Chapter 81 (1/2)

Chapter 81 – Speaking of Cold Days…

Before the evening, I finished cleaning the second floor and now we are ready to start preparing dinner.

Fufufu, in a cold day like today, the menu is a hot pot! I wanted to do a pot over the kotatsu if possible, but let’s set that aside to until the moment a Kotatsu is made.

I made ponzu1 for this day, didn’t I?

The ingredients of the pot are chicken meatb.a.l.l.s and pork, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, s.h.i.+take mushroom2, kiritanpo3 and chrysanthemum herb. I regret that there is no tofu…. But it’s hard to make your own tofu, and I don’t have the necessary bittern…. Incidentally, I wanted to put some onions, but I gave up because I heard that it was poisonous to cats. It may seem okay if you avoid eating it, but it depends on the individual, and it is likely that even the juice that the onion is used in would already be dangerous. I do like onions though…

Well, what is impossible is impossible. I will move on to prepare the materials immediately.

First, we cook the rice and then we make the chicken meatb.a.l.l.s.

Tontonton…… Dan! Dan! Dan! Dadadadadada…

Cut the chicken, cut it, cut it… I keep cutting it as until it’s properly minced.

Once that’s done, I mix it with a moderate amount of salt, egg whites, ginger and sake. Because there is Eru, the onion is not put. As it blends moderately, put the egg’s yolk, and mix it until it’s sticky. Afterwards knead it little by little to form dumplings, then arrenge them on the dish.

Well, next is kiritanpo.

Kiritanpo’s an alternative to rice. Two peas in a pod4 indeed…… However, rice isn’t as suitable for this pot. There is no udon5 to withstand the tightening of the pot.6 So I chose kiritanpo.

By the way, the rice which I bought from the company is big, and the sweetness is thin, unlike those in j.a.pan. That Rice has a unique taste. Well, the rice of the j.a.pan has its taste due to going through breed improvement many times though. It’s still pretty nice considering it’s the only one available. Usually, when I eat it, I cook it with five units7 of wheat and 5 of rice. Because rice is a good from the Eastern country, it is expensive….

But today, I cook with 10 units of rice. I think this is just a little extravagant, right?

Now I will crush the cooked rice. It was not good to crush it too much though…. I heard that it’s good when there is only a bit of the shape of the rice left.

…… Seems to be about rig

ht? Round this suitably, then pierce it with the wooden skewer, stretch it like a bar…

Ah, it’s giving a good feeling. It will be done as soon as it’s baked. Let’s put it on the fireplace immediately.

As the kiritanpo is being broiled, a fragrant smell filled the room. Bake it it’s surface has a brown tinge, and cut it in half so that it is easy to eat by unplugging it from the skewer.

The preparation of the laborious material is finished now. The rest of the ingredients should be washed with water and cut to a reasonable size. Ah, I need to cut the crosses of the s.h.i.+take…. This is important, isn’t it?

Now that I finished preparing the ingredients, the next step is to prepare the pot.

Fufufu, it seems that finally came the turn of this clay pot! I asked a craftsman who made pottery, through Mr. Graham8 and he made it! It is a pot. This opportunity can’t be missed!

First, I’ll make a soup with kelp. Once it starts boiling I’ll lower the firepower, and keep on putting the ingredients. I’d generally remove the konbu9, but the process is limited to the tools I have, so things will be kept as it is.

I make grated radish by the time the pot is done. Grated radish with ponzu, it is a cla.s.sic.

The pot is getting finished soon. Now put it on the table and go to the stove…… A stove…?

「Ah! 」

What a stupid! There is no portable stove in this world! I’ve prepared this far, but to make a mistake at the very end…! The charm of the pot will be sharply reduced this way!!

I have to do something….

Even though it doesn’t lose temperature easily, it will get cold without a heat source. The firepower of the fire magic tool is too weak, and I can’t from the oven and put on the table.

Muu…

…… Ah! Like this I’ll be able maintain a moderate amount of heat! It will be a bit messy, but in this case, I can not say such a thing!10

First, lay a cloth on the table in the place the pot was in, then put a large frying pan on it.

Move some charcoal from the fireplace into the frying pan, and put the pot on top of it.

It is a bit unsteady, but I can compensate by putting some wood around it.

With this I can adjust the firepower now, I just need to refill the charcoal in case the fire becomes weak.

Fufufu, this is a mistake, I will not be hindered by something like this!

Oh, it seems the prince has come with good timing. Coming all the way out here in this cold is quite the trouble. Maa, a pot that comes in this cold will surely be special.

Getting the prince on the table, I prepare a bowl and ponzu.

「What is this…? 」

Looking at the pot in front of me, the prince asked a question confusedly.

「What is the pot? It is a dish from my country. I put various ingredients and boil them. It’s the best dish for a cold day, isn’t it? 」

Seems like it is almost finished?

When the lid was taken, steam rose.

The simmering sounds were claiming the completion of the pot.

「I put the ponzu in a bowl and take my favorite ingredients from the pot to eat with it. You can mix the soup of the pot with your favorite. It is delicious to mix the grated radish of this place with them. 」

I put an appropriate amount of ponzu on the prince’s and on my bowl. Then, it put the grated radish in my own, followed by taking the Chinese cabbage from the pot, putting it on the ponzu and carrying it my mouth.

「Afu, Afu…」

…… I was too hasty. It was too hot, I tried moving it through my mouth while chewing to see if it cooled.

「…… And well, this is how you eat. Since the pot is boiling, please be careful not to burn your mouth. 」

Arcane, shelved!11

I decided to avoid having a repeat of the previous blunder.

No, I took a tsukune12, cooled it a little and put it in my mouth.

Un, it’s a hot pot on a cold day.

But the prince sitting in front of me is looking confusedly, without trying to reach out to the pot.

「You’re not eating? Can you warm up like that? 」

「…… No, I don’t know what to say. This is the first time I’ve seen this kind of food, it’s like taking it from a pot and eating it. 」