158-142 Getemono (?) Let's eat

We're running low on fish and crab, aren't we?

It was at the breakfast table that Yuki mentioned this.

It was Toya, the most frequent eater among us, who reacted loudly.

"Really?　Isn't this a big deal?

"I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a big deal, but it's a problem.

Crabs are delicious in soups, miso soup stock, or just eaten on their own, and in a city where you can't buy fish, the landlocked salmon and char we catch are the only fish we can eat.

Since then, Tommy and I have gone fishing a few times, but since it was a day trip and more for leisure than food security, we didn't catch any crabs and the number of fish we caught was not very large.

I would like to keep a stock of fish for variety of meals.

It's been about six months since I went fishing. We ate the sponges in the winter, but didn't we leave the eels and the giant prickly fish behind?

Yes. Actually, I've already eaten the soupon.

Natsuki made a good job of it.

We didn't have enough of them to begin with, but the taste was so much better than we expected that our stock was already zero.

That's right. I had put it on hold because we didn't have soy sauce, and I forgot about it. You can make kabayaki now.

You can make kabayaki now." "Eel is always kabayaki!　...... I've never had any other dish.

After I came back from fishing, I had talked about eel for a while, but since I couldn't think of a dish that would be tasty without soy sauce, I had neglected it for a while.

There was a suggestion that we could try "Kabayaki" (broiled eel), but it was abandoned because we couldn't think of a dish that would be tasty without soy sauce and wasabi. But the idea was abandoned.

I don't think there is anything wrong with eating eel with salt, but Japanese people have too strong an image of eel as kabayaki.

Incidentally, catfish is usually cooked and served as fried fish. They have no peculiar taste and are delicious.

If you want to go fishing, you should taste eels first. If it's good, I'd like to catch some more. If it's not good, it's useless.

"But can you handle it?　But can you handle it? The eel and the giant salamander. The eel, not to mention the giant salamander, is too much for an amateur, right?

I think I can manage it. If we separate them by parts, we can find out if they are edible or not, right, Toya?

"...... maybe?

I'm not sure, but I'm sure.

In most cases, if it is cut neatly, the appraisal can determine whether it is edible or not, but this depends to some extent on the level of the appraisal, that is, on Toya's knowledge.

But that doesn't mean that you can't understand what you don't know.

Appraisal is a skill that is not as useful as "knowing 10 things by asking 1", but it is as useful as "knowing 10 things by asking 1 to 7".

Incidentally, task boars and the like are also displayed as "beasts (edible)" in [Help], but this seems to be limited to major items that even ordinary people know about.

For example, the Bind Viper.

If you check the Help menu, you will not see the word "edible.

This is probably because the meat of the bind viper is not major enough to be commonly sold in butcher shops.

The problem is with the giant salamander. The eel can be discarded except for the meat and liver.

"Let's eat the bones!　They can be made into rice crackers, right?

Yuki's eyes lit up with anticipation as she added, "I've never had it before," to which Natsuki chuckled and nodded.

I've never had it before. I'll add the bones, too.

I'm not sure what to do. It's free money, so it's okay if you don't want to.

That's right. Nao and Toya are ...... waiting for a moment. Nao and Toya will be ...... waiting for a bit. We'll call them in to taste ...... the poison.

As the three of them walked into the kitchen, Toya and I looked at each other.

I'm not sure about the eel, but the big salamander. I'm worried.

I'm sure it's tasty if cooked properly, as long as the nobles want it for a few dozen gold coins.

I'm not sure what to expect.

I'm sure you'll be able to understand why I'm so excited about this.

I trained in magic while reading a grimoire, and Toya trained in muscle training - or rather, muscle strengthening - which can be done without slamming around.

It may seem strange that there is nothing else to do in one's free time but train, but it can't be helped since there is no entertainment that can be done easily.

I have never seen a comic book, let alone an entertaining novel, and there are no board games or card games on sale.

Now that I have more money in my life, I can make my own. .......

I've never seen the kind of hard paper used for card games, and if I were to use it, would it be a wooden board?　I've never seen hard paper like that used in card games.

If it's something you can make easily by yourself, it might be something like ...... mahjong.　I can make dice with earth magic, so it would be easy for me to make tiles. It's a bit of a hassle, though, because of the number of tiles.

Hmm, this might be a good idea. --If we can get enough players. Toya can play, but have Haruka and the others ever played mahjong before?

As I was continuing my training, thinking about such trivial things, Natsuki called out to me.

"Both of you, please come here for a moment.

"Whoa!　Did you do it?

Toya hurried to the kitchen, followed by me, probably feeling anxious but also happy to be eating eel.

As I entered the kitchen, my nostrils were softly tickled by the delicious aroma of burning soy sauce.

A small plate with a piece of broiled eel on it was presented to Toya and me.

First the eel. Here you go.

"Bon appétit!

I'm not worried about this one, so I'll just take a bite.

--Yeah. It's good. Very good.

The meat is fatty but not greasy, soft and tender. And the sweet and spicy sauce goes well with it. I wouldn't have known it wasn't soy sauce if you hadn't told me.

"This is amazing!　I want it on rice!

"I agree. I want to go on a journey to find rice.

When I can eat Japanese dishes, I want to eat rice.

You may want to seriously look for it.

Next is the big salamander, but I haven't cooked this one yet. Check it out, Toya.

Oh.

On the table, there was a large Sansho fish, neatly arranged. They are so neatly lined up that it's a little surreal.

Looking at them, Toya pointed out, "This one is edible, this one is not," but there were almost no parts that were not edible.

It would be better if the criteria for edible were not "it won't kill you if you eat it" but "it tastes good". .......

"But you did a good job on it, didn't you?

In fact, it wasn't too hard to handle the eel.　I don't know if it was the cooking skill or the dismantling skill that did it.

I'm not sure if it's because of my cooking skill or my dismantling skill, but I'm pretty sure it's because of my cooking and dismantling skills.

It's a lot smaller than the big ones you usually kill, but I guess you could call this dismantling.

In the event that you have any kind of questions regarding where and how to use the internet, you can call us at the web site.

It's a good idea to take a look at the actual information on the web.

My concern was also felt by Natsuki.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that.

I've never had a big salamander dish, so ...... let's give it a try.

"Well, yes. Let's simply sauté it and taste it.

Natsuki cut up the parts of the giant sansho fish little by little, and Yuki and Haruka sauteed them.

If you only see Yuki and Haruka cooking, it's a normal dish, but Natsuki's dismantling process next to them makes you lose your appetite.

"Here you go.

"The only seasoning is simple salt!　Savor the taste of the ingredients.

In the event that you're in the market for a brand-new pair of shoes, you're going to want to take a look at this kind of shoes.

The ...... smell is not bad.

Yeah, it's not fishy or anything like that.

It looks fine.

Yeah. It's whitish meat.

...... After you, Toya?

No, no, no, Nao. Don't tell me you can't eat Haruka and Yuki's food?

I'm not going to say that I can't eat .......

But it takes a lot of courage to see them in their original form.

Then I'll have this one, and you can have that one.

Oh!

I took the part of the body that Haruka cooked and pushed the part of the organs that Yuki cooked to Toya.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I think it will be less damaging if it does happen.

--Well, there are many kinds of organs, so we'll probably end up eating them.

I stabbed the meat with my fork and threw it into my mouth.

"...... Oh!

Something unexpected.

I was expecting it to have a light taste like chicken meat, but it was much juicier and tastier.

The meat is not overflowing with juices, but every time you bite into it, the juices seep out without being greasy, and it's delicious.

In addition, the faint smell of the meat is a nice accent. It's not the sansho scent that I imagined from the name ......, but it's also the smell of meat in a way.　But it's good. If it is too strong, it will be a disadvantage, but if it is too slight, it will be an advantage.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that works for you.

You'll be able to find a lot more than just a few of them.

I'm sure you'll agree.

"......?　I'm not sure what to say.

He groaned and twisted his neck.

From the look on his face, it doesn't seem to be bad. .......

What do you think?

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

I'm not sure what to say.　No, it's good if you say it's good. It's like eating fish liver or something like that. But it's not something you eat a lot of, is it?

"Motsu is a kind of delicacy.

"Motsu is a kind of delicacy," he said, "like "karasumi," "salted squid," and "konowata.

All of them are eaten only a little.

Foie gras is sometimes eaten as a steak, but it is too fatty to be eaten with gusto.

Whether it tastes good depends on how you cook it, doesn't it?

"I see.

I see." "The other parts are similar to .......

Encouraged by Toya, I tried some of the other motsu, but it wasn't all that great.

At the very least, a few dozen gold coins for this is a bit excessive.

"Well, the price of ...... food, or rather the price of high quality food, is different from the taste. Just because something is rare doesn't mean the price is proportional to the taste, even in Japan.

Yuki chuckles at my comment and says something like that.

To some extent, good food is expensive, but expensive does not necessarily mean good.

And there are things that taste good even if they are cheap.

If you ask me which is better, caviar or horse mackerel tuna, I'll say the latter.

Of course, if the horse mackerel is fresh and fatty, but honestly, if it is not rare, I think it is more valuable than tuna. For my taste.

Natsuki, who must have eaten a lot of good food, smiles at my words.

Foie gras and truffles are delicious, but they're not something you want to eat every day. They are only delicious when eaten only once in a while. I agree with Nao-kun when it comes to daily meals.

So you think it's better to sell the giant salamander than to eat it?

I think so.　I think so. - I think it's okay to eat it once in a while.

I don't know if I agree with that.　Unless there's a really good way to eat it.

If there's no other good food, or if there's something to sell, it's a shame to eat it ourselves.

At least from my point of view, it was not the kind of food I would want to pay tens of gold coins to eat.

"I see. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I've been able to help you out with this. ...... I'll taste it and figure out how to cook it, so please wait a bit.

We waited again.

We waited again for a while.

What Natsuki and his friends made was a hot pot.

They used a pot for sponges that they had obtained before, and made it look like a sponges pot.

We don't think we'll be eating it in the future, so we made it light to bring out the flavor. If you season it too strongly, you won't even be able to tell if it's a giant salamander or not.

I think that's a good idea. ...... I'll take it.

There were two pieces of what looked like large Sansho fish legs sticking out of the pot, but for those of us who had experienced the suppon hot pot, that was no problem.

We picked one up and bit into it.

"...... Oh, it's pretty good.

"The broth is much better than I expected. I wonder if the spuds would be better?

Motsu is good, too.

But it doesn't taste like a hot pot made with dozens of gold coins and hundreds of thousands of yen.

No, what kind of taste is a hot pot worth hundreds of thousands of yen? You can eat fugu crap if you pay 10,000 yen.

I've never heard of a nabe dish costing hundreds of thousands of yen in Japan, unless you put in some high quality ingredients for nothing.

I've never heard of a hot pot dish costing hundreds of thousands of yen in Japan. Are you going to spit out rays of light from your mouth?

It's a complete aristocrat's indulgence. ...... Hmm, isn't it all about vanity?

I'm sure you're right, it's just like Yuki says, 'I'm awesome for being able to get such a rare ingredient'.

Even as she said this, Haruka and the others' cooking skills were not undeserved, and the contents of the pot were dwindling as fast as they could.

And after eating, the conclusion was: .......

Catch as many eels as you can!

Sell the giant salamander!

Sell the giant salamander!

Suppon is delicious!

It's a pity there's no rice, but kabayaki is delicious, isn't it?