CH70 Cooking
“I’m a little hungry but maybe we can get something to eat after checking the dungeon out.” Alex’s stomach rumbled.
While Alex daydreamed of food, the portal rippled and solidified. Stepping through the rift, Alex found herself in what appeared to be a kitchen. It was more like a culinary school facility, complete with sinks, wood-fired ovens, shelves of spices, and pantries brimming with supplies. In the center of the room, a prominent sign with a large red button read: 'Culinary cookoff contest. Press to start.'
Nope.
Alex turned around and headed right back out of the portal.
“That was quick.” Fufi looked surprised to see Alex come right back out of the rift.
Alex slumped. “It is a cooking dungeon.”
“Like all the monsters are chefs?” Fufi sounded intrigued.
“Maybe, I didn’t press the button to start. I guess this is what I get when I enter a dungeon hungry.” Alex sighed.
“A cooking contest sounds fun. What’s the hold up? You could do the dungeon and have a snack at the same time,” Fufi voiced her excitement.
“I won't repeat my doll tower defense dungeon mistake. To gain every advantage, I'll dress for the occasion before I start.” Alex glared at the bird.
“So we should head back to the warehouse and work on a new outfit?” Fufi gushed.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to work on an empty stomach. Let's see if we can get some food and cooking practice at the same time.” Alex walked up the stairs from the basement onto the main floor of the adventurer’s guild.
The population was becoming increasingly cute. The common area was filled with people adorned with ribbons and frilly headbands. The unwashed, hard-looking, pelt-wearing barbarians were replaced by well-dressed, cleanly washed individuals. A leaf-haired nymph, dressed in a forest-green dress suit, sat at the counter with a flower in her hair, likely growing directly from her head. Even those who still wore pelts did so with style.
This transformation was probably influenced by better hygiene, access to improved clothing, and a more relaxed social environment. The people seemed to relish their newfound cuteness, meticulously tending to their appearance. The nymph, with her flowing hair and elegant clothing, was a prime example of this trend.
Alex boggled, not really able to reconcile the group a couple months ago that called themselves stone ax for good reason. “Hello, do you mind if I use the kitchen for a bit? I need to practice cooking for a dungeon run.” The magical girl addressed the nymph at the counter.
“Of course, go right ahead. But anything you cook you have to share.” The nymph smiled happily. “That’s the one rule of the kitchen.”
Returning to the guild's spacious kitchen, Alex was trailed by a pink flamingo.
She quickly located an unoccupied cooking station. Gathering firewood, she placed it in the wrought iron stove. With a metal scoop and bucket, she added coals to the woodpile to ignite the fire. The fire crackled and popped to life. Finally, she could prepare something to eat.
“What are you cooking?” Fufi asked.
Alex checked the pantry, considering the options. “There is some olive oil here, some potatoes and veggies. Maybe we could do a veggie stir fry?”
Fufi poked her head around Alex to peek into the pantry. “Look, they even have seasonings here.”
Alex picked out some peppers. “Growing stuff is probably one of the best strengths the nymphs have.”
Boosted by her system-granted cooking skill, Alex swiftly chopped potatoes. She poured oil into a pan, then added the potato pieces to the heating oil. Once the potatoes were nicely browned, she incorporated carrots and broccoli. Alex then poured water over the vegetables, covered the pan briefly, and let it steam.
Fufi appeared somewhat flustered while observing Alex's cooking.
“What is it?” Alex pointed a spatula at the bird. “I know you want to say something.”
“Well, it looks good. As good as anything you’ve cooked so far but I can’t help but think that it is missing the most important thing for a magical girl.” The flamingo stomped her webbed foot.
Alex waved the cooking utensil around. “Cuteness. You are going to say the dish doesn’t look cute enough aren't you?”
Fufu nodded. “It’s true though! Cuteness is power for a magical girl. A good dish someone will look at and smile.”
Alex took the pan off the stove and plated the dish on a large wooden serving bowl. “Maybe I should try again and see if there is any merit in making food look cute.” The magical girl poked a potato wedge with a toothpick and ate it. “It tastes good but like you said, the only thing better than what we made for the nymphs and the barbarians in the woods when we were meeting is that it is seasoned better.”
Fufi used her beak to grab a bite as well. “It is good but I think you can take it to the next level.”
A nymph came by and looked at the bowl of food that was sitting there. “Oh, this looks nice, do you want to share it?”
“Yeah, I think I need to start over but if anyone wants to try this one that’s fine.” Alex gestured to the bowl. The nymph picked it up and took it out of the kitchen, apparently to serve to some random person in the dining area.
After cleaning off the pan, Alex prepared to try again. “I can try to make something that I’ve seen made but haven’t actually done before.”
“What’s that?” Fufi asked.
“Raw fish, rice, seaweed—wait I don’t think we have that, maybe scrambled eggs for the outside? Hmm, I’ll need a sharp knife too. And a wooden thatched mat thing to wrap the sticky rice.” Alex squinted at the stuff in the cupboard. “I think carrots and cucumbers, some pickled ginger. Wait, do we have picklings in this world?”
Fufi nodded. “Yeah, that is where you soak something in vinegar.”
Alex nodded back and searched the cupboards. There was no pickled ginger to be found. “Darn, I found some vinegar and pickled cucumbers but no ginger in jars of vinegar.” Alex took some cleaned ginger roots, put them in a stone jar and poured vinegar in them. “My cooking skill… I think it is telling me that I can’t just add these to and use them without giving it some time to soak. Darn.”
The kitchen nymph returned, observing Alex's actions with curiosity.
Alex looked at the leaf-haired woman. “Can I help you?”
“Just seeing if I can learn anything. The culinary traditions of the stone ax tribe are not very expansive,” She said.
“We should formally introduce ourselves then. My name is Alex and this is Fufi.” Alex gestured to the flamingo at her side.
“I’m Ninfu. How can I help?” She brightened up.
“Do you have a sushi rolling mat?” Alex asked.
She looked at him blankly, no understanding her eyes.
“It is like some bamboo twigs with strings holding them together.” Alex made some weird gestures trying to explain but failing.
Fufi waddled off and grabbed a quill, paper and ink pot. She set them down on the table with her beak.
Alex gave an awkward grimace to the Flamingo. “Thank you.”
The magical girl then drew a very simple idea of the mat on the paper. “See like this, just some simple bits of wood. Then you can do this with it.” She rolled up the paper then unrolled the paper.
“Oh, we don’t have anything like that but it’ll be really easy to make.” Ninfu nodded rapidly. She exited out the back door. She came back holding some green bamboo and a spool of thread. The thread looked oddly familiar.
“Can you do that last part? I’m a sous chef not a seamstress.” The leaf-haired woman handed the bamboo and thread to Alex.
Alex took the two things and nodded. “This will be easy.” Alex stepped outside, summoned her carriage and grabbed a needle from it. Heading back in, she tied the thread to the needle and with near superhuman speed secured the bamboo together in a way that would make a good mat that could roll and unroll. “See like that.”
Fufi and Ninfu watched the speed sewing with awe.
Alex coughed. “Anyway, I guess we’ll have to soak some ginger in vinegar for a while. We can try to add that ingredient later.” Alex threw some rice in a pot and added some water from the kitchen sink. She went to place it on the stove but felt some resistance from the cooking skill. It was telling her she was going to mess up if she cooked the rice like that. “Darn it… this too?”
“What’s wrong? Fufi poked her head up and looked into the pot filled with rice and then back to Alex.
Alex glared at the offending cookware. “Whenever I made rice before I just threw it into a pot, added a bit of salt and boiled it. I haven’t actually ever made sticky rice before I figured maybe it would be adding some vinegar or cooking it a bit longer but I just instinctively know that is wrong now.”
Alex took the ginger, cut off the outside and all of the brown spots with a knife. Letting the cooking skill guide her, she sliced the ginger in thin strips that felt right. Alex placed the ginger in the jar and added vinegar into it. Then that feeling came back. “Hmm, why does it feel like I’m missing something?”
Alex squinted and looked around. After running a hand across several ingredients, two really called out to her. The first one was some sugar and the second one was salt.
Letting the skill guide her hand, Alex poured a bit of sugar and salt in with the vinegar and sliced ginger. “Hmm, I think I still am missing something.”
Alex looked around and felt the oven calling to her. Following the nudge she felt, she poured the stuff in the jar in a small pot on a hot burner. “There, I think this is the next step.” Alex watched the pot until it boiled and felt the urge to take it off. She poured the heated mixture back into the jar and put a lit on it.
“I am not quite sure how long this is supposed to soak for but I believe it is something in a matter of days.” Alex pondered.
Ninfu nodded. “It takes a while to pickle something. I’ve never heard of someone pickling ginger before though. What a novel idea!”
Ninfu watched Alex, then mirrored her actions, cutting ginger root. "Am I doing this right?" she inquired.
The day unfolded with Alex instructing the cooks on pickling ginger and soaking rice, rather than them preparing sushi. As dusk settled, the rice had softened sufficiently, signaling the time to begin.
Other nymphs, observing the process, also placed rice in water to soak. Consequently, the steaming of the rice became a collective effort.
They crafted additional bamboo mats, and together, everyone rolled their own basic cucumber and carrot sushi.
“Normally we would wrap these in seaweed but I’m not sure how far away we are from the sea. But just roll it up like a burrito.” Alex used the sticky rice to wrap around the veggies with the mat and rolled it up then unrolled it.
“What’s a burrito?” Ninfu asked.
Fufi snickered.
“That’s not important right now. So we take the sharp knife and slice it into bite sized bits like this.” Alex cut it up and put it on a stone plate.
Ninfu went to take one and eat it like finger food.
Alex winced.
Ninfu held the simple sushi in her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, usually we use chopsticks for eating a dish like this. It just feels wrong eating it like you were going to.” Alex picked up a couple free bamboo sticks that had not been used to make the mats.
“You can hold them in your hand like this and then pick it up and put it in your mouth.” Alex demonstrated to the audience.
A new type of eating utensil had everyone excited. While some metal knives, forks, and spoons were salvaged from the ruins, it was the bamboo sticks that proved to be a big hit with the woodsy nymphs.