Inn Before Meal, Scratch That, Meal Too
We arrived at the inn lolimast recommended.
It's huge, way bigger than the lodging house of Daijel. It can probably hold hundreds of guests.
As I pushed the bell to call for the receptionist, I saw some adventurers mixed among the guests.
As expected of a guild-sponsored inn, there seem to be a lot of adventurers staying here. Don't see many shady looking guests too, seems like a nice place.
And now checking in. Eh, 2000 en a night? ...W-well it's twice as high as Daijel's, but it's still on the cheaper side. No complain here... Gotta get serious with the guild job if I don't want to get into the red.
Hm? It's 3000 en for a double room? Rejected... Why would the receptionist even suggest that.
So, we went to the kitchen to make our dinner.
Apparently a lot of guests do make use of the kitchen, so the inn had multiple kitchens available.
I'm gonna make Rush Boar and Jet Boar meat dumplings today. Comparing between each meat and making some mixed dumplings sounds fun.
Let's get to it.
First, I sliced both meat and minced them in a grinder.
Rush Boar meat was fine but I had a bit of trouble mincing the Jet Boar one. It's really quite tough.
I mixed a portion of the meat, while dividing the rest before mixing each with finely chopped onion, salt, pepper and eggs.
Then I rolled up the three types of meat into bite-sized dumplings, finished.
Next, I boil pseudo seaweed and water, took the seaweed out after a bit and put in chopped cabbage and shallot.
Once the vegetable had softened a bit, I put in the meat dumplings, and scooped out the formed scum before pouring in miso (same name in this world, a Japanese person must have made it here), mirin-like spice and sake.
Miso hotpot with boar dumplings, done.
Pot-based cooking is nice, so easy to make~. Very nutritious too with all the veggies.
I moved the pot to the table with a pot stand where Alma was standing by.
"It's done. This one's Rush Boar dumplings, this one's Jet Boar, and this one's mixed."
"You split them?"
"Yeah. Thought it's gonna be interesting comparing them."
"Nn, no Aro rice today?"
"That's for later. First let's dig in the food in the pot."
"...? I got it."
Time to sample them.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"You're not putting them in containers?"
"Yeah, you put what you want in your own bowl straight from the pot whenever. That's how it goes with this stuff."
Eating from the same pot. Well, I'm doing this to deepen our relationship or anything.
But we're in the same party and all, occasion like this is nice every once in a while.
"Hmm, this Rush Boar meat is really soft. It's pretty much pork."
"Gulp... Jet Boar one's a bit tough but also chewy. It's meatier than Rush Boar, I like it."
"Ooh, the mixed dumpling's got both Rush and Jet Boar's accents combined nicely. Shoot, should have just mixed them all from the get go."
"But it's fun to eat them when they're so different like this."
I'm thankful for Alma's kindness. Good for the appetite.
The veggies get the flavor seeped in nicely too. It's the veggies from that village, they're all innately sweet and go well together with miso.
I can barely sense the meat's gamey taste thanks to turning them into dumplings and pepper. Hm? Why not add that in along with pepper then?
I went to kitchen, took a fruit similar to yuzu (apparently called Rinka) from Item Screen, peeled the rind and chopped it.
Normally you'd want to cook yuzu first to get rid of its astringent taste, but apparently you don't need to do that with this one. It's like a better version of yuzu.
<TLN: Yuzu is a species of citrus.>
"Alma, I think this will go nicely with the dumplings. It's up to you though."
"What's that?"
"It's a chopped peeled Rinka. I'm not big on it eaten on its own, but I have a feeling it'd go well with peppered meat dumplings."
"Meat, with fruit? ...It's like the menu in a high class restaurant."
"No no, it's nothing that bourgeois."
I do remember watching people adding fruit into sauce for meat in a TV program, wonder how that tastes? Is it even good?
Now then, let's have a taste on this impromptu idea. I actually haven't tried yuzu chili thing before.
<TLN: AKA yuzu kosho.>
"...How are they so good. It's spice and fruit, can't believe they taste this good with meat."
"Yummy...!"
Rinka's peculiar flavor combined with pepper's aroma and meat's umami are a match made in heaven. So this is the what they call food marriage.
It's kinda like karaage and lemon, just better. Wonder if there are other good combos of fruit and meat out there?
Our pace boosted as our appetite got tickled, we cleaned our bowls in no time flat.
"Now then, had enough yet?"
"...To be frank, I could go for a bit more."
"Yeah? Hang on tight then."
I put back the pot in the kitchen stove and ignited it.
Then I put unwashed aro rice in. Cooking unwashed rice might sound weird but apparently doing this will avoid turning the rice sticky, and make for a rustling feel.
I put in egg when it had been heated enough, miso egg zosui, complete.
"The ending's just gotta be zosui. It's nice with noodles too."
"Zosui? Rice gruel?"
"It's kinda one, but I think it's got a stronger taste due to the meat and veggie flavor."
"Hee..."
And sure enough, when I had it in my mouth, the taste of meat and veggie spread out inside.
The egg adds all the more. Gotta say, well done me.
We cleaned up our bowls without leaving a single grain of rice in a flash.
"Thank you for the food, Hikaru."
"You're welcome. I might have eaten too much."
I ate a lot and yet my stomach can still take more.
I'd never eaten so much food I couldn't take another bite ever since I came to this world, but this might be too much... It's a one way street to chubbiness if I'm not careful.
While we were cleaning up our pot and bowls, I could feel glances from other guests. Did I do something wrong? Can't think of any though.
I'm probably just feeling sensitive due to all the people here. Almost nobody used the kitchen in Daijel's inn after all.
I was honestly unsure how it'd go at first, but turns out people can adapt to living anywhere so long as you've got roofs and food huh.
Or maybe I'm just too stuffed to think about complicated stuff.
Now then, tomorrow's plan is to take a look around the town before heading to the guild. Wonder how's the guild here like compared to Daijel's.
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