Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Leon's Fish Dishes (At Home)

After the bustling lunch service concluded, it became afternoon.

Alright! Let's do our best and make it!

I psyched myself up and headed to the kitchen. Mom and Dad were helping with the cooking, and Marie and Ian were observing. Everyone seemed quite interested in the seafood.

I placed a wooden box on the counter and opened the lid. The large box contained ice-preserved seafood from the sea, while the smaller one held oils and such bought from the town center. I bought them just in case we run out.

"What's this... ice? Why is there so much ice?"

Ian looked puzzled as he spoke. It's true that if it were mid-winter, ice could form if you left water outside. However, it's still early in the winter season.

"These are ice made with magical tools provided by nobles."

I answered that way so as not to reveal too much about my abilities. Commoners only recognize magical tools as convenient devices used by nobles, so usually, saying "magical tools" is enough to satisfy them.

"I see. Magical tools are really handy, huh? You can even make ice."

"Yeah, it's amazing, right? And inside the ice are seafood from the sea."

I started arranging things on the table. Yellowtail, horse mackerel, mackerel, scallops, and octopus - five types.

"That's everything. In our language, we call them Yellowtail, Horse Mackerel, Mackerel, Scallops, and Octopus."

As I explained, everyone took a step back. Huh? What's going on?

"What's wrong with everyone?"

"L-Leon-kun, what is that!?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ian asked me with a fearful expression. Mom, Dad, and Marie nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Huh? What's wrong with everyone?"

"T-That thing, the creepy-looking one! The one at the very end!"

"Huh? You mean the octopus?"

I see! If you've never seen an octopus before, it must look really strange. It's understandable to be scared.

Indeed, even on Earth, people from regions where they don't eat foreign octopus often find them scary.

"While it might look weird, it's delicious, so don't worry!"

When I said that, everyone relaxed a bit, albeit somewhat skeptically.

However, I'll have to handle the octopus myself.

"Also, what about that tough-looking thing? Can we eat it?"

"Are you talking about the tough thing, the scallops? You can eat the inside, so it's okay. We don't eat the outer part."

"I see, then it's fine."

Ian finally seemed relieved. River fish exist here, so he's seen fish before. It's natural to be scared of something you've never encountered.

In this world, though, people hardly eat river fish. Occasionally, someone who caught fish in the river might sell them, but it's rare. Meat is the main source of food.

A few fish enthusiasts catch and eat river fish, but that's about it.

If people really focused on catching fish in rivers, they could probably gather a decent amount. But would they deplete the fish population quickly? Well, without aquaculture, it's likely that they can't catch a large quantity.

Maybe river fish just aren't suitable for long-term consumption, leading to their decline?

Indeed, even in Japan, people ate a lot of seafood from the sea, but there were fewer opportunities to eat river fish. I've eaten char (yamame) when I traveled, but maybe just that one time.

"So, Leon, how should we cook them?"

Dad asked me. His eyes seemed to shine brighter than usual. It seems like cooking new ingredients is enjoyable for him as a chef.

"Well, since filleting fish is tricky, I'll handle that. I learned it in the harbor town. Mom, Dad, would you mind taking care of cooking the filleted fish? I'll give you the recipe."

"Alright."

What should I do about the recipe? We don't have an oven here, so oven-baked scallops are out of the question. Well, maybe I'll sauté them with garlic and salt and pepper.

I'll prepare the horse mackerel and octopus the same as before, frying and deep-frying them.

As for the mackerel, I'm considering meunière. I remember that with meunière, you sprinkle salt, coat it with flour, and then fry it in oil. After that, you add butter. Maybe I'll try it once.

Then there's the yellowtail. Should I grill it with salt, make teriyaki, or do yellowtail with daikon radish? But both teriyaki and yellowtail with daikon radish clearly lack the necessary seasonings. So, I'll stick to simple salt-grilled.

Let's start with the dishes that might take a while. I managed to fillet the horse mackerel and do the preliminary work on the octopus, cutting it into pieces. The preliminary work was quite tough; I had to use my enhanced body magic.

Phew~ Finally done. I should have improved a bit... But I need more practice.

Well, setting appearances aside, I managed to fillet those two.

"Mom, for the horse mackerel, coat it with flour, dip it in beaten egg, then cover it with breadcrumbs, please. Oh! I need to make breadcrumbs. Can you start by crushing the bread into tiny pieces?"

"Just crush the bread?"

"Yeah. I need it to be finely chopped, almost minced."

"That finely?!"

"If it's too coarse, it won't stick to the horse mackerel and it'll fail."

"I see. Then, Mom, I'll crush the bread finely and prepare the flour and egg, right?"

"Yes! Thank you."

Mom immediately started crushing the bread. She seemed to be more efficient at it than me. No surprise, she's a professional cook.

"Father, could you season this octopus with salt? After letting it sit for a while, dust it with flour and then fry it. Please prepare the oil in the pot too. Put about half the pot with oil. Also, could you light the stove?"

"Half!? Are you using half the pot for oil?"

"Yes. The remaining oil can be used again, and I've also brought oil, so it's fine."

"Well, I guess that's okay..."

Despite being quite surprised, my father began the preparations.

During that time, I started to fillet the saury and yellowtail.

"Leon, is this amount of bread okay?"

"Yeah, it's perfect! Then, Mother, could you fry the horse mackerel coated in flour and egg, and the octopus coated in flour too? Dad has prepared the oil, so I'd like you to fry them when the oil is heated. It's almost the same as what I did at Grandma's house before."

"Oh, is it the same as what you did back then? It seems a bit different."

"It's a little different, but it's a similar dish."

"I see. I'll give it a try."

My mother rolled up her sleeves and looked motivated. She seemed to be checking the temperature of the oil right away. I'll leave it to her for now.

"Leon, what should Father do?"

"I'd like Father to grill the saury and yellowtail. First, for the saury, sprinkle salt and coat it with flour, then grill it in a pan. Once it's grilled, add a bit of butter. For the yellowtail, just sprinkle salt and grill it as usual!"

"That doesn't sound too difficult. I'll give it a try."

"Yeah, thanks!"

Alright... Now I just need to prepare the scallops. First, I need to remove the meat.

I diligently removed the contents of the scallops with a cooking knife. As I wrestled with the scallops, Ian came over to me.

"Leon, can I give it a try too? It doesn't seem too hard if you're doing it."

"You'll do it? Thanks, actually, I was quite tired."

"I'll take over. I've been watching the process until just now, so I think I can handle it."

Ian took over, and I used the time to finely chop garlic and prepare to grill the scallops.

"Leon, I'm done with everything."

"Thanks! You really saved me."

I took the scallops and gently wiped away some moisture with a clean cloth. I had purified the cloth just in case – I didn't want anyone getting sick from bacteria on the cloth.

Now, all that's left is to grill them. Are Mom and Dad almost finished?

Looking over, it seemed like Dad was already done grilling. Mom was still struggling, but judging by what was frying, it looked delicious, so I wasn't worried.

"Is Dad done grilling?"

"I just finished. The smell is amazing, and I'm getting hungry."

"Just wait a little longer. Once this is fried, we're done."

"Is this the filling from the ones that were hard earlier? The scallops, right?"

"Yes, that's right. We're going to grill them with garlic and salt."

"Then let Dad grill that too. Leon, can you start preparing from what's ready? With Ian here, let's set up the dining room."

"Got it! Well then, leave it to me."

So, I, Marie, and Ian set up the finished dishes in the dining room, arranging cutlery and plates. We also prepared water.

Returning to the kitchen, Dad seemed to be starting to clean up, while Mom was still frying.

It'll be ready in a little while. As I thought that, I suddenly realized...

...Oops! I completely forgot about the sauce for the fried food.

What should I do? I hadn't thought about it at all. A sauce would definitely make it taste better. Do we have any tomatoes in the house?

"Dad, do we have tomatoes? Even the preserved ones will do!"

"Tomatoes? I don't think so. We don't really make dried tomatoes at home. We have winter vegetables during the winter."

"I see..."

What should I do? Can I make a sauce from winter vegetables?

"By the way, what vegetables do we have at home right now?"

"Let's see... komatsuna, broccoli, napa cabbage, and maybe some carrots."

Carrots! I remember when I was in Japan, Mom was into carrot sauce!

How did she make it again? I think she said the simplest one with just salt and oil was her favorite.

So, if I finely chop the carrots and sauté them with salt and oil, that should work, right? But that wouldn't be much of a sauce, would it? A sauce needs a bit more moisture to it.

Hmm... I guess I could add a little water?

Let's try making it for now.

"Dad, could you finely chop the carrots for me?"

"Are you making something else now?"

"I forgot about the sauce for the fried food. I thought of making carrot sauce."

"I've never heard of carrot sauce, but well, Leon's cooking is always delicious. I just need to chop the carrots really finely, right?"

"Yes, please chop them as finely as possible! Thanks, Dad!"

My father quickly chopped the carrots into very small pieces. It looked like he did a thorough job.

I put them in the frying pan, added a little water, and then put in oil and salt. I just needed to cook it now, right?

Since I made a small amount, as I cooked it, the moisture gradually evaporated, and it started to resemble sauce in appearance.

Would it taste good like this? Well, if it's not tasty, I can always sprinkle some salt on it and serve it.

While doing this, it seemed the frying was done as well. In the dining room, a variety of seafood dishes were lined up.

The smell was amazing! They looked delicious!!

"Alright, shall we eat together?"

Saying that, Dad took a seat, and everyone else did too.

"Leon, thank you for the wonderful treat. Let's dig in."

"Bon appétit!"

The family began their meal, enjoying the fruits of their labor.