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# More Worried About Pine, Bamboo, Plum Than the Tonjiru Recipe | Is Plum Definitely at the Bottom and Pine at the Top? Definitely?
- URL: https://byshug.com/ep-008/
- Published: 2026-09-13T21:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-13T20:59:59.000Z
- Description: “Thin-sliced pork bits and enoki, enoki? Shimeji, right? And then carrots, long green onion, daikon, burdock. So, um, I’m making tonjiru with this, so, uh…
- Author: Shug
- Tags: VIII, #008

> **“Thin-sliced pork bits and enoki, enoki? Shimeji, right? And then carrots, long green onion, daikon, burdock. So, um, I’m making tonjiru with this, so, uh, tell me the recipe from step one.”**

Tonjiru is a Japanese miso soup made with pork and vegetables, often including root vegetables like daikon and burdock.

> Those ingredients can make layers of umami. Assuming gluten-free, here’s a foolproof method.

Enoki or shimeji—he doesn’t know either. The AI back then didn’t ask; it gave him a recipe.

> **“Like, people say small, medium, large, right? But, like, what’s it called, if you say small, medium, large, what order is that? I always, like, I’ve seen ones where the order’s reversed and stuff. So how’s it decided, which one goes where?”**

> **“Pine, bamboo, plum.”**

For readers outside Japan: shō-chiku-bai literally means pine, bamboo, and plum. In Japan, those three names are also commonly used for a three-tier ranking: pine is usually the top tier, bamboo the middle, and plum the basic tier. Depending on the context, the difference can mean price, quantity, ingredients, presentation, or quality. The plants themselves are traditional symbols of good fortune; the ranking is a separate Japanese convention.

> With pine, bamboo, and plum, you split the finished result into three tiers using the same ingredients. Plum is the quickest and most dependable. Bamboo and pine are above that.

The tonjiru was now three kinds. He had asked about the order. The AI back then made a menu.

*The rabbit sat beside the plum tonjiru. It says: quickest and most dependable.*

> **“No, I mean, uh, then pine and plum—plum is definitely lower and pine is higher? Definitely?”**

> Basically, pine is at the top and plum is at the bottom. It’s not about quality being better or worse; it’s about rank and formality.

> **“Uh, then are there times when plum’s on top? Like if it’s some other dish, or depending on the situation or something. No? So there are times where pine is at the bottom and plum’s at the top, is that what you mean?”**

> The order of the names is fixed. It doesn’t reverse.

“Definitely,” twice. “No,” once. The tonjiru ingredients haven’t made it past the burdock yet.

> **“Then, like, for example, with eel rice bowls, this business-livestock-times thing, what’s the standard that makes the ranks different?”**

> For eel rice bowls, it’s almost 100% the amount, size, and quality of the eel. It’s not about whether the seasoning is better or worse.

Business-livestock-times. The pine-bamboo-plum he himself said three utterances ago got converted into livestock. The tonjiru is still at step one.