The chapter opens with a description of a sweet potato dish that is being prepared at home. The narrator laments that the dish is too rich for the girl, who has been working hard to prepare it. The girl is worried that she will get fat when she eats too much of the dish, but the narrator assures her that it is not the case. He goes on to explain that when he goes back to his parents' house, they have many different dishes for the table. He says that he plans to play soccer when he gets to elementary school, and sol will not need to play ballet when he reaches the age of adulthood. He adds that he will eat a vegetable side to each of his meals. He explains that he can eat the vegetable because he is super strong when he eats it, and that he has not eaten it in a while. He tells the girl that he is going to make a vegetable dish for each meal, and they begin to work on it. He asks the girl if she will take over the slice of burdock root that he cut the day before. She says she will, and he tells her to put the side she cut down to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. He then says that they will fry the root and then steam it. They add the mushroom dish, which is the same as the last time they made the dish. They then add the water mirin and soy sauce, and steam the mushroom. They eat the mushroom with the rice, and the narrator says that it was "hummy" .