Chapter 011: Eating Rice in Another World

 Re-Translated by Gumihou

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com

 

According to Mikaela-san, I could stay at this ‘Prancing Horse Inn’ with Fer. [2] However, I’d have to pay an extra 7 silver coins for my familiar. My wallet keeps getting emptier and emptier…

Also, Fer had to stay in the barn behind the inn reserved for large-sized familiars.

“Oi, I endured having no lunch, but I’m hungry now!”

Come to think of it, we really did skip lunch. [2] Since Fer did not say anything, it completely slipped my mind. It’s rather out of character for him to be so nice, looks like he knows how to be reasonable too.

“My bad, my bad. Alright, shall we have an early dinner?”

[6] I looked around and found that we’re completely alone here. Even though we’re right in front of the barn, I figure that we could just cook here since we’re away from the public eye.

Speaking of which, let’s have that.

I still have some Red Boar meat from [Iron Will] so let’s make a steak style grilled pork today. Fer’s portion should be super thick-cut and rare, of course.

As for me, I’m fine with a smaller cut, but there’s one thing I must absolutely have. 

Rice.

As Japanese, we must absolutely have rice.

However, I only have this one portable stove with me…

Also, rice takes time to cook… hmm, what should I do…?

Well, I am planning to make money by selling salt and pepper at the Merchant’s Guild tomorrow. Also, this is a need. There is an absolute need here, you know? I’ll be getting more money tomorrow anyway, so I should definitely buy it!

Yes, it’s been too long. I must have rice!

In the end, I up opening [Net Super] and bought a bag of rice, a clay pot, another portable stove as well as the things I planned to sell tomorrow. 5 kg of salt and 100g of pepper.

I bought my favourite type, the [8] Koshi Hikari rice.

I had no idea how much salt and pepper to bring, but I thought I’d try getting this much first. [1] Everything cost about 8 silver coins in total.

My wallet is getting skinnier by the minute, but it’s fine. I will fatten it up again tomorrow!

Alright, time to cook.

First, wash the rice and leave it to soak in clean water for about 30 minutes. [2] Meanwhile, I got started with Fer’s steak. I cut a large piece out, sprinkled salt and pepper onto the Red Boar meat before searing it on the pan.

Hmm, surely he should be fine if it’s this rare?

I served the steak on a plate with some Steak Sauce.

“There you go, Fer.”

The moment I set it in front of him, it was gone in a couple of chomps and a final slurp.

[6] “… …”

I’m sure I cut a fairly thick steak slice…

“Delicious. More.”

I placed another piece of Red Boar steak onto the pan for Fer. [1] This time, I pour on a different kind of Steak Sauce over the seared meat and placed it in front of Fer.

“Here,” this time, I put another steak on the pan before the inevitable ‘more’.

Chomp, chomp.

“Mu, it’s a little different, but it’s also delicious.”

[4] “Fufu, so you noticed, huh? Steak Sauce is such a convenient thing, right? I bought several different flavours. The first one is Garlic Flavoured, the second one is Grated Daikon Flavoured.”

Steak Sauce could also be splashed onto stir-fried vegetables. A quick dash of the Garlic Flavoured Steak Sauce on fried rice will result in the most delicious Garlic Rice.

Not only that, there’s also Yakiniku Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce and of course Soy Sauce Flavoured Steak Sauce were all very useful and I have all of them in my house. I bought these out of habit while browsing the [Net Super] before the trip out with [Iron Will].

I continued to fry more steaks for Fer and rotating different kinds of sauce for him. [1] The next one will be Onion Flavoured, followed by Butter Flavoured.

Ah, looks like it’s about time to cook the rice.

I placed the claypot onto the stove and set the fire on medium for 10 minutes, followed by low heat for 5 minutes before turning off the fire and letting the rice steam in its own heat for a further 20 minutes without peeking under the lid.

I cooked 3 cups of rice, which is quite a lot, but I could keep the extra in my [Item Box] which also has the ‘time-stop’ function. [1] This allows me to store food and ingredients as though time is of no consequence.

I think this, along with its limitless capacity, were all traits of a Summoned Hero’s [Item Box]. This was one very good thing about being a [Summoned Hero] in this world.

As the rice continued to steam on the side, I continued to fry up steaks on the other stove. This speeds up my work a little.

“Give me the first flavour again,” said Fer.

“Oh, so you like the Garlic Flavour, huh? Here you go.”

“This thing is called Garlic Flavour, hmm, very good.”

“You like it?”

“Umu, the rest are delicious too. But I like this one best.”

Hoho, personally, I prefer the Onion Flavour. 

My instincts told me that the rice was ready to be eaten, so let’s start assembling my meal!

First, load up a generous helping of the freshly cooked rice into a bowl. [2] Next, slice the Red Boar Steak into bite-size slices and arranged them on the rice. Finish it up with a splash of Onion Flavoured Steak Sauce.

And it’s done!

Red Boar Steak-don!

Alright, time to taste it.

“S-so goooooddd!!!”

Nom, nom, uohh, rice is so good, so, so gooooddd!

The Red Boar Steak was delicious, of course, but what made me teared up is the rice! Piping hot rice soaked with Steak Sauce and topped with meat is sho, sho delicious!!!

As expected, a Japanese must have rice!

Rice is the best~

“Mu, that looks good. Give me some.”

Eeh, Fer. You want some too?

Maa, it can’t be helped. I’m a bit hesitant about sharing, but, if I don’t let him try some he’d bug me all day about it.

I reluctantly made him a Steak Rice Bowl with garlic flavoured sauce. Fer immediately started chomping down on it.

“Umu, this is good. Though I never considered eating grains, these are quite delicious.”

“I know, right? Isn’t rice the best?” [1] I mean, I don’t hate bread, but I’m starting to suffer from rice withdrawal, you know?

Thanks to this [Net Super] skill, I can have all the rice I want, as long as I have the money for it.

Haah~ such deliciousness. Such bliss~

Fer was starting to groom himself now. I’m pretty happy and full too.

By the way, it might be too late to think about these things now but, didn’t I read somewhere on the internet that dogs and cats should not be given food that is too salty? [1] Moreover, there’s that report about onions being bad for dogs too…

Fer had chomped through everything I gave him, and er, he seems fine?

Well, in the first place, he might be doggish in shape, but he’s really a magical beast from a fantasy world. [1] From his fur and eyes alone, one could tell that he’s at the peak of health.

I guess it should be fine?

“Alright, I need to head to my room now. Lots to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Understood,”

[6] Now that he’s full, Fer did not seem at all concerned about my other activities…

 

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~

 

Upon shutting myself in the room, I set about getting the salt and pepper ready to be sold to the Merchant’s Guild tomorrow.

I bought 5kg of salt and 5 plastic baggies of black pepper from [Net Super]. Naturally, I can’t just leave them in their plastic packets, so I had to get creative.

I still have the burlap bag that was used in place of plastic bags here when I bought the cutleries from the general store. That should be good enough for the 5kg of salt. As for the pepper, I went out and randomly bought a wooden container with a lid big enough to fit 100g of pepper.

Once I have transferred the salt and pepper into their rustic containers and bag, my work was done.

Aah, too many things happened today. I should sleep early and get up bright and early tomorrow to sell my products.

Praying that tomorrow’s deal will go well, I fell asleep after a long time.

 

[Gumihou: Ah, the worries of having no money. Gumihou sort of understands too. . Also, Koshihikari is Gumihou’s favourite type of rice. It’s bloody expansive but very delicious.]

 

[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs

[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs

[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue

[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue 

[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information

[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose

[7] Add Dialogue Tag

[8] Koshihikari – a premium Japanese short-grain rice cultivar developed in 1956 

https://thericejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12284-018-0207-4