Spanish is great too!
Thank you very much.
So, what kind of place are you looking for today?
I'm looking for a passionate place.
Passionate?
I love Japan very much.
However, Japanese homes have small rooms and I don't feel any passion in them.
I want to feel the fire of passion even while I'm indoors.
(Shimamura) Same as always, but what a vague and abstract request...
Understood. A passionate place, then.
(Aoi) Incredible.
Same as always, but she's actually going to search with those criteria.
How about this place?
Spain is the land of sunshine —
and this unit has three-sided natural light,
so you can bask in sunlight to your heart's content.
I see — that is passionate indeed.
Speaking of passion,
this place might also be worth considering —
the ground floor of this building is a Spanish bar.
A Spanish bar?
Yes — on your way home from work, on weekends, any time —
you can feel the atmosphere of Spain every single day.
Maravilloso! Wonderful!
Every place Miyuki chooses is passionate.
I can't decide between them.
(Miyuki) But there may be an even more passionate place out there.
(José) Oh?
It's too soon to decide.
Could I have until tomorrow to look into it?
Por supuesto — of course!
(Umino) Oh, I'm so sorry!
The meeting ran long. Ha!
Was everything okay with that customer earlier?
(Shimamura) Yes — Miyuki-san handled it,
so there was no problem at all.
(Umino) Oh good, glad to hear it.
After the New York branch meeting,
I had a meeting with the Barcelona branch too,
but luckily I can handle Spanish, so it worked out fine.
(Sound of laptop closing)
¡Cállate!*
(Shimamura) Umino-san,
what does "cállate" mean?
Isn't it obvious? It means "good work today."
Apparently in Spanish, it means "shut up."
(Miyuki) What is the right answer here...
Passion... Spain... José-san...
I've been thinking about it so much I'm starting to see a vision of José-san.
Wait — is that actually the real José-san?
(José) Oh! Miyuki!
(Miyuki) Oh, hello!
What are you doing here? Come and join us!
Hm?
(Miyuki) And so it was that I ended up trying futsal for the very first time in my life.
A sport that gets you running — perfect preparation for the evening drink.
(Whistle)
Miyuki!
(Miyuki) Ugh!
Ahh...
Miyuki, dribble!
Got it!
Oh!
(Player) Hey!
(Whistle)
(Cheers)
(Miyuki) I had no idea football was this difficult.
(Aoi and others cheering)
Umino was off by one millimeter!
Hahaha!
(Everyone) Cheers!
(Miyuki) Last year, after cheering on the Japan national team,
I got to enjoy some wonderful drinks —
but I should have been even more grateful to the players.
Something to reflect on.
(Miyuki) I'm so sorry.
I held the team back so much.
It's all right.
Miyuki has passion.
Someone with passion will eventually be able to break through their own walls.
José-san...
(José) Miyuki, get up front —
we'll send you the perfect pass,
and all you have to do is shoot with passion.
Okay!
(Whistle)
(Miyuki) There's absolutely no way. Every instinct is telling me no.
But... I can't give up in a moment like this.
If I can pull this off,
I might discover a whole new view of what an evening drink can be.
(José) Miyuki!
(Whistle)
(Cheers)
(José) That was a passionate shot!
It's all thanks to you, José-san.
(Miyuki) What joy.
I feel like a member of the Japan national team.
(Miyuki) Today, my heart is completely filled with Spain.
And at home, I have scallops.
There's only one menu I can possibly think of for tonight.
Paella.
I'll also need mussels.
Even Tsuru Mart might not carry mussels...
(Ushiba) Mussels just came in!
What?
(Ushiba) Mussels from Galicia, Spain!
How about it?
(Miyuki) And not just any mussels — from Spain!
Tsuru Mart is incredible.
(Miyuki) Ushiba-san, why mussels today?
(Ushiba) Ah, well, customer —
our store manager Chinyama has flamenco as a hobby,
and apparently he has his own private connections to Spain.
That's wonderful.
(Ushiba) Yes! Would you like to try one?
(Miyuki) Yes, I'll take the mussels!
(Ushiba) Oh, thank you very much!
Oh, customer —
Manager Chinyama is about to give a flamenco performance right now.
Would you like to watch?
I'm sorry —
I don't have time today, so maybe another time.
(Sound of castanets)
(Chinyama) Hmm? Where did the customer go?
It seems people are interested in the mussels,
but not so much in the manager's flamenco.
(Chinyama) Oh~
(Castanets) (Chinyama) Olé!
(Miyuki) Time to start preparing the paella!
Before cooking the rice, stir-fry the chicken to make the base broth.
Then add tomato sauce,
and stir briefly to cook off the acidity.
Shrimp, mussels,
clams, squid,
and scallops.
Once all the seafood is in,
add white wine and water and simmer briefly.
Once the broth is nicely drawn out, remove the seafood.
To this broth, add consommé, fumet de poisson,*
saffron, and paprika,
and finally salt — and the broth is ready.
Transfer this broth to the paella pan,
add the rice, and start cooking.
While that's going, first I'll make
the classic Spanish snack — pinchos.*
Bacon and olives,
and sun-dried tomato.
Finally, skewer the octopus and cucumber.
Finish with a drizzle of basil sauce,
and with just this much, you get a wonderfully Spanish feel.
And then there's the dish I always order when I see it at a Spanish restaurant in Japan —
albóndigas.*
Spanish-style meatballs.
Season ground meat with cumin, oregano, and coriander,
along with yakiniku sauce for extra depth of flavor,
then deep-fry them all at once.
Then toss them boldly in tomato sauce,
and the Spanish feeling skyrockets instantly.
I'm not entirely sure why they're called albóndigas,
but anyone who sees how they look would almost certainly order them.
Now let me check on the paella.
This already looks delicious enough —
but now I add back the seafood from earlier.
A heartfelt reunion.
Arrange the black olives — almost there.
The goal is in sight.
And one more dish —
a popular Spanish tapa: grilled mushrooms on an iron plate.
Stuff the mushrooms with pancetta.
Coat a pan with garlic oil and cook over high heat.
"When I was in Spain, I ate this every day" —
or so a friend once told me.
Steam them just a little longer,
then squeeze lemon over generously.
Keep the seasoning simple — just salt and lemon.
When I first ate paella,
I was sure I could never make it myself —
but the growth a person is capable of is remarkable.
One final step: into the oven to get a nice char on top...
(Miyuki) Ahh...
Hehe.
Itadakimasu!
(Sound of can being opened)
(Miyuki) Oh~!
Wow~!
Oh~...
Ahh~!
(Miyuki) Today, through an unexpected turn of events, I ended up playing football,
and got to move my body a lot.
The drink tastes that much better.
First, the pinchos.
"Pinchos" means "skewer" in Spanish —
there aren't many dishes this stylish and easy to eat.
From the very first bite, my mood is completely Spanish.
Oh~! Hehe.
(Miyuki) Next up, albóndigas.
Yes — what a punch.
What an intensely passionate dish.
Oh~!
(Miyuki) This is pure Spain.
The perfect pairing of mushroom and pancetta.
Truly the ultimate two-forward strike duo.
Ahh...
(Miyuki) The fire of passion is still burning strong.
I've gone through all the trouble of getting fully into the Spanish mood,
so let me switch up the drink too.
(Miyuki) Perfect.
Sangria-style crushed-ice wine.
Drinking it this way makes it crisp and refreshing —
and it should pair beautifully with the rich Spanish food.
Now, the main event of the evening.
Mussels all the way from Spain,
and Hokkaido scallops sourced through the hometown tax program.
Plus large shrimp and squid.
It brings to mind Japan vs. Spain —
playing out the greatest match right there on the plate.
(Miyuki) Oh~...
(Miyuki) This is...
The umami from all the seafood is one hundred percent in the broth.
It's so good! I'm practically moved to tears.
(Miyuki) Ahh...
Hehe.
(Miyuki) There's no doubt about it.
Paella and wine —
a new proverb is born to describe a perfect pairing.
(Miyuki) Mmm~
(Miyuki) ¡Está rico!*
I've reached the level where I instinctively say "delicious" in Spanish.
My gratitude to the seafood — and to Tsuru Mart.
Ahh~
Now then.
Ahh...
Oh~!
Ahh~!
(Miyuki) Truly a passionate evening drink.
¡Está muy rico!*
That was incredibly delicious.
(Miyuki) Thank you for the meal.
Ahh~
(José) The place you showed me before seemed better to me,
but what's passionate about this one?
It has a roof balcony —
where you can soak up the sun with your whole body,
and you can even hold a rooftop house party.
I see.
But on its own, it's not quite the deciding factor.
(Miyuki) Please look at this.
There's a football pitch right next to the building.
From this roof balcony,
you can watch the boys play football every single day.
♪～
Yesterday, when I played with you, José-san, and touched the ball myself, I felt it —
passion, in the end, is born from people.
In this place, you would be able to feel
that genuine passion with your own skin every day.
¡Maravilloso!
Wonderful! I'll take it!
Thank you so much.
(José) For finding me such a wonderful place, Miyuki,
I'd like to give you this Spanish specialty.
A whole leg of cured ham sent from my family home.
Oh, we couldn't possibly accept something like this from a client...
Please, I insist.
Well... then... thank you very much.
Oh~!
-(Miyuki) Incredible! -(Shimamura) It's huge!
José-san was absolutely thrilled, wasn't he?
He really was — I'm so glad it worked out.
(Umino) Man, it's another busy day. Heh.
The people from the Argentina branch
keep pestering me to come over there —
they're being a real nuisance.
¡Por favor, vete!*
Umino-san, what did that just mean?
"I don't know what I'd do without you."
In Spanish,
apparently it means "please, go away."
I wonder how far
Miyuki-san's Spanish actually goes.
(Miyuki) Yesterday's evening drink was the best.
Today too, so that I can have a drink that surpasses even yesterday's,
I'll work with passion.
～♪