274-246 Cleverly (5)

So you bought this rice?　You said you bought it.

Oh. Looks like rice, right? Except for the ...... size.

I hold four different kinds of rice in my palm and insist to Haruka, who looks at me skeptically.

I've never seen rice like this before. I've never seen rice like this before, and since wheatgrass and dandelion are also in the grass family, it's not surprising that some of them are larger than others. ......

I've never seen it before.　I've never seen that before.

We used to drink barley tea with wheatgrass in it, but the packets were very thin. ...... Is it big?

Yeah. Yes, it's quite large. Jujudama, as the name suggests, is as big as a bead. Not many people eat ...... them, though.

I've only heard of it by name, but I've heard that it's used for stringing beads and making charms.

I've only heard of it.

As expected of a young lady from an old family, the games are old-fashioned.

"But the way the husks are attached is rice, isn't it? It's a little different from wheat, isn't it?　The inside looks like ...... rice. But the large grains are whitish, so they look like rice cakes.

"...... Oh, that's what it looks like. If you want to make it into a rice cake, it doesn't matter if the grains are large.

I didn't think of it when I saw it earlier, but the white grains certainly look like mochi rice.

No, large grains would be difficult to soak and steam. ...... Would it be okay if I crushed them?

The medium grain is a little different. ......

After carefully peeling off the husk and scraping off the bran, Haruka held the white rice up to the light and said something like that.

I peeked at it from her shoulder and saw the white part in the translucence.

Haruka, please let me see it too. ...... This looks a bit like sakamai, doesn't it?

"Sake rice is the rice used to make sake, right?　Smaller grains are normal, so as it gets bigger, does it turn white from the center?

No, it's a different variety, so it doesn't matter, does it?

"No, it's a different variety, so it doesn't matter, does it?" Yuki's prediction was easily dismissed by Toya, who shook his head.

But it's not just that the harvest time is different, these are clearly different varieties of rice.

I don't know," he said, "is it evolution or a mutation process?　I don't know.

I don't know. It's possible that the original variety was large, and then dwarfed to produce a smaller variety.

Seeing our relatively serious discussion, Mary nodded her head curiously.

Is that the rice you're talking about?　Is that the rice?　I've never seen it before, is it good?

"Is it good?

"Is it good?

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not, but it's a good thing.

I think it's a good idea.

"What's ......?

Mitya is still greedy about food.

But even if we think it's good, whether it's good for Mitya and Mary's taste is another matter.

It seems that some people can't stand the smell of rice.

Well, that's why I wanted to buy more rice if it's good, but after thinking about it, we can't eat it like this.

"We don't have a huller or a miller. Do you want to make ......?

Haruka suggested with a very subtle expression.

I'm not sure what to do with it.　You can make some of the parts at home. ...... How does it work in the first place?

"In the old days, they used a wooden mortar.

Oh, I've seen that on TV.

I've seen that on TV. I've seen that on TV.

But I don't think we can make a wooden mortar here.

I'm sure Rafsan will be able to make one for you in no time if you ask him.

No, if we were to make one, it would be a rubber roller type. No, if we were to make one, it would be the rubber roller type, because it would be better to be able to adjust it, considering the difference in the size of these grains.

"Rubber rollers ...... rubbing together to remove the skin. Pretty simple, huh?

It seems to be a mechanism where the rice is passed between rubber rollers rotating at different speeds and the skin is peeled off by friction.

You can make the difference in rotation speed by adjusting the gears, and it seems to be structurally sound, so it would be relatively easy to make a hand-cranked rice huller. ......

The question is what to do now. Is it ...... too hard to peel them by hand?

Oh, come on, how hard can it be?

If you're trying to get enough to taste ...... or even cook with, it's going to be very difficult, even if you're just trying to peel a grain or two.

I can manage to peel large and medium-sized grains, but small grains are very hard on my mind.

Besides, after removing the husk, the bran must also be removed.

I wonder if I have to put them in a proper bowl and poke them with a stick.

Either way, it sounds like a lot of work.

If you want, Me and I can do it.　That kind of work is for kids.

Yeah. Good luck!

No, it's .......

Mitya looked a little excited, probably because it was food.

I'm not sure if it's because it's food or because she's a little overzealous.

"Well, you know. "Well, you know. One serving of each kind can be managed by seven people. Yeah.

So I suggested, and Haruka nodded her head in agreement.

That's right. If it's a large grain, ...... 300 grains should be enough. And if you double it up, that's a total of three thousand three hundred grains?　Shall we stop at ......?

There are two kinds of small grains and one kind of medium and large grains.

I'm not sure if she got tired of actually doing the calculations, but Haruka suddenly turned her hand away.

No, if there are seven of us, that's about 500 grains per person. If we peel each grain in 10 seconds, that's an hour and a half. Do you want to stop?

I'm getting sick of it too.

It's not that expensive, and even if it tastes bad, it might be better to buy a lot of it and think about it when we get back to Laffan.

No, no, no, let's at least try that!　No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

"......, is that it?

That's it, that's it!　These things are no big deal when you try them!

Well, ...... if Yuki says so.

So, we peeled four kinds of rice, each about a cupful, and kept on peeling.

In the end, we finished the process in just over an hour, with breakfast in between.

It was easier than I thought.

"That was easier than I thought, huh?

"Yes, it was. The skin is easier to peel off than I thought. ......

If you hold it between your hands and rub it, it will come off to a certain extent, right?

Yes. After Yuki realized this in the middle of the process, the efficiency of the work increased slightly, and in the end we were able to peel about two servings of each kind.

Even so, it took less time than we had expected.

The next step is to remove the bran from the polished rice ....... Can I use a colander for this?

"A colander?　Don't you mean poke it with a stick?

You can poke the rice with a stick, but it takes a long time and the grains are too big to be broken. You can put the rice in a metal colander and rub it against a wire mesh. ...... something?

I don't really know what's better, so I accept Natsuki's suggestion and start polishing the rice.

Since there were only two colanders, we took turns to grind the rice.

It was a little difficult because the rice would break if we put too much pressure on it, but we could see the bran falling down, so I guess we were going in the right direction.

It took me about two hours.

It took a lot of time.

But it was worth the effort, and we succeeded in getting white rice.

...... The grains are bigger than the white rice I know, and it's covered in a lot of rice bran.

It's been a long road. ......

It's not something you do by hand. I have a lot of respect for the old timers. ......

Removing the chaff is probably not a manual process, but the amount of labor required is probably quite large.

To be honest, I wonder if the energy required to eat and the energy gained from eating are worth it.

Our ancestors lived by it, so I guess it's not a problem. .......

But you can finally eat it!

"Oh, no, it needs to be flooded, okay?

Natsuki threw cold water on Toya's happy face, and Toya's shoulders slumped.

Normal rice doesn't take that long to soak, but this size is ......

Really? ......

Oh, the flooding. Yeah, I know.

"You can cook rice in less time with this! Most of the convenience goods that say "This will help you cook rice in a short time!" usually say "Soak the rice for a few minutes before cooking.

Of course, that time is not included in the rice cooking time written on the package.

It also says, "Let the rice steam for a few minutes.

That's not a short time at all! This is not a short time at all!

If that's the case, I'll cook it in a regular rice cooker!

If you have a pressure cooker, it might be a little better, but if you want to cook it in a regular pot, you need to soak it. How long would it take?

The size of the pot is totally different. If we assume that water is absorbed at the same rate, is it proportional to the distance to the center of the pot?　Hmm, at least four or five times?

With soybeans, we let them soak overnight. ......

I don't think they need as much as soybeans. ...... Do you soak the large ones for about three hours?

Yuki had a valid point, but it also didn't help that Toya screamed when she heard it.

"Long!　Haruka, can't you do flooding magic?

There's no way you can do that out of the blue. You can't do that just because you're told to. I'm not saying you can't make .......

Past wizards, don't slack off!

I'm not saying I can't make it.　I'm not saying I can't cook.

I'm sure you can think of a lot of magic that would be handy to have, but those are the so-called "menial work" magic.

People who do such work cannot use magic, and if they can use magic, they can get another job.

In other words, there is no one to study such magic.

There may have been some people who developed it as a hobby, but it never became a major item, and it's not in our grimoires.

If there was an internet connection, the information could have been shared on the "I developed a useful magic wiki", but unfortunately there is no such convenient way to share information.