Let’s cook!
The last day of Belle and Young Master Eric’s visit at the Lampail domain.
After morning tea time, I brought Belle along to the kitchen.
Bang! “Good morniiiiing!!”
“““Uwah!!”””
Inside the kitchen were everyone except Anny.
“Joan, this isn’t funny, you know!”
“That kind of entrance… it’s been a while though.”
“… It’s bad for my heart.”
From the top, that was Ben, Arthur, and Mr. Ken.
“Ahaha, sorry, sorry.”
“So, what’s the reason you came here so early in the morning? Is it this?”
Mr. Ken shifted his gaze to the counter, where there were a lot of items wrapped in oil paper.
“They just got delivered a little while ago.”
“What is this? The dismantler only said it was something Joan requested, then staggered off home.”
“Eh? Why was he staggering?”
“Ah, apparently he was up all night.”
“For real!?”
Well, I did think butchering a giant snake of that size would be tough… but to stay up all night doing it…
I really should bring him some food later, maybe?
“So, what is this thing?”
“Yesterday, along with Belle and Pearl, we hunted a Giant Snake as a bonus.”
“““Whaaaat!?”””
“As a bonus, what do you mean?”
“Uh, as a bonus to the Big Boar subjugation request? Right, Belle?”
Belle nodded vigorously.
“No no no, a Giant Snake isn’t something you just casually hunt on the side!!”
“A Giant Snake is a C-Rank monster, you know?”
“Yup. That’s right.”
“‘That’s right,’ you say… Whatever. So? What do you plan on doing with this?”
“Eh? What do you mean, what do I plan? Of course we’ll eat it!! I live by the motto: lives we take must be enjoyed deliciously until the very end!!”
I clenched my fist tightly as I declared it.
“What kind of declaration is that!!”
“““…….”””
“““““Pfft—ahahahaha!”””””
Ben retorted at Joan’s absurd declaration, while the other three just looked dumbfounded. But in the end, everyone burst into laughter.
“It really is livelier whenever Joan is around the mansion.”
“Totally.”
Hearing things like that… really makes me happy.
“Alright, let’s cook up the Giant Snake!”
““““Ohhh!!””””
“Then, Ben, can you cook the rice? Arthur, you handle the soup. Mr. Ken, make the sauce for kabayaki. Belle and I will skewer the meat.”
“W-wait a sec.”
“What’s wrong, Mr. Ken?”
“What’s wrong, you say? First of all, what exactly are we making?”
“Ah, I didn’t say yet. As you probably guessed, Giant Snake kabayaki bowls and soup.”
“No way, I definitely didn’t guess that.”
“Ohh! Mr. Ken, your comebacks are getting good~”
“Well, if I hang around you, it just comes naturally… Wait, that’s not the point! What’s kabayaki?”
“Um, you grill it first, then brush sauce on it and grill it again. Then you plop it on top of rice with a thud, and eat it all in one go.”
““““Hee~””””
“Yes yes.”
“Yes, Arthur?”
“What’s this soup?”
“Ah, you haven’t made it before? It’s a soy-sauce-flavored broth. For ingredients, I’m thinking wakame seaweed and egg.”
“Wakame… that’s seaweed, right?”
“Yup, exactly.”
“Then Arthur, you prep the katsuobushi for the soup. Mr. Ken, you make the kabayaki sauce. Just simmer soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin until it thickens.”
“Got it. By the way, this mirin seasoning sure is handy.”
“Yeah, we really owe Taiki-san for that. It’s indispensable for Japanese cooking.”
The mirin was something Taiki-san had brought along with sake.
“Joan? What’s ‘Japanese cooking’?”
“Um, food from my previous life. But in this world, it would probably be considered cuisine from the eastern countries.”
“Hee~ I can’t wait to try it.”
“Alright, let’s start skewering together. Mr. Ken, when you’re done with the sauce, help out over here too. Arthur, once you’ve got the broth from the katsuobushi, let me know.”
““Got it.””
“Alright then, Belle, let’s start.”
“U-uhm, this is my first time cooking… will I be okay?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Everyone has a first time.”
“R-right. You’re right. I-I’ll do my best.”
“Yup. Okay, you stick the skewers through the Giant Snake meat like this… poke it in like this…”
“Like this?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it. You’re good at this. See, you did it perfectly. Let’s keep going just like that.”
“Okay!”
After that, once the other three had their hands free, they all joined in the skewering, and after about one koku of work, they had skewered all of the Giant Snake meat.
“Ughhh, I’m wiped out.”
“Yeah, my arms are dead.”
Ben and Arthur slumped over the counter.
“Ahahaha, good work~ Here, have some. Mr. Ken, Belle, you too.”
“““Thanks.””” “Thank you.”
I handed out Russian tea—black tea with strawberry jam mixed in, taken from my storage.
Real Russian tea is apparently jam thinned with vodka, licked while drinking strong black tea, but…
“Haa~ this sweetness really takes away the fatigue.”
“Strawberry jam?”
“Correct, Mr. Ken. I just thought this would be nice once in a while.”
“Joan, this is delicious. Can I copy it?”
“Of course! Please do!”
“So, what’s the next step?”
“Uh, steam it, then charcoal-grill it. When it gets some charring, brush on the sauce and grill again. When it looks just right, bring out the rice! Then plop it on top.”
“And then you eat it all in one go, right?”
“Exactly!”
“Alright, I’ll ask Old Tom to get the charcoal fire ready.”
“Thanks, Ben.”
“Okay then, let’s steam them!”
“““Ohhh!!”””
After that, they spent about another koku steaming and transferring everything into Joan’s storage, finally finishing all the Giant Snake meat.
“Alright! All steamed, rice cooked, sauce ready. Let’s get grilling on the charcoal!”
“Wait, Joan, hold up.”
“Hm? What is it, Arthur?”
“The soup isn’t done yet, is it?”
“Ah—forgot about that. Um, adjust the broth with soy sauce and mirin, add the wakame, then pour in beaten egg… and done.”
““““Hee~””””
“Here, taste test.”
Sip. “““Delicious!!””” “So good.”
“Yeah, it turned out well. Since the rice has sauce on it, this level of flavor works perfectly.”
“This soup—what other ingredients would go well?” “Hmm, maybe clams. The flavor seeps out and makes it tasty.”
“Clams… wouldn’t that make it salty?”
“Ah, if it’s salty it’s called shiojiru. If it’s soy-sauce-based, it’s called osuimono. The name changes.”
“I seeee.”
If it were unagi-don, red miso with shijimi clams would also be delicious…
But since we don’t have miso for that, soup will do for now, right?
What do you think about this chapter?
