Let’s Hope
Mr. Bogarts came back from the back room carrying two small bags and some dishes, and he poured the white beans and red beans onto the plates for me to see.
I had been hoping the red beans might be azuki, but unfortunately, they weren’t.
Both the red beans and the white beans looked like the larger beans used for simmered beans in my previous life.
“What kind of dishes are these beans used for?” I asked Mr. Bogarts.
“They’re preserved for winter use. We mash them up and use them in potages or soups.”
“You don’t simmer them sweet?”
“No, we don’t. Do you mean to say there’s a way of eating beans sweetened?” he asked in return.
“No, I just thought I’d read in a book somewhere about beans being eaten sweetened, so I was curious.”
“I see. If there were a new way to prepare them, they’d probably sell better. Unfortunately, their uses are limited.”
“For now, I’d like one large bag each of white beans and red beans to take home. Could you prepare them?”
“If it’s for the Westland house, perhaps you’d prefer higher-quality stock?”
“I want them for trial cooking, so please.”
“Understood. I’ll have them ready, please wait a moment,” he said, heading into the back.
“Hardt, when you say trial cooking, what are you planning to make?”
“I’m not sure if it’ll even work, but I thought I’d try once.”
“If it works, let me taste it! That curry soup and skewered meat were so good, I’m really curious.”
“Where did you have that? Curry powder isn’t being distributed in the domain yet, right?”
“In Helios Village. I went with my father, and Mr. Saphid and the others served it. They said it was a dish you taught them. They told me other territories have started making it too, so eventually, it’ll spread here.”
“Right. Then if I succeed, you can try it and give me your thoughts.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Meyer received the large bags of beans from Mr. Bogarts and paid him. Maybe we should just head back for today.
---
The next day, when I went to the kitchen, the head chef had already boiled the beans.
That was quick!
“Head chef, I didn’t say anything yesterday—how did you know to boil them?”
“When the knights carried in the big bags of beans, I asked. I heard you had asked at the shop whether they could be eaten sweet. So I thought I’d prepare them in advance.”
He’d washed them yesterday and soaked them overnight, then started boiling them this morning.
“They should both be soft enough soon. What should I do next?”
I asked whether it was better to mash them first and then add sugar, or to add sugar first and then mash. He said it would be better to mash first, so I asked him to do that.
After mashing, I asked him to strain them to remove the skins, then mix in the sugar. Since I had no idea about the proper ratio, I left that up to the chef.
Separately, I asked him to take a portion of the red beans and simmer them directly with sugar. Once everything was ready, he said he’d call me.
Two hours later, I was summoned to the kitchen.
“Young Master Reinhardt, here are the red beans and white beans, strained and sweetened,” he said, presenting two small dishes.
I tried a spoonful of each.
This is practically koshian (smooth red bean paste), isn’t it?
Personally, I prefer tsubuan (chunky paste), but since we don’t have azuki beans, this will do. Yes, this is definitely koshian.
“And the other preparation I asked for?”
“It’s ready. Here it is.”
It looked like sweet simmered red beans. I ate one. Sweet and delicious.
This is fine as simmered beans.
“Did it fail? I thought I’d done a good job…” the chef asked nervously, since I hadn’t said anything.
“No, not at all. It’s better than I expected. I was just thinking about how to explain the next step.”
“I see, that’s a relief. Still, the idea of sweetening beans was so surprising to me. Even though they’re already delicious, you say this isn’t the finished product?”
“For one, I’d like you to make some small pancakes—about the size of a beer mug’s rim, two of them. Since we have both red and white paste, make four pancakes total.
As for the bread, knead the white bean paste into the dough, then add these simmered red beans and bake it. Try not to crush the beans too much.”
“What will the pancakes be used for? And… are we sweetening bread too?”
“We’ll sandwich the bean paste between the pancakes. Since the paste is sweet, you can make the pancakes less sweet. As for the bread, yes, it’ll be more like a sweet bread.”
In my previous life, that would be dorayaki and mame-pan.
With my explanation, we should be able to create imitations at least. Now I’ll just have to hope the chefs refine them into something close to the real taste.
What do you think about this chapter?
