The Other World Dining Hall (WN) Chapter 85

Takikomi Gohan1

Friday night.

While looking at the s.h.i.+ning silver in front of him, the owner thought of one person.

[I wonder if that person would come again this year…]

Fall would come when summer was over.

In Nekoya, as autumn was a season full of appet.i.te, many appetizing foods made from cheap, seasonal ingredients were served.

During this season, the regular menu was not changed, but the daily sets would use seasonal ingredients of various tastes.

Due to the cheap price and abundant variations, the daily set was a signboard dish of Nekoya.

It was a tradition in Nekoya to examine what kinds of ingredients were available before deciding what to cook.

It was also one such ingredient in front of the owner right now.

[It's the first autumn salmon this year.]

Yes, in front of the owner was a salmon brought by the fishmonger.

Frozen food, imported goods and cultivated food were circulating all year round, but the natural ones that were on sale in the season were cheap and delicious.

Especially at autumn, as the salmon was fatty at this time of year, there were various ways to cook it.

[Well, what's the most delicious way to cook this…]

Generally it was made into sas.h.i.+mi, but it was also delicious to be grilled with salt.

[…There's new rice if I'm not wrong.]

After he considered making use of both rice and salmon, the owner decided on the recipe.

He cut the salmon into bite sizes and brought out a small rice cooker he used at home.

He used the part of the salmon he just sliced, mushrooms and newly milled rice…

[This is it.]

After he set the cooking timer to tomorrow morning, the owner lightly turned his head.

[I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning.]

The owner returned to his home at the third floor while smiling to the taste of autumn which was cooking in the rice cooker.

While feeling the cold morning air, Aletta walked through the slums which she recently visited only at this time.

(It's getting colder lately.)

Autumn had arrived at the Kingdom.

The sunlight of hot summer sun had become docile, and the newly harvested crops and wheat lined up at the market.

The clear cold air of the morning was a bit chilly, and though the summer was hot, it was a bit hard to appreciate winter without the warmth of her winter clothes.

[Yaa, h.e.l.lo. You sure are early.]

[Yes, h.e.l.lo.]

On the way to her destination, a robed magician that started to live at the slums about a year ago ever since Aletta lived at Sarah's house lightly greeted her, so she lightly greeted him back before continuing her walk.

Lately the rubble head been cleaned up and only vacant lot had remained.

At the center was the door to otherworld dining hall.

At the moment she stepped onto the vacant lot, while feeling a faint itchiness on her feet, she approached the door and opened it.

(All right! I have to work hard today as well!)

At the moment she stepped forward, Aletta steeled her determination.

'Chirinchirin', Aletta who came to work looked at the unfamiliar thing in the kitchen.

[Ano, what is this?]

Before Aletta was a box made from otherworld material, it's neither wood nor metal.

Steam steadily rose up from the box and she could smell the good aroma of fish.

[Aa, that's a rice cooker. Look, that's the one I usually use to cook rice.]

[So this is rice cooker, huh?]

To the owner's explanation, Aletta tilted her head.

It was a tool like the magical silver cylinder, the mysterious black box in front of her was called a rice cooker although she couldn't understand how warm rice could be made just by putting rice and water inside it.

[Aa, the food that's currently cooking was difficult for the one that's used for the restaurant…]

While it was certainly delicious, but it was a cuisine not ordinarily served as it was not compatible with the "Western food" of the restaurant.

However, the owner cooked it for "employee meal" as fresh salmon and freshly milled rice were available.

[Yos.h.i.+, it's cooked.]

The scent of autumn wafted out as the owner opened the lid.

[Waa… it looks delicious…]

Aletta smiled to the scent of shoyu, rice and fish without bad smell.

[Right? It's Nekoya's special menu, takikomi gohan with salmon and mushrooms. I cooked a little extra for second serving, so enjoy it.]

While smiling, the owner told her the name of the dish.

Aletta went to a seat and waited a little.

[Ou, I kept you waiting.]

The owner placed a set meal of takikomi gohan in front of Aletta.

Miso soup with fried tofu and radish, das.h.i.+maki tamago, pickled vegetables and hot coa.r.s.e tea2.

Besides that, takikomi gohan served in a big bowl was the main dish.

Pure j.a.panese breakfast was rare in Nekoya.

[Here.]

[Yes, thank you very much.]

She received the bowlful of takikomi gohan from the owner.

It was dyed brown by the shoyu and the red fish meat could be seen peeking from some places.

[Well then, let's eat.]

[Yes. Demon G.o.d, thank you for giving me food… let's eat.]

Along with her usual prayer, she accompanied it with the otherworld's prayer of appreciation she learned from the owner before she ate.

First of all, she reached for the brown rice.

(It's somewhat similar to pilaf… I wonder if it's Western food.)

She recalled a somewhat similar dish.

It used rice and smoked fish meat, but it didn't smell of b.u.t.ter.

Moreover, instead of spoon, it used chopsticks to eat.

The square omelet garnished with grated radish and ketchup was not served in Nekoya.

Therefore, Aletta recognized what it was after a year working at the restaurant.

(Maybe it's a j.a.panese dish…)

j.a.panese cuisine. It's something that the owner only made occasionally.

The rice dishes that were eaten using chopsticks and called j.a.panese cuisine were mostly preferred by those who lived at the Western Continent.

The owner said "if it's j.a.panese cuisine, then there are quite a few restaurants that are better than here", so the owner did not cook it often.

While thinking such, a bite.

(A, this… is delicious.)

The slight sweetness of the rice spreading in her mouth was accompanied by the salty shoyu.

The fish and the mushrooms mixed in were delicious too.

The fish meat with bright red colour did not have any bad smell and contained plenty of fat.

And its fat oozed out every time she chewed.

It was a pleasant thing for Aletta who had never eaten such fish back in her hometown that was located at a crevice of a steep mountain.

The mushrooms added were good.

Mushroom, which was an autumn ingredient, was used in a soup even at Aletta's hometown.

Even a soup seasoned with little salt and herbs taste better only by adding mushrooms and she remembered that the mushrooms which had absorbed plenty of the soup were delicious.

And this takikomi gohan contained two types of mushrooms.

One was the finely chopped "maitake" mushroom while the other was "s.h.i.+meji" mushroom with black umbrella and white stalk.

These two mushrooms gave their delicious taste to the rice and at the same time, absorbed the flavors of shoyu, rice and most importantly, the fish meat.

Rice, fish and mushrooms. While she enjoyed the taste of these three ingredients, the bowl became empty.

[Ou, another bowl?]

[Yes!]

Without missing a beat, she nodded to the owner whose bowl was also empty.

At first, she tried to restrain her appet.i.te, but after knowing that the owner liked to see Aletta eat deliciously, she ate a fine amount due to her youthful appet.i.te though she was careful so that she did not become too full.

While waiting for the refill, she reached for the das.h.i.+maki tamago.

(…Un. This is totally different.)

While she chewed on the egg, it contained plenty of soup stock.

It was seasoned with a bit of sugar, salty shoyu and some kind of umami.

When she had a fit of curiosity before, she bought some eggs for several coins and boiled them, but it didn't come close.

Of course, there was no comparison between the skill of the owner who was a professional chef (according to her master Sarah, he was comparable to the chef of the royal castle) and the amateur Aletta.

The natural taste of eggs did not taste like this das.h.i.+maki tamago. While it was good, it was also dry and crumbly, so there was something missing.

(Surely there are secret seasonings that only master knew.)

Aletta poured a bit of shoyu on the grated radish and ate it while thinking such.

The taste of slightly bitter and spicy radish and the clear shoyu joined the das.h.i.+maki tamago, showing another facet of flavor.

[The das.h.i.+maki tamago get along well with the takikomi gohan too. The compatibility of salmon and eggs is good.]

[Yes… a, it's true.]

When the owner said so, Aletta ate the das.h.i.+maki tamago along with the second serving of rice and was convinced.

Certainly the egg flavor along with this fish meat (it seemed that salmon was its name) was a wonderful combination.

Then they silently ate the takikomi gohan.

When they finished their meal, the rice cooker that used to be full of takikomi gohan was now empty.

[It seems that we finished all of the 1 liter3 of rice.]

The owner said in a surprised voice at the quant.i.ty they ate for this morning.

The owner himself knew that his tension had risen after a long time since he last ate takikomi gohan, so he knew that he ate a little too much.

And Aletta also ate a lot.

[Haa… it was delicious.]

After eating the rice, Aletta was smiling happily from the bottom of her heart while she drank her tea.

(…Also, I wonder how to make it.)

Seeing that face, the owner spoke while feeling satisfied.

[Alright, since our bellies are now filled, let's work hard today.]

[Yes!]

Aletta responded with a smile.

And today was another busy day at Nekoya.

Takikomi Gohan(炊き込みご飯, 炊き込み御飯) is a j.a.panese rice dish seasoned with das.h.i.+ and soy sauce along with mushrooms, vegetables, meat, or fish. The ingredients of takikomi gohan are cooked with the rice; in a similar preparation, maze gohan (混ぜ御飯), flavorful ingredients are mixed into cooked rice. 番茶 - Bancha (coa.r.s.e tea) is a type of j.a.panese green tea. As a type of common tea, any kind of homemade green tea is commonly called in this term. In the raw, the quant.i.ty of the rice is 5 合 (gou). According to Wikipedia, 1 gou is equal to 0.18039 , so I rounded it up to 0.2 and multiply by five, hence 1 liter.