Chapter 602 –Easy Bacon-Style Porkbelly
Author: Eguchi Ren
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou >_<
Eguchi Ren: It’s a little short though
Gumihou: I think Eguchi-san lost track of what he’s building… any way, it’s no longer short after Gumi was through with it. Ho ho ho~ Gumi also made bacon before, so do feel free to send your questions in~
Clonk- clonk- clang- clang- conk!
The sound of construction echoed throughout the mansion.
I must say, Dwarves worked really quickly.
When Bruno-san told me that an entire detached house could be built in 10 days, I had only half believed him. However, it turned out that the entire house could really be finished within 10 days and the interior done in 2.
Right now, they are currently working on building a dormitory for single people. [1] After thinking about it for a few days, I decided not to create a ‘share-house’ style building where toilets and baths had to be shared. Instead, all the rooms would be in the 1DK style with its own mini kitchen area, bath and toilet. A total of 6 such rooms would be built within this house.
Bruno-san had [2] shaken his head when I proposed this design. He muttered something about ‘overly luxurious’ and something else, but I was no longer listening. After all, to a Japanese like me, a bath is not a luxury but a necessity. As for the kitchen area, while not everyone would like to cook, it was still convenient for people to warm up some leftovers for snacks, boil water for tea or something.
“Anyway, it won’t take us 10 days to build this one. Since the interior is identical, albeit extravagant, it would only take about 10 days at most. If you had tasked us to build one of those, it would only take us 3 or 4 days.”
By ‘those’, Bruno-san meant the servants’ quarters that were already here when I bought the property. Still, it was pretty amazing to think that an entire house could be built and furnished within 2 weeks.
“As for this maisonette-type building… umu, I would have to take into consideration the stairs as well as the overall structure… hmmm,” Bruno-san frowned over the rough blue-print that I had hand drawn for him to explain what a ‘maisonnette-style’ building looked like. “I don’t know why you want to have so many entrances, it’s a little troublesome but we could do it in about a month, I expect.”
[2]“A month!” I was astounded.
“Well, it’s a completely new design. I have to make sure the foundation is sound, the stairs go where they should and maximise the space-” Bruno-san said defensively.
“No, no, I mean, wow, a month is really fast. I’m amazed, Bruno-san!” I quickly said. “It’s beyond what I had expected, very amazing!”
“Hmph, well, I guess…”
Oho, is the Dwarf actually blushing? I handed him a bonus whisky as encouragement, “I look forward to seeing the finished product!”
“You will be amazed, I guarantee it.”
“Haha.”
[2]Indeed, I felt very confident about leaving all the construction shenanigans to Bruno-san. I had heard horror stories from friends about unethical renovations and construction workers, but I had every confidence that Bruno-san would not let me down.
Work hard, Bruno-san!
Meanwhile, I’m going to take it easy for a while.
By taking it easy, I meant that I was going to use the time to make something that I had been meaning to, but never had the leisure time to do so.
A while ago, I found some smoke chips at [Net Super] on sale a little while ago. It had been a long time since I had last used smoke chips, but it impression was so amazing that I never forgot the taste.
Now, with time on my hands, I thought I’d give it a try again.
So, the plan is to make some simple bacon-style pork belly.
According to the description on [Net Super], to make authentic bacon, the meat would need a week of curing. However, for the simple bacon-style pork belly, it only needed 1 day of salting.
This simple ‘bacon-style’ pork belly is more like a juicy smoked pork, and, according to [Net Super], would be ‘moist and delicious’ perfect for sandwiches, and fried rice and add a touch of flavour to any kind of dish.
When I first saw it, I thought: I got to make this.
Also, cured meat is one of the things that goes really well with alcohol, so, I’m looking forward to that as well~
Ahhh~ beer snack, here I come~!
Still, this so-called ‘Easy Bacon-Style Pork Belly’ cannot be made in a day. Aside from the one-day curing, it had to be smoked for at least a couple of hours before leaving it overnight for the flavour to settle.
Now that I have the time, I can attempt this challenge.
Speaking of which, I had been saving all my Dungeon Pork belly just for this occasion.
Since this would be a major, time-consuming project, I intended to try using two types of salt for the curing process. The Mercandante salt, which was a little expensive but had been my go-to salt lately, as well as the herb salt that I had bought from the capital.
Also, considering that last sad incident where all the smoked sausages I had made to nibble on as beer snack ended up inside the belly of my (then) Gluttonous Trio, I had gone all out and prepared as many Dungeon Pork belly as I could bear.
In addition to the smoke chips, the other most important equipment is actually a wok! That’s right, that’s unexpected, right?
Hohoho, I am now fully prepared.
Let’s get smoking!
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
[3]
First, I set out all of my portable stoves in the garden on workbenches I had made with Earth Magic. Of course, I had my stove out as well, but since I intended to make a whole bunch of very delicious Bacon-Style Pork Belly, it made sense to overestimate the amount I should make.
Woah, I didn’t realise I had so many portable stoves… well, all the better. Let’s just buy a few more woks…
By the way, the pork belly has been curing in salt since yesterday, so I’ll be doing the smoking today. Since I used high-quality salt, I opted for the ‘dry rub’ method over the ‘wet brining’ method. Hopefully, the high-quality and flavourful salt will penetrate properly into the fairly thin (about a couple of inches thick) pork belly.
I know that whole smoked bacon usually comes in thicker pieces, but the method employed here is the ‘Easy Bacon-Style’ and not real bacon. So, to add to the speed, the thickness of the meat had to be reduced. Perhaps, once I am more familiar with smoking, I could build a smokehouse and smoke huge racks of meat at once…
But for now, let’s go with the smoke wok method.
That’s right, I will be smoking the meat in a wok. So naturally, the meat would have to be the length of the wok and only a couple of inches thick, so that more of the smoky flavour would penetrate into the meat.
To prepare the wok for smoking, first, place a layer of aluminium foil in the wok. The foil should be large enough to stick out of the wok. Then, place lit wood chips on the foil. Then, place a net over the chips with the meat on top.
By the way, I found the easiest way to light the chips was to place a layer of unlit chips first, and then drop two or three lit chips on later. That way, the embers will burn nicely. Not to mention, since I have so many woks set out, it’s more efficient to layer the woks with unlit chips first and then drop the lit chips later after the meat has been set up on the wire racks.
Speaking of which, the smoke chips I use today are cherry wood chips. So, I am really looking forward to the result.
Also, in addition to meat, I will be smoking boiled eggs and cheese. Cherry wood chips, or sakura wood chips, are said to be fairly neutral and could be used to smoke all kinds of things, so I might as well take this opportunity to smoke a few other things at the same time. The fire used to smoke cheese and eggs cannot be as strong as the ones used for meat, so, the way to bring down the temperature without reducing the smoke is to soak some of the chips with water first, before placing the lit chips on top. That way, the embers will be weak, but enough to smoke the egg and cheese without drying or burning.
I really don’t want to open the wok cover to find my cheese melted through the wire racks or my seasoned ramen eggs dried out or cracked from overheating. By the way, the cheese I plan to smoke are the 6p cheese and Camembert cheese [4]. I like using these cheeses because they are fairly neutral tasting and will take in the smokey flavour well.
As for the meat, it’s best to wipe off all excess moisture before placing it on the wire rack and covering it. To prevent excess smoke from escaping, tuck the extra foil paper up and around the edges of the lid. By the way, I bought a few glass covers so that I could watch what was happening inside the woks.
Although, to be honest, with all that smoke, nothing much could be seen.
By the way, the reason why I use the stovetop even with the embers burning is to encourage heat into the wok. I used medium heat for all the food, but turned off the fire after just 5 minutes for the cheese and eggs. I let the heat continue for another 45 minutes to 1 hour for the meat.
I read somewhere that if any water droplets appear on the lid or food, I should pat them off, but, considering the dry environment inside the woks, I don’t think that’s actually necessary. Also, I could not really see the meat until I opened the lid or until most of the smoke had dispersed even through the glass lids.
After heating the woks for 5 min, I turned off the fire for the cheese and eggs and let them sit in the smoke until the whole thing cooled down. As for the meat, I tried checking it with a bamboo skewer to see if the juices come out clean, but hmm… anyway, if the meat’s not done, I could just fry them in a pan a little before eating them.
Of course, if Fer et al wanted to eat them half-cooked, I guess that’s fine?
“Nice, these are ready now~” I said as I placed the smoked eggs and cheese into my [Item Box]. I have also taken out my magic cooler. The plan is to put all my smoked meats here so that the flavour can settle properly.
Meanwhile, a few of my employees have been moving past my line of smoking woks, but aside from a curious look now and then, none of them said anything.
W-well, I guess this isn’t the strangest thing they have seen me doing? Haha.
Once the meat had cooled down, I wrapped the Bacon-Style Pork Belly with grease-proof paper and placed them into the refrigerator. After some thought, I took out all of my smoked cheese and eggs and placed them in a cardboard box. I will leave these on the kitchen counter overnight. Since the weather is pretty cool now, they should be fine, right?
To be honest, my main worry is that someone will try and eat them before they are ready…
That won’t happen, right?
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow~”
[Gumihou: So… it is unclear whether Bruno had been tasked to build 2 or 3 buildings. There was the maisonette-type building and then there’s the dormitory. However, there’s also the ‘build within 10 days and interior in 2 days’ which… why are you telling me this? I read ahead but could not find any confirmation yet, so let’s leave it at 2 for now. Mukouda can be ‘surprised’ by a 3rd building later if it had to exist]
[1] To prevent inconsistencies, worked this canon information in as ‘Mukouda changed his mind’ [2] Emphasis on this culture clash [3] The original smoking method employed here is actually… very inefficient and contradictory. Anyway, will mitigate it with some real-world techniques that work.
The technique here mentions using medium heat for 15 min, but then it also said the ‘dungeon pork has to be thoroughly cooked’ and there was even a point where ‘it’s fine after juices come out clean after inserting a bamboo skewer’.
… dude, wut?
In the next chapter, they also ‘fry the meat’.
I don’t know anymore.
Anyway, Eguchi-san doesn’t have much barbecue experience (in the past chapters, Mukouda placed vegetables on the grill first, followed by meat and took them both off the grill together. This would only result in blackened veggies or undercooked meat). So, it made sense that he probably doesn’t have much real-life experience with smoking either.
Gumi’s contribution:
– brining vs dry rub + reasons
– cut of meat + reasons
https://www.foodfirefriends.com/smoking-times-temperatures-chart/#pork-belly-whole
Indoor wok smoking – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZZVOvhyJec
I’d probably try to re-purpose one of my woks for this.
[4] Japanese cheese – Because Hokkaido is a big dairy-producing prefecture, Japan actually produces a lot of cheese, but the most popular are these two, along with Mukouda’s favourite ‘mixed cheese’6P – a type of processed cheese that comes in a disk and is prepacked into 6 portions, hence, 6P
https://www.meg-snow.com/english/about-us/history/
Camembert – comes in a wooden little box, this cheese is considered quite luxurious. However, not really that pungent
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Please hire a chef family please please please. Please do some other thing than just cooking constantly. All I read is familiars getting hungary cooking feeding hunting. Destroying that church was interesting. Need some more intricate plot. Last couple of chapters getting repititive. Traveling to capital was cool but was a short visit. I realized what this novel lacks. A strong villian or disaster. So far its basically slice of life in a different world. Next to zero struggle. I know no one cares but if next couple of events also gonna be this repititive rinse and repeat stuff I am gonna drop it.
It does get a little stale lately, even so some of those draggy chapters, like the dismantling of the leviathan, were necessary.
There still is a lot potential for conflict. Other countrys might get threatened and start a war, someone could try to kidnap Mukoudas employees, it was said that more hero summonings could destroy the universe, teleportation magic, demon continent etc.
Lets hope for the best.
There is chance of growth from Mukouda side, but so far we do not see anything improvement on his end. He complains about his situation on no women, no love life, and being a coward, but him being a Japanese man (Salary man to boot) seems to contradict his origin. Mukouda said he read the Isekai manga and such. Now he is powerful (via his familiar) and complain that he is not powerful enough BUT at the same time does NOTHING about it. That irks me. He has the power the change, but does nothing. He has a group of guards who can train him to fight and keep it a secret (plus he told them when he got them that he does not fight) get Tabitha to train him when he is at home yeesh.
In Japan, Rich men has women all over and connection. Mukouda has Lambert (and Mari) as contacts. Mukouda can EASILY get introduction to meet people. Note: Lambert already introduce him to all kinds of people.
Mukouda is rich, he knows he is rich, but he complains he does not have anyone. He can EASILY talk to Williem and ask for recruit of female adventurer who is willing to travel with him (if that is what he wants since he is going all over) and their relationship can be interesting story (mainly she is trying to train him or get him to be less cowardly)
All his personal issues can be solve by himself, but he just chose NOT to.
In my opinion author does not know how to write romance. For the other herod he just said they become intimate all of a sudden. He didnt explained the process and I suspect author does not know how to write so he avoids it. Its easy this way. In case of getting stronger, he does not give mukouda enough time to anything else.All his time is wasted bt taking care of his animals.
TRue, but Mukouda CAN participate more in dungeon run (where his familiars want to do) He does have perfect defense which monsters have repeatily attack and do no damage, so he could raise his level and be stronger that way.
He can practice his magic. In the chapters, he louges around and do nothing between meals. With his title (chef) and job (cook) he can cook pretty fast and can do quite a bit, so he has plenty of time.
Heck, with Double experience, he can solo the meat dungeon and gain level 😉 (which he needs to go back soon since it will be a year)
I can explain this somewhat.
While you do often see characters in other mangas improve and become more powerful, it is usually to amass more power money etc.
Mukouda is the same. He wanted money in the beginning and took the initiative to sell salt and pepper to a Merchant Guild, did his best to save money by doing his own cooking. Then… comes OP familiar Fer, followed by OP Familiar 2, 3, and 4. Suddenly, the need to make money and gain strength disappeared.
Sure, he still tried to gain more power while travelling alone with Fer, but that was it. He gave up because he had an excess of both things. Instead, it became a day to day ‘feed the animals and try to relax’ thing. He had more trouble trying to get free time than anything else.
Secondly, on the ‘why doesn’t he go after women if he wants them’ question.
The answer is… he probably doesn’t really want them. What he actually wanted was probably ‘the idea of women’. I can assure you that this is a real thing. From the way he mostly thought about food, and guarded his leisure time, it is clear that ‘good food’ and ‘good time’ are two of the most important thing to him. Sure, he gets pissed off when he saw couples, however, rather than ‘wanting’ a relationship, he was probably feeling left out of ‘something’. He derived more joy shopping for salt and did not even look at passing women unless they are right in front of him and out of reach.
If there is anything we know about Japanese culture is peer pressure. And one of the things that pressures people most is ‘being single’. It’s shameful. It’s an indication of a ‘lack of success’. You are an ‘alien’ in a ‘normal’ society. Being a ‘couple’ is a natural progression for a man in his mid to late 20s and he was already feeling the pressure back in his world. This was shown in his annoyance and being called ‘ojiisan’ or ‘uncle’. It’s not that he doesn’t want to grow up, he doesn’t want to be reminded that he was nearing his 30s and still ‘unsuccessful’ for not having ‘a girl’.
He attempted to resolve this by getting a slave girl, but even if he had managed to get a slave girl, the woman would probably ended up being mostly decorative in the estate anyway. In fact, I suspect that his desire for women is just his lizard brain suddenly perking up at the sight of boobs or something.
Finally, the repetitive ‘cook-hunt, wail-hunt-cook’ thing.
Ahem, let’s start the history of manga in general. Let’s start with Dragon Ball. Like a lot of shounen manga, it follows a pattern of ‘fight strong opponent-fail-train-fight again-win’ or the more popular ‘fight-almost lost-power of friendship-win-training montage’. Frankly, I find most ‘action’ heavy manga boring because of these repeats. Tondemo Skill’s repeats doesn’t bother me because I’m interested in the cooking aspect. The romance in ‘Dragon Ball’ is also severely lacking, even though the main characters got married had children etc. In other words, this novel isn’t that much of an outlier when compared to the more traditional manga style.
So, in summary:
Tondemo skill follows a typical pattern that naturally occurs in almost all of the popular manga written by Japanese. If, as Baba suspects, Eguchi Ren is not well versed in writing romance, I’d rather he not start anything at all. Generally, if writers who aren’t well-versed in writing romance start going down that road, the story would quickly devolve into a harem thing. Frankly, things are already super annoying with all the familiars pestering him for his time and the pantheon poking around every month. I don’t want to see 2D women mixed in to the pile. If you look back at the 3P relationship between the original ‘heroes’, you can already see how ‘typical’ this novel could have turned out to be. In fact, there were already 2 ‘typical’ harem-style stories here. If Mukouda starts training seriously etc, Tondemo Skill would most likely end up as a story that is a cookie cutter to that guy from 300 years ago.
My advice is to sit back and enjoy the leisurely ride that bobs down the calm stream of life that is Tondemo Skill. Enjoy his occasional wailing and try to recreate some of the cooking in this world. I fell in love with this story for its zero drama, zero romance, zero conflict and the sheer nothingness that stretches out in Mukouda’s future.
Thank you for the treat.
Hah, idiot MC deserves any misfortune that results from his carelessness, inattentiveness, or overall inability to learn from experience. Guess he will be whinging up a storm the next day, “hOw CoUlD tHiS hAvE hApPeNeD?!? nO oNe CoUlD hAvE pReDiCtEd ThIs!!11”.
Wowz, reading this I thought I was having a fever and brain not working, but even after finishing I still don’t quite get it. I think the author was smoking too, cuz it feels like a pothead wrote this. Thanks for the editing Gumi, helps with brain not working.
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! May God bless you!
It’s like he just sat in place and dreamed up the method without really thinking through. I was having a very Shiyu moment with this chapter.
finally caught up, thanks for the translation
i was just wondering, given that the current raw chapter is at 625, with the current chapter translated for premium user at 622, will the free readers still get weekly updates after the latest translated chapter caught up with the raw?
Amazing effort Gumi, Thanks!
Why do I think that anything left on the counter will be gone in the morning? With little, the elves and the idiot twins as well as the glutinous quartet only the food in net super I’d safe. Once it’s taken out its fair game.
Yeah, I was really worried too. But Mukouda…
Yea. but the logic does not sit well. Mukouda KNOWS his familiars EAT a lot (including Dora since in previous chapters Dora can eat more than most people (except Feodora but I am sure she can give Dora run for his money) and leaving anything out would be silly.
Heck, there have been many time they eat LARGE snacks which would equal OUR meals for the DAY and they continue lunch as if nothing happen. Heck, when given the chance, they eat eat eat (see meat festival chapter)
so in what world Mukouda thinks even REMOTELY the food left out will not be eaten? If it is jewelry, yea, it will not walk away because we know his employees are super loyal and probably willing to die for the man, but food? yea……
It is like leaving a cabinet of booze and tell the dwarves not to drink it (the exception is Bartel but he will probably stare at it and guard it with his life since he cannot drink any until Mukouda give in) but yea………
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for your work!
^_^