#T/N: Adapted to a Bonus Chapter of Tate no Yuusha no Oshinagaki vol 1. Can be read on mangadex as ch 6.5
“Then, show me how you cook using these ingredients! If you can’t, close the store and train under me! Understand!?”
I, who was mainly operating around Riyute Village in preparation for the waves, happened to witness a person exclaiming so in the restaurant I frequent.
This restaurant is reasonably priced, and the portions are large, so I frequented it. I lost my sense of taste ever since getting false charges pinned onto me, so I don’t know if the food even tastes good or not.
Having already finished her meal, Raphtalia had since returned to the inn.
I already had plans to go out negotiating to sell the materials of monsters and medicinal herbs, but…
The owner’s face drew a bewildered expression towards the customer.
“Hmmmm…”
He could have just rejected the guy… was what I thought.
After all, what the customer brought was the corpse of a large frog-like, newt monster.
A monster that seemingly inhabits within the depths of the swamps to the west of Riyute Village, named Frog Salamander. The naming being so direct is quite appalling.
There’s no need for him to accept such a request.
Which was what I thought, but the owner’s reply was completely different from what I had expected.
“I understand. Please wait for a moment.”
As he said that, the owner brought the monster into the kitchen.
When I approached gently, the owner placed the corpse of the Frog Salamander on a cutting board and crossed his arms.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes?”
I approach the owner and ask him a few questions.
“Why are you troubling yourself to fulfill such an unreasonable demand?”
“… Actually, that customer is the head chef who manages the restaurants in this neighborhood… and he’s here for an inspection.”
“Huh…” I gave a half-hearted reply as I glanced sideways, observing the inspector, who was waiting for the food to come to him.
“So, in other words, is it like a test to keep the store running?”
“Maybe it’s because of the waves, but the crops have not been doing well these days, which led to concerns about famines. His course of action would require us to be able to cook monsters regardless of their kind, saying that the business wouldn’t be able to survive if we can’t cook them into delicious dishes.”
Ah… Well, it’s an emergency after all, I can’t help but agree with that.
So, if the owner of this restaurant is unable to make that into a dish, this restaurant will have to be closed for him to go for retraining… huh.
That’s bad news. If this shop, which has been of help to me with its inexpensive prices, closes, I’ll end up having the troublesome task of procuring food aside from already having to process the materials obtained from hunting.
After all, the guys at this place are good to Raphtalia, who eats heartily here every time. I’d be troubled if the store closed now.
Well, some torture this is, being demanded to cook something delicious out of an ingredient like this.
“You could just chuck in some spices and have him only enjoy the texture of the meat.”
If it’s just cooking this frog-like newt, then he should be fine for the most part. This restaurant, surprisingly enough, has a rich variety of spices after all. The owner has a specialty in super spicy dishes, even having dedicated menus for super spicy dishes.
“That is possible, but… such a deception won’t work against that person. Any half-hearted dish served will be seen through instantly.”
It’s like he’s a judge in some cooking anime. Sounds like they will have a parent and child gastronomic showdown or something.
“What’s more, failing to process this monster would cause it to become poisonous.”
Is this monster a Pufferfish or something!?
“There’s no helping it.”
With a kitchen knife in one hand, I cut a slit in the Frog Salamander’s stomach.
From the looks of it, the poisonous parts are the internal organs and the back… there are also poisonous glands and the like.
“Hey! What are you—”
I gently slide the knife along the cut in the meat to expose the internal organs, carefully pull out the organs that look like poisonous glands without breaking them, and peel off the tubes that connect from there.
“Ah?”
“What? Something wrong?”
“N-no…”
He fell silent and began to stare intently at me handling the food. It’s not that hard, duh.
Well, I’ve finished removing the poisonous glands. Its meat and bones’ smell… seems to be strong. It lives in swampy areas, so they’d definitely smell muddy.
I pour the remaining water into the jug and continue washing the muddy meat as much as possible.
“Why are you just looking? You help out as well, go boil the water.”
When I gave the order to the owner, he nodded. He immediately poured water into the pot and started boiling it.
We washed the meat several times in order to remove the muddy smell attached to it.
Since it’s a poisonous monster, it would be good to knead some medicinal herbs with strong detoxification effects into it.
And since its texture seems to be similar to frog meat… we’ll have the often-used hind legs as the main dish.
I then stir-fried the sliced vegetables with oil before doing the same for the meat as well.
Its bones… are surprisingly soft, with many of its parts being gelatinous.
It’s comprised of bones that modern Japanese knowledge can’t comprehend. The other parts are like those of a fish.
Considering that it might be poisonous as well, I’ll also add some medicinal herbs and let them simmer in hot water.
I don’t know if it even tastes good. I can’t taste anything after all.
It cooked rather quickly with the gelatinous portions wobbling like a jelly, becoming really appetizing to the eye.
And since it looks like jelly, I sprinkled it with a sugar-like thing before serving it on top of the stir-fried meat and vegetables.
The remainder can just be eaten with seasoning of your liking, like Tokoroten.
#T/N:「ところてん Tokoroten」is a gelatinous dish made of seaweed that is congealed and shaped into noodle like jelly.
The leftover, somewhat hard tail meat and bones, were deep-fried for the customer to enjoy the texture.
Any other remaining meat was then made into a hot pot before being served.
“For other variations, you can make fried rice or whatever it is that you like. It shouldn’t be that much different from usual meat.”
“Ah, okay…”
With a stunned look, the owner carried the food I made to the inspector.
The inspector reaches for the dish and puts it in his mouth. Then his eyes fluttered, and he began scarfing down the food.
“Incredible! To think that the Frog Salamanders that live near this village, which were thought to be unfit to eat because of their smell and poison, could be brought to such a high level of flavor! The detoxifying medicinal herbs you mixed in with the garnish enhance the taste!” or so he says as he eats.
Hey, the food is flying out of your mouth!
“I can see it! The life cycle of a Frog Salamander! The cycle of hatching from an egg, living to the best of its ability, growing, transforming into an adult, and conceiving a child again! The strength of its life is concentrated here!”
… What is with him, being in such high spirits.
“I-impossible! My muscles tremble with joy and my heart starts beating as soon as I eat it!” said the inspector as his clothes ripped from the strange exertion of strength from his chest muscles.
“Oh… this is a dish with life in it! It’s delicious! It’s delicioooouuuuus!”
Do whatever you want. For the time being, this store will not be closing anytime soon.
No longer bothering to continue listening, I left through the back door.
—
“Welcome home. How was it?”
“Pretty well.”
After leaving the restaurant, I sold the medicine and materials, and returned to the inn with money in hand.
Raphtalia is doing push-ups in the room, looking bored. Even though she’s still a child, she’s strangely motivated.
“Here, a souvenir.”
“What is it?” Raphtalia receives a bag containing a certain dish that I made in the restaurant. “Fried food?”
Then, Raphtalia puts her hands into the bag and stuffs her cheeks with the detoxified fried bones.
“It’s delicious. What is this?”
“Fried Frog Salamander bones, which are apparently poisonous. Remember that one near the swamp last time?”
Raphtalia throws up.
“W-what kind of stuff are you feeding me, Naofumi-sama!”
“I already removed the poison, you know.”
“That’s not what I mean! Why did you make such a strange dish!”
“Newts are nutritious, so I thought they’d be good for you. Since you’re still growing, I mean.”
“Just because I’m hungry, doesn’t mean that I am that famished to the point that I would even fathom eating poisonous monsters! Naofumi-sama? Are you listening?”
Man… Raphtalia has been turning against me recently. It’s not to the point where it’d violate the slave crest, but… it’s becoming troublesome to deal with.
Incidentally, it is said that the restaurant in Riyute Village prospered after receiving the approval of the inspector.
