Everyone’s Looking Forward to It
“This grain is what you call rice?” Maria asked.
I had brought the rice straight over to her.
“Yes. It’s been threshed, but we still need to polish it. It’s brown now, but once the husk is removed, it turns white.” I took a single grain and scraped it with my fingernail to show the white inside.
“So, you want to modify the wheat polisher to work for rice? That shouldn’t be difficult—I think I can have it done in a few days.”
“I’ll leave some rice here for you to use while making the adjustments. And even if the grains get chipped, they’re still edible, so don’t throw them away.”
“Understood. I’m also looking forward to the new curry dish, so I’ll get it done quickly.”
“How do you know I’ll use it for curry?”
“Everyone’s talking about it at the mansion. Wondering when they’ll get to try the new dish. Was I wrong?”
“Well, I am going to use it, but...”
“In that case, I’ll do my best!”
I wonder if the amount of rice I brought back will be enough for everyone at the mansion and the Knights Order...
The next day, Maria contacted me to say the rice polisher was finished.
That was fast! She didn’t even say anything, but her silence was powerful.
When I went to check, all the rice had already been turned into white rice. Maria is amazing.
I took the magic bag full of polished rice to the kitchen.
The head chef was already waiting with a smile.
Ugh, even here—more silent pressure...
We started by washing the white rice. It’s quicker to show than explain, so I did it myself.
“I see, you wash it until the cloudy water is gone.”
“That cloudy water actually has nutrients, so it’s apparently good to water vegetables or plants with it.”
I let the rice soak in a pot with 600g of rice and 800ml of water.
“Ah, I see. You soak it for about 30 minutes. In winter, you soak it longer. After soaking, cook it on high heat until it boils, then reduce to low heat for 15 minutes, then let it steam after turning off the heat,” the head chef said while taking notes on rice-straw paper.
While someone else handled the rice, I moved on to making the curry roux.
From this point, I left things to the head chef.
The meat was seasoned with salt and pepper, and the potatoes, carrots, and onions were cut.
He sautéed the onions until they were caramelized, then stir-fried the meat, potatoes, and carrots in a separate pot, added the caramelized onions, and kept cooking.
Then bouillon and water were added, and the mixture simmered while skimming the scum.
In another pan, butter and flour were lightly cooked over low heat until light brown, then curry powder was added.
We added the curry roux little by little into the main pot to dissolve, and also mixed in honey.
After tasting, the flavor was adjusted with salt; grated apple could also be added.
I left the rest to the head chef.
It looked like the rice was done too. There was a bit too much browning on the bottom, so I’ll have the cooks adjust it next time.
I took a spoonful of rice.
Ah, the taste of rice.
I plated the rice, poured the curry over it, and ate.
Delicious. I never thought I’d get to eat curry rice in this world—it makes me so happy.
Thank you, beastkin girl.
I don’t have much knowledge of cooking.
Even curry rice—I only ever made it with store-bought roux.
I’d never made it from scratch before.
That beastkin girl who was reincarnated into the same world as me had written curry roux and curry rice instructions on a note and tucked it into the rice bag.
She didn’t include the note in the letter on purpose.
It was inside the rice bag, and it said, “This rice is for seedlings—do not eat it.”
So I’d only now finally gotten to eat it.
I gave the curry rice to the head chef to try.
“It’s delicious. The rice doesn’t have much taste by itself, but it’s sticky and has a texture I’ve never experienced. But when eaten with the curry sauce, I could eat this endlessly,” the head chef said.
“If the kitchen staff eats it now, can you make it again later today for the family dinner?” I asked.
That got a huge cheer from the kitchen staff.
“You guys are being loud. Young master Reinhardt, thank you very much. We’ll make it even better and serve it for dinner. Also, may we serve it to the staff and the Knights Order as well?”
“We don’t have a lot of rice, so please limit it to one plate per person.”
“Understood. Thank you very much,” they said—followed by a loud cheer from the hallway.
Were they eavesdropping?
At dinner, when we served the curry rice, Father, who had just returned from the royal capital, went back for seconds—twice. My brothers also had a second helping. It was a huge hit.
“Hardt, I want to bring rice to the royal capital. Do we still have any?”
“Brother Chris, the staff and the Knights Order ate some today, so I don’t think we have any left.”
“Then should we use your blessing to speed things up again?”
“Brother Gerald, if we do that, we’ll have to let the beastkin try it too.”
“This could become popular, Hardt.”
“Father, first we need more people who can grow rice.”
“I want to eat it, but it sounds like more work...” Father slumped in defeat.
“Father, this is something worth expanding. Hardt, are there other ways to eat it?”
“Yes, Brother Chris. There are, but I don’t know how to cook them, so it’s difficult for me. Oh—but rice balls are easy.”
“Rice balls?”
“Yes, you sprinkle salt and shape the rice. You can also put different fillings inside and eat them.”
“I want to try those too. We’ll have to visit Helios Village again soon.”
Brother Chris, when did you become so obsessed with food?
First curry dishes, now rice dishes too… How unexpected.
What do you think about this chapter?
