Chapter 169
First, I took out from the menu the large batch of sauce I prepared in advance back in Lindblum.
As Seimu, I only have [Cooking Lv1], so I don’t have much confidence in making anything that requires complicated steps.
Can Lv1 really handle fried food? Apparently, as long as it’s one of the basic cooking methods:grilling, boiling, steaming, frying; Lv1 is fine.
But once you get into things like double-frying, raising the temperature on the second fry, or slowly cooking at low heat so the color doesn’t change, you apparently need a higher level to pull it off properly.
I wonder if personal experience and practice could make up for that? Maybe I should try pushing myself a bit more next time.
Anyway, I add finely chopped onion that’s been salted, rinsed, and soaked in water to the Hollandaise sauce I took out. Then I mix in chopped pickles and roughly mashed boiled eggs.
Finally, I add freshly ground black pepper, adjust the seasoning with salt, and…
“All right…it’s not mayonnaise, but fake tartar sauce is complete.” (Shizuma)
Ideally, I wanted to make something like tonkatsu sauce, but that’s impossible in a short amount of time, so I gave up.
I can’t exactly monopolize “this place” by myself for too long, either. “Hoh…that’s an unusual sauce. I think I’ve seen hollandaise before. I had it once at a restaurant in the capital long ago: light on the tongue but rich, a strange sauce.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely not very common.” (Shizuma)
The one watching my cooking process with clear curiosity and talking to me is the owner of the inn we contracted with, The Bell of Anarami.
Melt and I had been looking for a place where we could cook the shrimp we bought, and were even thinking of setting up a simple cooking area on the beach. Then we found an inn right next to the sand with a simple kitchen attached for guests.
Naturally, we signed up immediately, and now I’m in the middle of making fried shrimp in that very kitchen.
“Is that breadcrumbs? They’re pretty coarse.”
“Yeah. Much coarser than usual breadcrumbs. I just grated a hardened baguette with a cheese grater.” (Shizuma)
Next, I take out flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs.
In this world, breadcrumbs are generally extremely fine, about the size of sand grains. That’s fine for fritters, but this time we’re making fried shrimp.
“Seimu, are you done yet? Let me taste just that sauce already.” (Melt)
“Hang on a bit longer. It’ll be done in ten minutes.” (Shizuma)
Melt camps out in front of the worktable, fork in hand, urging me on. It’s so childlike that I can’t help smiling.
Still, it is getting a bit late for lunch, so I should hurry.
Listening to Melt’s voice and the sound of waves from the beach, I finish up the fried shrimp.
—————–
“All done. Now pour this tartar sauce on, and it’s complete. All right, Melt, how does shrimp from the sea taste?” (Shizuma)
“Wow… it’s a cute dish, like a beastkin tail! Then, let’s eat!” (Melt)
I arrange eight fried shrimps on a plate and serve them with plenty of tartar sauce.
This is just my personal opinion, but I think the more tartar sauce there is, the happier you become in direct proportion to the amount.
What do you all think?
Melt opens her mouth wide and takes a big bite of a fried shrimp topped with tartar sauce.
The crunch of the coating is audible, making me imagine the texture and flavor that follows.
…I’ll have one too.
“! I-It’s delicious…! In my personal ranking of ‘the best food I’ve eaten since going outside,’ it’s beaten the previous number one, ‘the steak Seira made’!!!!! This is the best!!!” (Melt)
“Oh! Seriously? It beat Seira’s cooking!?” (Shizuma)
“It’s too good… Crunchy, springy, and sweet. Sweet, but it’s the shrimp flavor I know… The sauce matches it perfectly… I can’t believe there was still something this delicious out there… The world is huge!” (Melt)
With an expression that looks like she’s trembling in awe from how good it is, Melt stares intently at the half-eaten fried shrimp in her hand.
That much? Was it really that good?
“Sir, mind if I try one too? It’s a dish I’ve never seen before… It’s a bit different from fritters, and this sauce really interests me.”
“Go ahead, please.” (Shizuma)
“I want another one too! This dish is terrifying. It took me five bites to eat one! Something this delicious should be gone in two bites, but I was scared, so five bites!” (Melt)
It’s a cute reaction, but I’m not entirely sure what she means.
Is it that it felt too precious to eat?
“Mm… Now I understand why you cared about the size of the breadcrumbs. The texture is outstanding, and the sauce clings to it well. And this sauce itself is excellent. This is… something I probably shouldn’t have been peeking at on my own… Sorry about that, sir.”
“Ah, it’s fine to copy it. As long as you can make hollandaise sauce, the rest is exactly as you saw. I’d recommend adding parsley or herbs, or adjusting sweetness and richness a bit with sugar. This time, since it’s fried food, I kept it to acidity and the sweetness of the eggs.” (Shizuma)
“A-Are you sure…? Something this good…it could become the harbor’s signature dish overnight…”
“Go right ahead. If people can always eat it here, my companion will happily keep coming back too.” (Shizuma)
“Yeah! I’ll order lots! Fried shrimp and taru-taru sauce… Why is it called taru-taru, I wonder? Is there a barrel** in it? You can’t eat barrels, right?” (Melt)
“Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with barrels. There’s a dish called tartare, I think.” (Shizuma)
“Oh! This sauce is really delicious, so I bet it would go well with bread too.” (Melt)
And with that, I completed the secretly set task I’d given myself when heading to the port town: “Let Melt eat fried shrimp.”
Now I can head to Yasha Island with no regrets.
The regular ship only comes once every three days, so it’s been decided that we’ll spend the next two days here in the port town.
In that case, let’s use the remaining time to look for unusual goods that gather here.
—————–
The next day, Melt and I took a morning walk along the beach.
A long stretch of sand continues once you move a little away from the pier. For Melt, who finds the sea fascinating, walking while looking at this scenery is extremely novel. Even though it’s early morning, she runs across the sand, excited like a child.
“It’s amazing. These waves never stop, do they? They just keep going, shasha, shasha forever. Sometimes little fish wash up too, it’s so interesting! Look, again! Haiya! Go back to the sea!” (Melt)
“Haha, yeah. All sorts of things get washed up, so it’s fun just watching.” (Shizuma)
Whenever Melt finds a small fish left at the water’s edge, she picks it up and tosses it back into the sea.
Her gestures are so cute that I almost want to hug her.
“The sea is so big… I’d only seen it from far away before, and I was a child back then, so I couldn’t really grasp how huge it was…but seeing it like this is shocking!” (Melt)
“Yeah. In the world I came from, the sea was even larger than the continents people lived on. This world’s sea is probably just as vast.” (Shizuma)
“I see! I’m looking forward to the ship. It’ll glide across such a huge sea. I wonder what that feels like?” (Melt)
“Ah… you might want to prepare some motion sickness medicine, Melt. Ships can rock quite a bit.” (Shizuma)
“Eeh… then I guess I’ll have to mix some once we’re back at the inn.” (Melt)
“Yeah. Then maybe today we can check out the market again? There might be ingredients for medicine or unusual foods. Not just seafood. There should be goods brought from across the sea too.” (Shizuma)
“Agreed! Then after breakfast, let’s go to the market. It’s okay if we buy shrimp again today, you know?” (Melt)
“Alright, then let’s try a different dish. Eating fried shrimp every day will give you heartburn.” (Shizuma)
“Eeh… Fine, I guess!” (Melt)
Why does it sound like I’m the one being unreasonable here? I don’t get it!
But that’s Melt quality. I’ll allow it.
—————–
After breakfast, we head to the market.
Just like during our walk, the port is sunny today.
It’s still a bit chilly, but the brightness of the sunlight seems to ease the cold somewhat.
At the market, freshly caught seafood is lined up, and among it…
“H-Hiih! Monster shrimp! It’s like a monster! Seimu, look! This shrimp is like ten times bigger than yesterday’s! Scary! It’s scary when it’s this big!!!!” (Melt)
“Hahaha! Yeah, that is huge. It might really be scary.” (Shizuma)
Shrimp on the scale of spiny lobster or lobster…no, even bigger, with garish colors, were lined up at the market.
There were similar species on Earth, but those lived in warm seas… This must be a different kind.
What was it called again? Nishiki shrimp? Something like that.
“I-It’s scary… I’m too scared to eat something like that…” (Melt)
“Yeah… I don’t think I could cook that either.” (Shizuma)
This is something I’ll have Seira cook someday.
So I’ll just buy it and store it in the menu for now.
“Hiih! You bought it!?” (Melt)
“I did. We’ll eat it later. Later.” (Shizuma)
“Eeh…” (Melt)
Alright, let’s pull ourselves together and go look at imported goods.
—————–
A little away from the seafood market, shops selling fruits, dried goods, herbs, and medicinal ingredients -apparently imported from overseas- begin to line the street.
There are green, unripe bananas, large fruits wrapped in hard-looking skins, and medicinal herbs and crude drugs I’ve seen before when I was running around gathering ingredients for the Chef Guild.
It might be worth buying some rare herbs or medicinal ingredients for cola syrup here.
“Wow! There are so many unusual ingredients!” (Melt)
“Yeah. Let’s do some shopping here.” (Shizuma)
I buy star anise, cumin, and other ingredients needed for cola.
Meanwhile, Melt, wearing a serious expression, is examining unfamiliar medicinal ingredients.
“This and this…and a handful of this one. How much would that be?” (Melt)
“…Eight silver coins.”
“Whoa, that’s pretty expensive! I see… these must be getting scarce.” (Melt)
“…You figured that out well. An alchemist?”
“Hmm, maybe? I’m not in the guild.” (Melt)
“A freelancer, huh… And you’re buying this selection. Interesting girl.”
“Really?” (Melt)
She seems to have caught the interest of the shopkeeper, who has a somewhat suspicious vibe.
When I bought my things, it was a silent transaction.
“Medicine, huh. What kind? That doesn’t look like a stimulant mix.”
“It’s medicine to prevent seasickness!” (Melt)
“! If you finish it, sell a little to my shop. I’ll buy it at a high price.”
“Really? Yay!” (Melt)
Uh… Shopkeeper, is that enthusiasm perhaps because you get seasick?
After finishing our purchase of medicinal ingredients, we stop by a stall selling suspicious items that look like nothing more than trinkets and junk.
Some kind of folk crafts, wooden masks, wooden sticks of unknown use, and not-very-pretty bracelets are lined up.
If I were here as Shizuma or in Shire’s form, appraising things as I went, this would’ve been twice as fun.
That’s when I spot an item that catches my eye and stop.
“Shopkeeper, what’s this?” (Shizuma)
“Hm? That interest you, young man? This was supposedly found in some dungeon in the Consold Empire. They say it drifted in from another world. No idea what it’s for, and it doesn’t look useful, so I just display it. If you want it, five silver coins.”
It was a bit old-fashioned, but unmistakably…a handgun.
There was rust everywhere, and some parts were missing. But if someone took it apart and examined it…someone perceptive enough might realize it’s a weapon.
Somehow… I felt it wouldn’t be good for this to keep circulating openly, so I decided to buy it.
I’ll put it in the menu. Preferably forever.
“Seimu, what did you buy?” (Melt)
“Hmm? Probably junk from another world. It’s just fun to look at stuff like this.” (Shizuma)
“Huh? Then maybe I’ll buy something too! Hmm…what’s this?” (Melt)
“What is it?” (Shizuma)
Melt pulls something out of a box filled with what looks like random junk.
“Little lady, that’s some junk they say you stick into the ground and rub the surface with another stick, and worms come out of the ground. I think it’s probably a lie, so you shouldn’t buy—”
“Sounds fun! I’ll take it!” (Melt)
Eh… You’re buying that…?
There’s no way it actually does anything… It’s obviously just a wooden stick.
And so, our junk browsing ended without any particular results. Naturally, we didn’t find any Japanese-style seasonings either.
Recovering an old handgun was a result, if you count it as one, but otherwise there were no standout purchases, and Melt only bought a mysterious wooden stick.
Still, it was a good way to pass the time. We spent our days browsing the market and fishing from the shore, and safely reached the day the regular ship arrived.
“Seimu! It worked, it worked!!! Worms really came out!!!” (Melt)
“No way!” (Shizuma)
…It seems a miracle happened at the very end.
(´・ω・｀) Apparently, this worm-summoning stick actually exists.
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