Strange World Alchemist Chef – Book 1

Chapter 5 – Grilled Spiritual Grass

 

Translated by Prosperousfood.com

Rehosted and re-translated by Gumihou

Edited by Pill Bug

 

 

“Hm, so these hands could identify spiritual plants?” Wu Xuan studied his hands curiously. How odd, they gave him information on spiritual plants but nothing on the beansprouts. Perhaps it only worked on magic plants?

Or, could it be that these hands did not work on plants he already knew?

After all, what kind of chef could not recognise a beansprout?

Still, he was not sure what he could do with this ability [1]. Also, Uncle Wu appeared to be surprised by the condition of his hands. Had they transformed when his soul took over this body?

He [1] tried searching through the memories of the original goods, but could not find anything about them taking care of these hands in any way. Most of this guy’s memories were scenes of failed cooking and failing to learn martial arts.

[2] Whatever he has no interest in watching other people’s failure.

More importantly, how should he make use of this skill?

Also, “Why do we have a spiritual plant here? Is it a cooking ingredient?” again, he searched through the original good’s memories and found nothing useful. [2]. Humph, figures. Someone who failed as a martial artist and failed to understand even the basics of cooking… why would someone like this know about spiritual plants in the kitchen?

“Hmm, perhaps I should try cooking it?”

Wu Xuan studied the Ice Dragon Grass for a moment. It’s said to have healing properties. Could it heal his weak body? Since it’s here, in this kitchen reserved for the elders’ food, perhaps it’s one of those ingredients included in their dishes?

Wu Xuan took out one stalk of the Ice Dragon Grass. He did not take more than one. After all, he was daring, not stupid! He was the type to get excited over new ingredients and wanted to cook them immediately. [3] He had even travelled into some of the most dangerous and miserable parts of the world to source out new and exotic ingredients!

[3] So, of course, he’s excited about getting to cook this super rare, super expensive, super spiritual ingredient.

[3] First, he studied the flex and texture of the Ice Dragon Grass. It felt kind of like a leek in his hands, although it seemed to exude a cold aura. “I suppose, I could make a chicken stir fry with this?” Wu Xuan pondered. “Ah, but the chicken is gone, I guess I could just grill it?”

While grilled meat is more common, vegetables could be grilled too. Especially good quality vegetables with thick and supple bodies. Just a brush of oil, a sprinkle of good salt [3] plus a chef who knows what he’s doing grilled vegetables could be even more delicious than meat.

With a shrug, Wu Xuan carried the Ice Dragon Grass over to the stove. The firewood had been reduced to warm [4] embers, which was just right for roasting vegetables. It would not do to burn this very valuable ingredient.

[5] Now that he had decided on the heat source and course of cooking, Wu Xuan efficiently brushed oil over the herb. His hands began to glow and Wu Xuan nearly dropped his brush. When he stopped his movements, the glow disappeared too.

[5] “What the…” what kind of fantasy thing is this now?!

[5] When his hands did not glow again, Wu Xuan reached into the jar of salt and sprinkle a pinch over the Ice Dragon Grass. His hands glowed again.

“… okay,” he was starting to have some understanding of why this happened. Although, he was sure that these hands did not glow when he was handling the sprouts earlier. [1]

Anyway, once the Grass had been oiled and salted, he placed it directly onto the red embers. His hands were still glowing. [4] Wu Xuan ignored this and kept an eagle eye on the Ice Dragon Grass. He kept turning the stalk of herb with a pair of chopsticks, making sure to keep the charring even.

[4] He found that the moment he touched the herb with his chopsticks, his hands would glow. Hmm… does the hands only glow when he’s actively cooking?

Soon, the smell of grilled vegetables and something peculiar, like the scent of medicinal herbs began to fill the space. He inhaled the fragrance thoughtfully, “Hmm, the scent is quite unique, but I wonder what it would taste like…” his mind suddenly felt more alert, the smell was really refreshing!

[4] He lifted the herb off the embers to inspect the charring. It looked beautifully even with hardly any black spots at all. Just as he lifted the Ice Dragon Grass out of the stove, sudden dizziness caused him to stagger. [6] Instinct kept the Ice Dragon Grass still held between his chopsticks even as he fell to his back.

[6] As the world spun before his eyes, Wu Xuan felt sweat beading over his body. He felt weak, exhausted, as though all the strength in his body had been drained away… “What the- why am I so tired…?”

He felt too weak to even roll to his feet… wait, didn’t he experience this earlier? After he had finished cooking the Five Flavoured Crystal Dragon? If the glowing hands were related to cooking, and he feels drained the moment he finished cooking…

His tired eyes landed on the Grilled Spiritual Grass in his hand. Perhaps…

“Since this is supposed to have healing properties, let’s see if it really works,” having nothing better to do, Wu Xuan laid down on the dirty-ish kitchen floor and took a bite of the Grilled Ice Dragon Grass.

He was so exhausted he could barely taste what he was eating, but he could feel a strange warmth beginning to permeate his body. It felt similar to the stimulation he felt when he inhaled the refreshing fragrance of the grass, only this time it was much stronger. Not only did his mind become alert, his body felt stronger too.

Wu Xuan took another bite and another. More warmth flowed through his body radiating towards his limbs. It felt as though the weakness in his body was starting to leave and, best of all, the pain in his head was gone!

By the time he gained enough strength to get off the floor, half of the Grilled Ice Dragon Grass had been eaten. His body felt warm, as though he had been baking in the sun for a while. Back on earth, aside from some herbs that could clot blood instantly [6], nothing else he knew would have such instantaneous effect. Especially not a miraculous herb that could completely improve a person’s condition and remove pain with just a few bites of the herb.

The only other types of instant effect herbs he could think of were all poisons or hallucinogens.

“Huh, what a good thing! [1]” he touched the back of his head wonderingly. Hmm, the bump on his head was gone too, but who knows how quickly the herb would work against more serious injuries?

He was about to take another bite when he heard Uncle Wu’s voice, [1] “Little Xuan! The elders want to see you! They are really happy with your dish. I swear, they fell on your Five Flavoured Crystal Dragon like a pack of hungry ghost! [1]”

Wu Xuan looked up, Uncle Wu was still running over and shouting with delight. Wu Xuan laughed, no matter where in the world one is, as long as the person has a sense of taste, they would want to eat delicious things.

Uncle Wu’s dishes were good, no doubt about it. [2] Unfortunately, Uncle Wu failed to take into consideration the elders’ moods as well as the weather. All he did was cook up all his best dishes each time. However, even the best tasting dishes would be boring after eating them too many times.

When Uncle Wu stepped into the kitchen, he frowned and began to sniff the air. “This smell, it’s… Little Xuan, did you make something again?” Uncle Wu’s eyes flashed around the kitchen once before stopping at the settling on Wu Xuan’s hand. “Is that… the Ice Dragon Grass?” His eyes flashed to the empty shelf where the jade box should be and stared at Wu Xuan with horrot. “What did you do to the Ice Dragon Grass [7]?!”

Wu Xuan looked at the herb in his hand, then at Uncle Wu’s incredulous expression. “I grilled it a little, [1]” he said somewhat sheepishly. [2] Was he not supposed to cook an ingredient?

“You… you….! How could you cook a spiritual grass?! You little rascal!” Uncle Wu’s piercingly tragic wail could be heard in the next kitchen.

 

[Gumihou: Gumi will never condone the technique of making side characters stupid for the sake of making the MC look good. That’s just bad writing.]

 

Switched out 2 ‘!’ or ‘?’

Like, who speaks in ‘!’ all the time?

Oh wait, annoying anime characters (several 7 Deadly Sins characters came to mind…) By the way, Gumi hates that anime. The MC is so damned smug.

 

[1] Delete unnecessary things: Such as repetitive ‘smiles’, ‘sighs’ as well as other character’s thoughts that are totally unnecessary.

Eg:

‘Wu Xuan thought that maybe the memories of the soul whose body he had crossed over into may have a clue to this strange phenomenon.

He searched all the memories but could not find anything regarding the hands.‘

Like you seriously do not need that first part.

[2] Wu Xuan is a condescending jerk whose arrogance is probably eclipsed only by his ego. I mean, he grilled a special herb kept in a jade box without permission. What else could he be?

[3] Added Details to Combat the Vague: Give Wu Xuan a little more chef-like habits to make him seem more authentically chef-like. If a weird one.

[4] Grilling vegetables is not impossible, but Gumi is going to maximise the chances of success, magic hands or no. By reducing the heat of the firewood to embers and using an existing recipe for something called ‘Calcots’. Except these are cooked until the outside is charred, placed inside a newspaper to steam before the outer part is peeled off and the inside is eaten with a sauce.

https://misadventureswithandi.com/its-calcots-season-in-catalonia/

This is what they ended up looking like:

[5] Show don’t tell: Switch some incredibly boring text to something more active.

Original text “Wu Xuan took a wooden brush and dipped it into the oil. Then he brushed the icy dragon grass with a thin layer of oil.

Suddenly his hands glowed with a faint white light. Wu Xuan also noticed this strange occurrence and was surprised, “These hands! Why did they light up again?””

I guess the ‘!’ is make the text more active? But no amount of ‘!’ is going to make a text interesting when it’s in passive form.

[6] Adjusted Details for Logistic Purpose: Original text “Suddenly Wu Xuan’s head felt dizzy… He staggered and groggily moved a few steps to the side he regained his balance. At the same time, he was perspiring heavily.”

See, Gumi has a few issues with this. If this is an ‘ancient china stove’, the fire would be at ankle level. If you’re dizzy and trying to get away, you will fall flat on your back. Vertigo is a bitch.

Also, if you’re in a standing position… well, you CANNOT be in a standing position while grilling anything over a fire. Because the fire is at Ankle Level.

Logistics!!

[6] Notes from Prosperous Food: Woah, this is real. I did not know that there are herbs that could stop bleeding in seconds. I am learning something new everyday – see http://justhealthlifestyle.com/natural-remedies-to-stop-bleeding-that-you-can-use-at-home/

[7] Uncle Wu’s dialogue: Gave Uncle Wu some realistic dialogues instead of the standard ‘OMG! !!!’ to elevate Wu Xuan’s cleverness and calmness.

Also, why did Uncle Wu not say anything about the jade box?