275-247 Cleverly (6)

"Well, it's no use talking about it, let's just do it. If we cook the grains in order of size, the time will pass more smoothly.

"Yes. First, wash the rice and let it soak in water.

This is a high-class inn, and even this room, which is supposed to be for the attendants, has a simple kitchen ......, but it also has a hot water supply room.

I helped myself and washed the rice with a bowl.

Incidentally, the bowl I use is made by Toya.

The reason is simple.

You can't find a white iron bowl in a normal store. They are too expensive.

"It doesn't get clean very well, does it?

"Not as much as washed rice, but the commercial rice you buy doesn't have much bran left.

That's because the milling process is messy. If it smells like bran, it won't taste good, so please wash it clean.

Okay. ...... By the way, do you think it's 'purified'?

No. Food is almost impossible.

It's useful for a lot of things, but it works for things like soil on vegetables, but it can't do things like drain blood from fish or remove the skin from fruit. But it can't do something like "draining blood from fish" or "removing only the skin from fruit.

If it could do that, milling rice would be easy, but it is not that convenient.

However, it does work on "fruit juice and blood on clothes" and "your own blood on skin", which is strange to say the least. ...... It's magic.

I'm sure you've heard of it. It's a home-cooked meal.

That's one way to look at it.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that works for you. ...... No, I don't think you can get rice from a microwave oven.

If I'm going to eat at home, I want to cook at least some rice in a rice cooker.

Frozen rice can be rented.

Soak the rice for an hour or so and start cooking small grains of rice.

Of course, the small grains are the only ones among the four types.

The amount of water should be about the same. I think you can use the same amount of water. ......

As long as it's flooded, we don't need to worry too much about it, right?　I'll leave that to Natsuki's intuition.

It's a big responsibility. ...... If it fails, Haruka will be next, right?

...... Don't worry. I'm sure Natsuki can do it!

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's a little nervous about the whole thing.

I'll try my best, but ......

He started cooking somewhat anxiously, and about 30 minutes later.

As you would expect from Natsuki, the rice was cooked to perfection, with a distinctive aroma.

It was fluffy, glossy, and "slightly different in scale? The rice was fluffy and glossy, and looked just like freshly cooked white rice.

Natsuki put it in a slightly deeper bowl and put it on the table.

Natsuki placed it on the table.

"Let's try it then!

"Yeah. It looks good, doesn't it?

So, we tried it.

The taste was definitely white rice.

The taste is definitely white rice. It's not very sweet when you chew it, and it tastes a little like cheap rice, but it's edible.

However, each grain is large, so the chewiness varies a little, which is a little annoying, but ...... tolerable.

I can eat it without any problem. You can eat them without any problem. You can buy more if you want.

I agree with you. It's not the best, but it's better.

What do you think, Mary and Mitya?

It's a little strange, but it's ...... delicious, isn't it?

"It doesn't taste good!

It's a little strange, but it's delicious.

But Mitya's response was honest: "Oh, yes. It doesn't taste good on its own.

It's a staple food, like bread.

It makes sense. ......

Although she was convinced, Mitya's eyebrows were lowered and her ears and tail were lolling in disappointment.

Nao, Toya, it's almost lunchtime, so go to the square and buy something from the stalls. Something that will make a good side dish.

Raja.

We sat up at Haruka's words, and at the same time, Mitya quickly raised her hand.

I want to go too!

"Then take Mitya with you. What about Mary?

In the event that you've got any questions, you can contact us at our own web site.

I'm watching. You're going to use that for future meals, aren't you?

She seemed to be more interested in learning how to help with the cooking than with the stall.

It was clear that he wanted to go, but he still had four days left in this town.

I'm sure we can take him back.

Before I knew it, Mitya was waiting at the entrance of the room with his hand on the doorknob, stomping his feet.

Toya and I looked at each other and smiled, then we urged Mitya to leave the inn.

I'm sure you'll agree.

When we returned to the inn, the other small grain rice was already cooked, and the medium grain rice was just finishing cooking.

Welcome back. Did you find anything that looks good?

"We have rice. I bought some grilled chicken.

I bought some yakitori, which looked quite ordinary but was more expensive than oak meat.

I didn't find any sauce, so I used salt, but it would still be good with white rice.

In addition, I found tsukune, so I bought that as well.

It was not a round tsukune, but a tsukune wrapped around a slightly flat skewer, like gohei-mochi.

I hadn't seen minced meat in Laffan, but there are many different dishes in different regions.

We also had some powdered food. Rice alone is not enough.

Toya bought a roll of thin bread with vegetables and meat on it.

It's like a taco or a burrito or something.

To me, it's a meal-type crepe.

"Mee got this for me!

Mitya's is spare ribs.

Four big pieces of meat with big bones.

I don't know what kind of meat it is, but it smells good, and when Mitya stopped staring at the stall and didn't move, Toya stopped too, so I bought some.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good places to eat in this town. ......

I'm sure you'll agree that it's a great idea. The medium grain has just finished cooking.

The women quickly laid out the plates on the table and put the food we had bought on them.

As for the meat on the bone, they put one in front of Toya and the beasts, while the other four cut up the remaining one and put it on their plates.

The rest is rice. Let's divide that up, too.

The cooked rice was still hot, as if the whole pot had been put in a magic bag.

From the pot, the rice was placed on a plate in front of each of them, and the medium grain was placed next to it by Yuki.

Let's eat.

"'Itadakimasu'.

The lunch looks quite delicious, but I haven't forgotten my purpose.

I'll start with a small piece of rice.

...... This one is a little less sticky, isn't it?

I don't know if it's the variety of rice or the way it's cooked, but even though it's the same small grain, this one has less stickiness on the surface and is a bit chewy.

It's a little hard because the grains are large, but it's not bad.

I think it is suitable for mixed rice such as takikomi-gohan.

After resetting my mouth with yakitori and water, I moved on to the medium grain.

This one is ......, and the surface is clearly crumbling.

It's not like I failed to cook it, right?

When you put it in your mouth, the surface is still quite soft, a bit like melted porridge. But there's a little bit of chewiness in the center. .......

The taste itself is not bad, so it might not be bad if you turn it completely into porridge.

It is not suitable for daily consumption.

Or can it be improved by the way it is cooked?

I'll leave that to Haruka and the others.

Now for the meat on the bone and the burrito intermission.

After waiting for a while, the last of the large grains that were still cooking were handed out.

"This is ...... great again.

"It's so chunky. It's so chunky. It's completely integrated.

I had to use two spoons to put it on a plate, otherwise it would stick to the plate.

When you eat it, it's still chunky. ...... Or is it gooey?

If you think of it like this, it's not bad.

The rice cake is completely melted into mush.

If you want to eat it, you'll have to steam it. You'll have to steam it if you want to eat it.

Finally, we ate the rest of the food, and the tasting session and lunch was over.

It had been a long time since I had eaten rice, and I was quite happy, but the quantity was not enough.

And it wasn't enough to move me to tears.

Haruka and her friends usually make dishes that remind us of Japan.

If it weren't for the soy-sauce-like inspirational sauce, it might have been a different story. ......

In conclusion, only small grains should be eaten as rice.

That's what Haruka said as she relaxed in bed after cleaning up after the meal.

And no one seemed to disagree with that conclusion, and we all nodded in agreement.

Oh, but not Mary and Mitya.

They seemed to be from this side of the world, and they were of the opinion that they would eat it if it came out, but they didn't dare to eat it.

Or rather, they felt that they had no complaints as long as there was meat.

I think I'll keep the large ones for mochi.　I want to eat it at New Year's." "I agree.

"I agree. I agree, but you may be able to use the medium-sized ones as well, so let's buy them. I don't mind paying for it.

No, you can pay for it out of the common fund. ...... Nao, you bought this rice at the morning market, right?　It's not available anymore, is it?

There might be a stall that sells it, but that stall was gone.

The square where we had just bought our lunch was where the morning market was located.

Both sides of the street where the stalls used to be lined up are usually open for business during the day, so of course the stalls could not be left open.

Perhaps it was a business that was allowed only in the morning.

You can look for a store, but you don't have to do that. It's safer to buy the same variety.

"That's true. I don't want to have to mill the rice by hand again.

Well, let's get up early tomorrow and go shopping. I've heard that they have some unusual spices.

I'd like you to use those spices to make a curry if possible, but is that too much to ask?

At my reckless request, Haruka was silent for a while.

She put her hand on her chin as if she was a little troubled.

I've used ...... canned curry powder, but I've never made curry powder with spices. All I know is turmeric, chili, cardamom, and .......

There's also cumin and garam masala, right?

Yuki added to the list of spices that Haruka mentioned, but Natsuki interrupted her.

I'm not sure what to do with it.　It contains nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, and many other spices.

"Oh, really?　I didn't know that. ......

Chili powder is also a mixture of several spices. On the other hand, allspice is a single spice.

Haruka and Yuki nodded their heads at Natsuki's trivia, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

I had everything in my kitchen except for cardamom, but the problem is that it's in powder form, so you can't tell what it was originally.

Incidentally, I know only pepper and chili pepper.

Oh, turmeric is turmeric, right?　I know that.

"Turmeric! I've seen a store that sells only dried turmeric with a big sign saying "Turmeric!

I wonder if that was a viable business. ......?

Also, have you ever seen ...... cinnamon sticks?

Is it a thinly peeled tree, judging by its rolled shape?

Cloves are also known as dongji, so you know what I'm talking about.

That's a good point.

Haruka and Yuki laughed at Natsuki's words, but I asked them why ......?

The clove is shaped like a small nail and is used by sticking it into the food.

Seriously?

I didn't know there was such a messy (?) spice. I didn't know there was such a messy spice.

Nutmeg, cardamom, and cumin are seeds, so you can only judge them by smell. Since nutmeg, cardamom, and cumin are seeds, you can only judge them by their smell, although you may have to look for spices with similar smells and tastes.

"Well, there are many flavors of curry. If you don't limit yourself to "Where's the curry!", you can probably make something that looks like it.　In extreme cases, if it's hot and smells of spices, it's curry.

"It's a bit of an extreme theory, but I can't deny it.

I agree. I agree. I have deep pockets.

"What are the components of curry? When asked "What constitutes curry?", I think there is no other element than "spicy".

In Japan, we have an image of curry's aroma, but in India, each family blends their own spices, and there are many different smells, don't you think?

Isn't this a delicious story?

He seemed to have understood from our conversation that we were talking about food, and entered our conversation with interest.

It sounds like it might be good. It's a little spicy.

I can't have spicy food!

Mitya made a batten with his hand and shook his head.

Mitya, who sometimes doesn't seem like a child, has a child's taste buds, and she couldn't even eat the spicy fish that was served for dinner last night.

Don't worry, we have sweet curry too.

"Sweet?　I like sweet things.

Mitya smiles, but sweet curry is expensive.

Fruits are expensive.

But in our case, we can gather them ourselves.

Besides dungeons, it's almost dindle season.

"Well, why don't you just buy a bunch of different spices and make as many as you want?　If you make a lot of them, you'll get some good ones.

That's right. Fortunately, I can afford it.

The price of spices is not cheap, but it's not so expensive that it's equivalent to gold.

Even if I had to spend more than a gold coin for the ingredients for every meal, I wouldn't think it was a waste if I could eat curry, and I would even pay for it.

At least I think it's a more meaningful use of money than going to a brothel like Toya and melting dozens of gold coins in a few hours.