Chapter 1415 - Captivating Sukiyaki ①

One afternoon, while reading a magazine over a cup of tea, I suddenly came across an article that caught my attention. It was about the food culture of the other world, and it was introducing those that were rare in this world.

Especially with the recent spread of Camera Magic Tool, I feel that these gourmet magazines have become more glamorous and more spectacular.

There were several dishes introduced in the magazines, mainly rice dishes, but the one that caught my attention was sukiyaki. Come to think of it, I feel like I haven't eaten sukiyaki for a long time.

(T/N: Sukiyaki.)

As I was thinking about this, I suddenly felt like eating sukiyaki. I have soy sauce and mirin that Neun-san gave me, so if I wanted to make it, I should be able to do so without any problem at all.

(T/N: Mirin is a sweet rice wine used in cooking.)

I also got some tofu that Neun-san gave me... For sukiyaki though, grilling those tofu might be better.

There are no problems with vegetables, and I feel like I can make them easily if I want to. That sounds great, sukiyaki... Well, if I ask someone around or Alice, I feel like they'd prepare it for me in an instant, but since I've come up with this idea, I'd like to try making it myself.

...I guess I'll collect the necessary ingredients and try making it huh. And if I'm able to make it, it would be great to eat it together with Lilia-san and the others.

[...Well, that's what I thought earlier.]

[Heehhh, that sounds great. Sukiyaki is delicious. It's rare in this world, and it's only inconspicuously circulated in the remote areas of Hydra Kingdom.]

[Arehh? It wasn't that popular huh... Ahh, no, soy sauce is something unusual here so they can't prepare it huh.]

(T/N: Warishita is a stock mixed with soy sauce, mirin and sugar, often just called sukiyaki sauce)

[Well, there's that too, but it's more because there was no tofu until recently. And so, Hydra Kingdom also used substitutes.]

[Ahh, now that you mentioned it...]

If there was tofu in the Hydra Kingdom, Neun-san wouldn't have asked me how to make it. In that light, even though its existence itself had been handed down in this world, sukiyaki may have been a phantom dish back then that couldn't be reproduced.

Well, it seems that it was reproduced using substitutes...

[That sounds like a fun idea, so can I join along in gathering the ingredients?]

[I'd appreciate your help gathering the ingredients, Kuro. I feel like Kuro would know a lot about how good ingredients would be.]

[I'm a little confident in that area. I've been occupied with matters of my companies lately, but now that they're done with, I have some time to spare.]

[...Your companies have been developing new products lately after all.]

[Well, once we get into it, we can't help it. The Video Player Magic Tool isn't completely finished yet, but the Recorder Magic Tools are well distributed and new products we have made are generally well received. That especially goes for the instant food, which was at a level where production can't keep up with consumption.]

[Those had been featured in a number of magazines here and there.]

Recently, Kuro has been selling various new products through the several companies she owns. There's the Recorder Magic Tool issued by the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company... In other words, it's a magic tool that can take pictures. As expected, they were still not at a price that commoners can easily buy, but they're quite popular with publishing companies and the like, and the number of magazines that actually use photos is increasing.

In addition, bath salts and play equipment also seem to be selling well. The first series of bath salts in particular was popular with the nobility, so it seems that the second series will be an onsen series. If the awareness of onsens rises with this, tourist destinations that show the greatness of their onsens may start appearing in the future, so I'm looking forward to it.

And most of all, the ones with the most tremendous sales were the instant items. Even if one doesn't have a magic box, those can be easily carried around as a ready-made meal, and they also taste great.

They are so popular not only among adventurers and peddlers, but also among ordinary households, that as many as they make, they sell, and they are so popular that stores have to put purchase limits on them.

Since the sales are so tremendous, it seems that the development of the instant food series other than bread and soup was brought forward and the second instant food series was already on sale, and this was also featured in multiple magazines before even its release date.

[We already put out a second batch. The Baby Castella Anywhere has been a big hit too. It's great to be able to eat freshly made baby castellas whenever you want.]

[...Well, I agree that freshly made food is delicious.]

That instant baby castella product is obviously strongly influenced by Kuro's personal opinion, but since baby castella is a very popular snack in this world, it certainly seemed like it would be a big hit.

[In the future, I wonder if you'd cooperate with famous restaurants and reproduce the taste of their meals?]

[...Fumu. That's an interesting idea. It will also be an advertisement for the stores themselves, so doing that might be interesting... However, it would require a lot of time and effort to produce elaborate dishes... but there is a possibility of making it as a limited-time only product, something sold in a limited quantity within a limited period of time... ]

[Ah~~ Kuro? I'm sorry to say this while you're mulling over all that, but if it's possible, I'd like to go back to talking about sukiyaki...]

[Ahh, you're right. Sorry, sorry. Then, what ingredients should we gather first?]

When I remembered about the cup noodles back in my world and thoughtlessly brought it up, Kuro bit on the topic, but hearing me call out to her, she immediately changed the subject with a smile.

That aside, what ingredients should we gather first huh... I guess it would have to be beef huh?