CH 445.2

Cristea’s cooking class.

“Can you do it like this… Sei?”

When I looked into Sei’s face, it was all red.

“What’s wrong with you, Sei? Your face is bright red…”

When I held Sei’s hand, it didn’t feel particularly hot, but… did he suddenly get a fever or something?

“I, it’s nothing! I, I just have to make lots of this stuff, right!?”

Sei promptly turned his head away and started making the katsuobushi wholeheartedly.

“Y, yeah… I will leave it to you then.”

I don’t think he’s ill after showing this much vigor, so he should be fine.

“Erm, be sure to switch with someone else if you get tired. Then, let’s get the toppings ready next…”

When I turned around to ask what kind of toppings would others like with their miso soup, Byakko-sama was grinning for some reason.

“Byakko-sama, would you like to say something?”

When Byakko-sama is grinning, you need to be careful.

While wary of what he was scheming, Byakko-sama’s grin deepened.

“Nyathing? Really? I just thought that spring was here.”

“Hah?”

“… Tora! Stop chatting pointlessly and help out!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

When Sei warned Byakko-sama and he moved next to his side to receive katsuobushi, Sei punched Byakko-sama to his flank. However, Byakko-sama started grinning about something again while working on the katsuobushi.

… What is this about?

“Now, now, Cristea-sama. Let’s leave the stupid tiger alone. And so, what do we do about the miso soup toppings?”

Suzaku-sama urged me because I was watching the two people’s act without understanding a single bit of it.

I was concerned about the warm gaze Suzaku-sama was looking at me with, though.

“Ah, yes. Let’s see…”

When it comes to miso soup, tofu is the answer, but…

Rock salt is the type of salt that is commonly used In the Doristan Kingdom, so I’m not sure we can get a similar bittern to that we would get by using sea salt.

Since I’m making tofu, I would like to do it properly with bittern.

Magnesium chloride contained within the bittern is apparently the component that hardens the tofu, but I don’t know how to get magnesium… I thought of using agar-agar or potato starch instead, but it just didn’t feel right.

It’s not like I can get involved in the sea salt production either.

I have heard that you can use chickpeas, vinegar, and lemon instead, so let’s give that a try next time…

Speaking of tofu, I’d like to use wakame.

I have to harvest more wakame when I go to sea again.

Let’s go with this and that today.

I decided on the toppings after checking the stock in my food storage.

“I’m thinking of using cabbage and onions today.”

I often use them as toppings for miso soup, as they are both sweet and delicious when cooked well.

Ahh, if only I had tofu, I could put in fried tofu too…!

“Miss Cristea, is this enough katsuobushi?”

Sei showed me a bowl full of katsuobushi.

Ohh.. that’s a fair amount of flakes.

“Thank you. Then, let’s finish with dashi. Ah… but before that.”

I swapped the soaked rice from the bowl into the earthenware pot and placed it on the magic stove.

You might think that soaking the rice in the pot from the beginning would be less of an effort, but if we did that, the water might have seeped into the earthenware pot and crack.

The rice starts at medium to high heat, and when the water starts boiling, you drop the heat to low and cook for about 15 more minutes. When the water is gone, let it steam for 10 to 15 minutes and it is ready to serve.

While the rice is cooking, we get back to the miso soup again.

“Next, put the kombu we left in the water on heat and pull it up before it starts to boil. Put the katsuobushi in here.”

When I put a handful of katsuobushi in the soup, Sei was shocked.

“Y, you put in so much?”

“Yeah, you have to put in at least this much… Now, when it comes to a boil, turn off the heat, and when the katsuobushi sink to the bottom of the pot, strain it through a dish towel to complete the dashi.”

Then, put the pot with the soup stock on the fire, add the onions, and when they are cooked and become transparent, add the cabbage. When the cabbage is cooked, dissolve the miso in it and turn off the heat before it boils. In the meantime, as the rice is cooking, lightly stir the rice with a spatula to help it steam.

“With this, miso soup and rice are completed. It’s simple, right?”

When I turned to Sei and others with a smile on my face, Sei looked at me with an honest face.

“The process is, from what I have seen simple, but… I understand now that it takes time and effort. So you have always been doing something like this for us… thank you.”

Sei bowed his head deeply.

“Eh! Ah, that, umm, it’s not that difficult once you get used to it, you know? I just want to eat delicious things anyway…”

While I was panicking, Sei burst into laughter.

“That’s right, Miss Cristea is a glutton just like Tora and others.”

“…! You are so rude, Sei!”

When I protested, everyone laughed unbearably.