Chapter 9

When making tempura, preparation is key.

Flour, eggs, water.

Keep the ingredients for the batter cold in the refrigerator. This is very important.

Akane, just by doing this, the tempura becomes much more delicious. Isn't that amazing?

So, you must never forget this.

My grandmother always said this with a nagging tone.

Every time I make tempura, I remember my grandmother's words.

When spring comes, my grandfather and sister eagerly head to the mountains early in the morning and return by mid-afternoon with a large amount of mountain vegetables.

My grandmother and I greatly praise and compliment their efforts.

If we do this, they will eagerly head to the mountains early the next weekend.

My grandmother and I exchange knowing smiles as we send them off. While waiting for them to return with empty stomachs, we stand in the kitchen and make onigiri, chatting about nothing in particular.

The spring dining table is a vivid green. The mountain vegetable dishes we eat with my grandfather, grandmother, sister, and me are always delicious and enjoyable, filled with nostalgic memories.

So, every time I eat the slightly bitter spring mountain vegetables, my heart feels at ease.

Now, the opponent is a large amount of mountain vegetables. There's no time to hesitate. I pat my sister's drooping back and have her help with the preparation.

A large amount of mountain asparagus and young oak leaves.

Cut off the hard sheath at the base. For mountain asparagus that has grown too large, separate the soft part near the leaves from the hard stem.

Fuki no tou (butterbur buds).

For the tempura, open the closed buds as if they were blooming. Be careful not to separate them. Also, prepare some to be fried as closed buds. Set aside some for other dishes.

Bamboo shoots and bracken.

I was troubled by these. Both have a bitter taste and require a lot of preparation time.

Hmm, as I was wondering what to do, the lord of the mountain came with short, quick steps.

He stared at me with his round eyes, then tapped the bamboo shoots and bracken with his wooden tail and returned to his cushion. Then,

“Puhii”

With a single chirp, the bamboo shoots and bracken glowed a faint green for a moment.

Although no one explained it to me, I somehow felt that the bitter taste was no longer an issue, so I boiled a large pot of water and cooked the bamboo shoots.

Bracken becomes mushy and unappetizing if overcooked, so just soak it in hot water until it cools. That's all you need to do.

I also boiled the mountain asparagus stems. Once they become soft, I lifted them out and peeled the skin.

Now, the preparation of the mountain vegetables is complete.

All that's left is to cook them deliciously.

“Akane, I've made the dashi.”

The dashi prepared by Jade is a beautiful golden color today, with a gentle aroma of kelp. However, it's in a large pot, and there's a huge amount.

First, I'll make the young bamboo shoot stew.

Soak the salted kelp to remove the salt and cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Place the dashi, sake, and bite-sized bamboo shoots in a large pot and cook.

Occasionally, remove the foam that floats to the surface.

Once the dashi boils, add a little soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Cook the bamboo shoots in the slightly darkened dashi.

Meanwhile, I'll make miso soup. Since the side dishes are all green mountain vegetables, I'll make pork miso soup.

I ask Jade, who is in charge of peeling, to peel the daikon, carrot, onion, and potato.

... Don't forget to advise Jade on how much to peel the onion.

Slice the daikon and carrot into thin strips, thinly slice the onion, and cut the potato into bite-sized pieces.

... Jade's knife skills are still a bit clumsy, so I occasionally check her progress.

“Keep your left hand like a cat’s paw!” When I say this, she looks incredibly surprised and asks me to say “cat” again. It's quite puzzling.

In the pot, I fry the pork—high-quality oak meat—over sesame oil.

Once the sesame oil aroma rises, add the pork and cook until it changes color. Then, add the root vegetables and stir-fry for a bit. Once the oil is evenly distributed, add enough dashi to cover the ingredients and cook until the pork is tender, removing the foam.

Once the bamboo shoots are cooked to a certain extent, take them off the heat and set them aside. The final touch will be done just before eating.

Jade is in charge of removing the foam from the pork miso soup.

She holds a bowl of water and a ladle, staring intently at the pot, determined to remove all the foam.

—Come on, you can do it!

As I cheer her on in my heart, the rice cooker signals that the rice is ready.

“Akane, I want to help too.”

“Prince!?”

I was taken aback by the unexpected request.

I was just scolded by Ruvan, so I really don't want to deal with this.

Noticing my flustered state, Prince Cain looked up for a moment, then scratched his head roughly, which is uncharacteristic of a prince.

“... Did Ruvan say something to you? Hmph. I also bear responsibility for not stopping Hiyori this time. Supervising Hiyori is my duty. I can't stay here and do nothing. If Ruvan says something, tell him this: I am also part of the purification journey with Hiyori. We might have to camp out at times, and preparing meals is part of the training. He doesn't like waste, so he won't complain.”

—Well, I don't think I'll be preparing meals on the actual journey.

... With a sly smile, he said this and rolled up his sleeves.

Prince Cain, who usually seems to be at the mercy of Hiyori, showed a very shrewd side at this moment, which made him seem very reliable. I felt like I was seeing a new side of him.

I called my sister, who looked tired from preparing the mountain vegetables, and had her make onigiri.

She gently shaped the hot white rice with water on her hands.

After making a small triangular onigiri as an example, she said, “... This is easy,” and eagerly started to shape the white rice. ... As expected, she quickly pulled her hand back due to the heat.

“Akane, what’s wrong with your hands!?”

... There’s no need to be so shocked that your eyes pop out.

In the end, he even said that my hands were as hard as the soles of feet. ... Then, for some reason, Jade, who had apparently been listening, appeared and completely denied it, praising the softness of my palms. ... Of course, Jade was immediately sent back to the pot.

—It’s just a matter of getting used to it!

After struggling to make the onigiri, my sister, who had disappeared at some point, returned with a frilly apron she bought as a joke and tried to make Prince Cain wear it. I don’t need to say that I hit her on the head.

Next, I made fuki miso.

A spring dish made with fuki no tou and miso.

When you chop the fuki no tou, a fresh grassy aroma fills the air. However, if you leave it, it will quickly turn black.

So, prepare all the seasonings and the frying pan before you start cooking.

Fry the chopped fuki no tou immediately. Once it wilts, add the miso thinned with mirin. The miso that sticks to the pan gives off a tempting aroma. Stir for a while and adjust with sugar.

A slightly bitter and salty taste is just right.

The bracken, which was soaked in hot water, is now just the right temperature.

When you press it with your fingers, it should feel crisp. When you break it, the sticky texture should be perfect.

Cut the bracken into thin strips. Place half of it on a plate and sprinkle with kelp flakes to make a cold dish with soy sauce and mustard.

The remaining half is stir-fried with deep-fried tofu and leftover pork. For seasoning, we always use oyster sauce. Soy sauce is also good.

Bracken and pork go surprisingly well together.

Next, I finished the young bamboo shoot stew.

Reheat the pot that has cooled and absorbed the flavors.

Once it starts to bubble, add the kelp and cook for a short while. Stop the heat when the kelp is just warm to prevent it from changing color. Then, serve it on a plate.

Thanks to Jade, the pork miso soup is clear and free of foam. Dissolve the miso and top with chopped green onions to complete it.

Finally, the mountain asparagus stems. Cut them into 5 cm pieces and then into thin slices. Mix them with a blend of vinegar, sugar, and miso. Finish with white sesame seeds. This completes the mountain asparagus vinegar miso dish, a light and refreshing side dish.

So far, everything is done.

The last step is... the battle with the oil!

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Puhin”

The lord of the mountain is seated on a three-layered cushion, slightly buried in the fluffy material.

The knights continue to watch him with stern expressions.

In this heavy atmosphere, I place the dishes one by one in front of the lord of the mountain.

Young bamboo shoot stew.

Bracken cold dish.

Stir-fried bracken.

Mountain asparagus vinegar miso.

A large bowl of pork miso soup.

Immediately, a delicious aroma fills the room.

The lord of the mountain slowly gets off the cushion and sniffs the dishes.

The knights and Dajiru also look curiously at the unfamiliar dishes.

Then, Prince Cain appears with a charcoal grill, causing them to be surprised. ... No one expected a prince to bring a grill.

Furthermore, the prince plans to make grilled onigiri. ... I apologize for putting your prince to work.

Ignoring the shocked faces, Prince Cain places the grill and starts to grill the onigiri that my sister brought.

As the onigiri sizzles and the moisture evaporates, it becomes crispy.

You can add soy sauce for flavor, but this time we use the fuki miso.

Apply the fuki miso to one side of the crispy onigiri and grill it.

As the miso starts to caramelize, a fragrant and fresh aroma fills the air.

The delicious smell makes someone swallow hard.

After struggling with the heat from the charcoal, several grilled onigiri are finally ready, and Prince Cain places them on a plate in front of the lord of the mountain.

Meanwhile, I am still in the kitchen.

I am frying the mountain asparagus, young oak leaves, and fuki no tou, sweating and puffing.

The tempura batter, passed down from my grandmother, fries up crispy.

Mix the cold ingredients from the refrigerator roughly, without worrying about lumps. That's all.

However, if the batter warms up, it becomes sticky, so make a lot of batter and fry it in small batches, taking it out of the refrigerator as needed.

Don’t forget to dust the open fuki no tou with a little flour.

The fuki no tou swimming in the oil looks like blooming flowers.

Sizzle, sizzle, crispy.

Once the batter turns a light yellow, it's done.

Enjoy it with tempura sauce and grated daikon, or natural salt.

The crispy batter can be felt just by holding it with chopsticks, making it very appetizing.

Place a large pile of tempura on a plate and bring it to the lord of the mountain.

The array of mountain vegetable dishes.

Each dish is in a large quantity.

The lord of the mountain looks at them all and then at me.

His black, round eyes shine with expectation.

I smile and say,

“Please, enjoy.”

The lord of the mountain eagerly dives into the dishes.

Young bamboo shoot stew, bracken cold dish.

Munch, munch, crunch, crunch.

Puhii, puhii. He seems to be enjoying it.

With the vinegar miso, ... and then he realizes.

—Pork... meat?

The pork used in the dishes. The small boar in front of him.

Boar... pig's child... pork is pig...!

What a terrifying realization.

The lord of the mountain, unknowingly, is eating his own kind...!?

I turn to Prince Cain in shock.

Prince Cain, who just realized, has his right eyebrow twitching. Then, he subtly points to the lord of the mountain.

I look at the lord of the mountain, who is eating the pork dishes without realizing it.

—This.

I turn to Prince Cain again and mouth, “Cannibalism?”

He replies, “Shh. He hasn’t noticed,” and gives me a thumbs up.

I look at the lord of the mountain again, who has tasted all the dishes and is now focused on his favorite one. ... Yes, the stir-fried bracken with pork.

At that moment, everything becomes irrelevant.

—It’s fine! As long as he doesn’t notice!

I felt a bit like a mischievous person.

Chomp, chomp, puhin. Chomp, chomp, chomp...