After leaving Otsu city, we arrived at Hamamatsu at a stretch without a rest. Thanks to the superb driving assistance by the Tesla's artificial intelligence, the driving was fun and comfortable. Hamamatsu is well-known as an eel farming area, and we dropped in at a famous eel restaurant along the highway.
We ordered "Hitsumabushi", which is a traditional dish of this area of rice topped with grilled eel, soy-based sauce, and spices such as Japanese pepper. "Hitsumabushi" is a portmanteau word which consists of "Ohitsu", the rice tub and "mabusu", the way you put the grilled pieces of eel, wasabi and Japanese pepper on the rice. It was the first time to have the traditional Hitsumabushi. A waitress gave us a short lecture how to enjoy them.
She advised us to eat Hitsumabushi divided into four times. At first we scooped out a quarter of the eel and rice into the empty bowl. Then we ate them without any spices enjoying plain but delicious eel. Next, you can enjoy them with several spices and toppings. Lastly, you pour dashi - soup stock in English - onto the rice and eel. This was indescribably tasty. During our gorgeous lunch, my car was also charged.
This highway is relatively newly built and various novel ideas are seen. One of following pictures show an electric bulletin board showing the number of vacancies.
(Vocabulary)
at a stretch without a rest 途中で休まず一気に
at a stretch 連続で, 続けて
Doctors are forced to work 36 hours at a stretch. 医師は36時間連続で働かなければならない．
Japanese pepper 山椒
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