Gymnastics, Archery, and Mooncakes

Edamame was completely mortified after his trip to Argentina. He knew he would have to travel quickly and quietly in order to not be seen by his enemy. He rode buses through Brazil until he made it to Rio de Janeiro. He then got himself a plane ticket to London. At Heathrow he stared at the TV monitors, showing which flights were arriving and departing. Where should he go next? Out of the corner of his eye he saw a crowd of people staring at a different TV screen. Several people gasped as they saw Roger Federer lose an early round match in the Olympics. 

The Olympics! Edamame knew that he must make his way to Beijing. With millions of people there, it would be impossible for any of his enemies to find him! He jumped on a plane and contemplated what type of desserts he might find in China. Did cows even exist in China? He’d just have to find out. Perhaps he was about to find an end to his nightmares.

He was amazed by the crowds he saw in Beijing. Everyone was walking down streets wearing jerseys of different colors. Brits, Brazilians, and Americans were cheering at restaurants. As he was rather small, Edamame was able to sneak past the guards into the Birds Nest to watch some of the events. He watched a couple of the martial arts events and felt a sneaking feeling of competitiveness rush through him. He wondered why his sensei had never tried to bring him or his clan here. Surely they would make their sensei proud by bringing him a stack of gold medals! Then Edamame felt embarrassed as he remembered that the clan was meant to do the world good, and not to flex muscles or show off incredible flexibility and talent. Perhaps he should go watch another event, one that wouldn’t make him question his sensei.

He walked into small shops, but could not find desserts. He did find an endless supply of bao, which he enjoyed but did not fulfill his needs. 

Oh no! The enemy he had encountered in Sweden had found him. Edamame ran through the streets until he entered a large building. The enemy was close behind him, holding a giant wheel of cheese. He didn’t even notice the people staring in amazement, he just kept running. As chunks of cheese were hurled at him, Edamame did cartwheels, handsprings, and somersaults to avoid being hit. Finally a large man grabbed him and pulled him to the side. He looked up to notice that he had unwillingly partaken in the men’s gymnastics finals. The athletes stared at him with contempt for having disrupted their event. However, they were also somewhat amazed at having seen a tiny ninja perform some of the most astonishing gymnastics they had ever seen. Edamame tried to explain what had happened, but wound up being banished from Beijing until the Olympics were over. 

He hung his head sadly and wandered through other parts of China. Eventually he arrived at a festival where people were eating delicious looking treats. He looked up to the night sky and saw that he could almost make out a woman’s face in the moon. An old man was telling a story to several children. Edamame listened to the story, happy to discover that he still remembered some of the Chinese he had learned long ago.

“Once upon a time,” the old man began, “the world had not one, but ten suns. Plants could not grow and people suffered from the heat. The emperor summoned all of the land’s archers to shoot down all but one of the suns. One archer succeeded and brought happiness to the land. The emperor rewarded him with an elixir to immortal life. He brought it home and shared his good news with his wife. However, he forbade her from having any of the elixir. Angrily, she drank it and floated up to the moon, where she has remained forever. Some say that some of the elixir spilled and reached the mouths of a frog and rabbit. Sometimes you can see either her face, or that of the frog or rabbit in the moon. Every year we hold the mooncake festival to celebrate the archer’s success.” 

Edamame loved the story and tried a mooncake.

They were beautiful and didn’t contain any dairy! Maybe this would be the dessert he could come to love more than ice cream. 

Unfortunately for Edamame, the mooncake festival would end in a few days, meaning that all mooncake recipes would be stored away for another year. He would have to continue on his journey. At least he could try to come back to China once a year, for another taste.

The Ninja Learns to Always Read the Ingredients First

Edamame was clueless as to where he should head next. His journey to France had made him a mini celebrity (in both stature and fame), as he had managed to bring attention to several pastry chefs. Tourists and locals had been perplexed by a small ninja running into bakeries and trying a variety of desserts. As meringue sales went up, the bakery owners requested to have their pictures taken with Edamame. Newspapers featured him in their Arts & Wine sections and rumors spread throughout towns of the fierce little warrior with a sweet tooth. However, Edamame was focused on his mission and unable to speak or read French. So he continued through Europe, ignoring the head stares and camera phones pointed in his direction.

Europe was proving to be a challenge. He made his way up to Denmark and Sweden but found that everyone he met only wanted to offer him flavored vodka or pear cider. Edamame certainly wasn’t old enough for alcohol yet and

so had to politely decline all of the friendly offers he received. While wandering through Malmo, he heard someone whisper to him from an alley.

“Hey little ninja guy, come here!”

“Who are you?” Edamame asked?

“A friend who understands you. I can help you find what you’re looking for.”

“How can I trust you?”

“I give you my word. I know the pain that comes with choosing blue cheese dressing over a vinaigrette. Go to Argentina little ninja. A long time ago, the Argentines realized that they had a dreadful reaction to milk. As a result they banished all cows and developed their own, milk free dessert: Dulce de Leche. ‘Leche’ means milk and ‘dulce de’ means free of. The country will welcome you with open arms.”

“They have no cows? I thought I had read somewhere that Argentina had cowboys…”

“Silence! If you plan to succeed on your quest, then go to Argentina.”

Edamame’s eyes brightened as he imagined a country filled with delicious milk free desserts. He made his way down South, passing through mountains, desserts, and waterfalls. He sped through to Buenos Aires and ran into a pastry shop. He tried asking the man in the store about dulce de leche, but he didn’t understand Spanish. He found out quickly that it’s pronounced “dool say” and not “dool che.” The man in the shop chuckled and then gave him a large serving of it alongside a banana. “A banana!” Edamame thought. “This must truly be what I need!” With just one bite, Edamame was in love. It tasted good on almost every fruit, on bread, and even by itself. He was not able to control himself and spent days at a time eating it up. But, he realized that his stomach was grumbling all the time. It ached and felt kind of funny. He’d barely thought about the other members of his ninja clan. How had he let himself get so distracted? The meringues had never made him act this way. 

One morning he was not able to get out of bed as he found his tummy hurt too much. He slept for hours until he was eventually able to muster up enough energy to speak with the woman at the front desk of his hostel. “How does one make dulce de leche?” he asked her. She did not understand what he had said and so pulled out a container of dulce de leche. He shook his head and said, “Donde esta internet?” She pointed him in the direction of the nearest locutorio (or internet cafe) and gave him a few centavos. He looked up dulce de leche and discovered that “leche” did in fact mean milk, but “dulce de” most certainly did not mean free of. In fact, it roughly translated to milk candy, or milk-based syrup. His face dropped in horror as he realized how badly he had been tricked. How had he not noticed the fields filled with cows on his journey southward? One of Argentina’s biggest exports was beef! In fact, Argentines ate beef all the time. Finally the phrases carne asada and parilla made sense. A typical Argentine barbecue consists of eating as much of the cow as possible! How that man had fooled him! No longer could he be as careless in his journeys. His enemy had learned of his existence and now knew his location. He would have to work harder to conceal himself and would certainly need to pay more attention to dessert ingredients!