ginkgo nut
I've been obsessed with the nutritious rice from dubuhaus since I first had it shortly after they opened. It's not necessarily objectively the best rice I've consumed, but it's probably my favorite. It's perfectly crispy and chewy, sticky but with some bite. My favorite part of my favorite rice is the ginkgo nuts, which accompany the fruit that grows among the ginkgo tree's golden fan-shaped leaves.
I always survey how many nuts my bowl comes with (usually 2-3) and try to ration them throughout the meal so that I can enjoy one steaming hot at the beginning, one somewhere in the middle before I've gotten too full, and one saved for the very end so that things end on a high. Can you believe that today, I had my eye on the one last ginkgo nut, but by the time I got to my last few bites of rice, it had somehow disappeared?? I checked everywhere to see if it had fallen off my spoon or if it was swimming in my stew, but sadly it was nowhere to be found. I had a feeling that the remaining bites of my meal wouldn't taste as good anymore, and I was right. I just...need to know where it went. Not so that I can eat it, but just for closure, you know? Like you treasure this thing with a scarcity mindset, build anticipation for it, and then you either unknowingly shovel it down without any appreciation for what you were eating, or it rolled away into a different dimension - functionally, the same outcome. Everyone should go try the rice at dubuhaus. It's good. And if you don't like your ginkgo nuts, pass em over.