Chapter 55

Antonio's tempura was a big hit with the family.

Even little Pamela enjoyed the tempura and asked for seconds.

"The tempura is delicious."

"Munch, munch."

Monta also seemed to like it, holding the tempura in his small hands and munching away.

"Are you planning to serve this at the new restaurant?"

Julia asked, curious.

"Not just this, but I'm thinking of serving dishes made with this cooking method. I plan to make tempura not only with fish but also with vegetables."

The problem was the dipping sauce. While there was fish sauce, he had never seen soy sauce. Without soy sauce, he couldn't make the dipping sauce.

He intended to develop soy sauce eventually, but it would take time. For now, he thought it best to eat it without any sauce or with a bit of salt.

Antonio returned, and they had him taste the tempura.

"The crispy texture and the umami from the fish are great. If you sell this, it will surely be a hit."

It seemed to suit his brother's taste as well.

He tried making a citrus juice similar to lemon and drizzled it over the tempura.

"This is good too."

While Pamela and Serge didn't like it, Julia and Antonio said it was delicious.

If this citrus fruit could be obtained year-round, the citrus juice might be a good option, but that seemed unlikely. It might be better to serve it as a seasonal sauce.

He thought about trying to make a dipping sauce with fish sauce. Although fish sauce has a distinctive smell and might not work for the dipping sauce, it was worth a try.

"Hey, Ricardo, can you get this fish again tomorrow?"

Julia asked.

"What are you going to do with it?"

She asked because it was a favor from her mother, but she wanted to know the reason.

"I want to let the ladies who run the Chinese bun shop try it and get their opinions."

Before she could answer, Antonio interrupted.

"If that's the case, I'll ask Stefan first thing in the morning."

"Alright, I'll ask Antonio then."

Antonio nodded, looking pleased. Maybe he was happy because he would get to see Eleanor, Stefan's daughter.

Antonio finished the last of the remaining tempura.

"Did you come up with this dish, Ricardo?"

"Yes, there's a bit of a story behind it."

He explained that he had developed it as a gift for Professor Roland to get information about the demon tree.

Julia exclaimed, "Oh, Professor Roland, he's a regular customer at the Chinese bun shop."

"Really? He buys Chinese buns? Then, can you introduce me to him next time?"

"But, what should I say to ask him?"

"I'm planning to have a tasting session for the new dish. How about inviting him to that? I hear he's a gourmet."

The next afternoon, the neighborhood housewives gathered at the Unius family home with their children.

Ricardo and Antonio were out, leaving Julia and the young children at home.

The children started playing on their own, while the housewives gathered in the kitchen.

"I've gathered you all here because, as you know, thanks to Mr. Macard, we can start selling Chinese buns again from tomorrow. Today, we plan to prepare for tomorrow and develop a new menu."

"Oh, what's the new menu?"

"Is it another amazing dish like the Chinese buns?"

The housewives got excited and started chattering.

"Let's finish the preparations for tomorrow first."

They started with pumpkin and sweet potato buns and finished the meat buns after about three hours.

They packed the buns that were ready to be steamed into boxes and stored them in the refrigerated storage crystal that Ricardo had given them.

The refrigerated storage crystal was made from a crystal fruit from the magic forest that Ricardo had processed. It had a metal protective shell, a magic control circuit, and a magic conduction rod to make it usable by those who couldn't control magic.

Of course, she asked the housewives to keep the refrigerated storage crystal a secret, but they would need to think about security measures against theft in the future.

Incidentally, this refrigerated storage crystal was a failed experiment. He had tried to make the storage capacity smaller to reserve space for the factor characters, but he miscalculated the amount of magic to infuse.

As a result, the capacity was only about one-fifth of a regular storage crystal, making it insufficient for storing all the ingredients needed for the shop.

"Alright, now that the preparations are done, let's talk about the new menu."

Julia explained about the tempura.

Stefan, the fisherman, had delivered about thirty of the fish he caught in the morning.

After everyone prepared the fish, they heated oil in a pot.

When the oil was hot enough, they coated the prepared fish in batter and dropped them into the oil.

"Be careful of the splashing oil."

They drained the tempura when it turned a golden brown, placed it on a large plate, and had the housewives taste it.

"Oh, it's delicious."

"It's delicious on its own, but even better with a bit of salt."

Hearing the word "delicious," the children came over.

"Hey, what's delicious?"

"Give some to Laura too."

Julia said, "One each, you can have one," and the children eagerly grabbed the tempura from the plate.

"Oh, my child usually doesn't like fish, but he's eating it happily."

After the children each had one and went back to play, Julia said,

"This cooking method also makes vegetables delicious. Of course, some vegetables work better than others, but I want you to try different vegetable tempura today."

The housewives brought various vegetables and made tempura.

"Melbo and Charaimo are delicious."

"Beuren is good too."

Melbo is a type of pumpkin, Charaimo is a sweet potato, and Beuren is a lotus root.

Julia grated a type of onion and carrot and mixed them with the batter to make a tempura fritter.

This was a method Ricardo had suggested.

"Wow, mixing different vegetables is a good idea."

The housewives were impressed. Julia smiled and proudly shared the knowledge Ricardo had taught her.

"You can also mix in shrimp or other ingredients for a delicious fritter."

"That sounds delicious."

"Actually, it would be even better with a dipping sauce called tentsuyu."

"What kind of sauce is that?"

"It's a sauce made with a seasoning similar to fish sauce, but we don't have that ingredient nearby."

"Then, let's try making it with fish sauce."

The housewives were incredibly proactive. They made various tempura with different ingredients and found suitable ones. They even found a fish sauce with a mild flavor and managed to create something similar to tentsuyu within a month.

Ricardo was surprised and praised the sauce.

A few days later, Professor Roland, a tall gentleman in his forties, came to buy Chinese buns after hearing they were back on sale.

When the professor approached the queue, he spotted someone he knew and called out,

"Griselda, are you here to buy Chinese buns too?"

Griselda, a talented woman who was a graduate of the Royal Vizel Academy and currently a governess for the third daughter of the Boniperti Marquess family, replied,

"Yes, the young lady I teach, Greta, likes them, so she asks me to buy them when we come to town."

"Interesting, it's rare for a noble lady to know about a commoner's food like Chinese buns."

"That's a misconception. The Crown Prince is also fond of Chinese buns, and many nobles enjoy them."

"I see, so the popularity of Chinese buns has spread among the nobility as well."

Noticing the professor, Julia came out of the Chinese bun shop and greeted him.

"Professor, thank you always."

"Julia, you've finally reopened."

"Thanks to everyone's help. By the way, I heard you're an expert on demon trees. Is that true?"

"Yes, but why do you ask?"

"My son Ricardo wants to talk to you. Could you spare some time?"

"My son... However, I only discuss my expertise with my students or when it's necessary for research."

Ever since he became known as an expert on demon trees, monster hunters frequently visited, asking for easy ways to defeat demon trees. Some of them were rude, so he decided to only provide information to his students.

"Could you meet my son as part of your research? He's raising demon trees near the Second South Gate."

The professor was interested. He had wanted to meet someone raising demon trees near the coast.

"My son wants to invite you to a tasting session for a new dish at the shop. Could you talk to him for a bit during that time?"

A customer nearby interjected,

"That's not fair. Invite me too."

His wife chimed in,

"Darling, a tasting session isn't just about eating for free. You have to provide proper feedback. Can you do that?"

"I can say if it's good or bad."

"Anyone can do that."

"Sorry, but we can only invite a few people because there's a limited amount of the new dish."

Julia apologized.

"It's fine. He's just being silly."

"When is the tasting session?"

"Would tomorrow at noon be okay?"

"That works, but where will it be?"

"I'd like to have it at my home."

She would have preferred the new shop if it were ready, but the temporary sales booth wouldn't work.

"I'll accept the invitation. Please tell your son."

The next day, the tasting session was held at the Unius family home.

The invited guests were Professor Roland, Bernardo, Isarco, and Emilia.

"The dish I'll be serving today is called 'tempura.'"

Ricardo explained and then coated sliced sweet potato in batter and dropped it into the oil.

There was a sizzling sound and the oil splattered.

"Is it... cooked in oil?"

Professor Roland was surprised.

"Yes, it's called 'deep-fried.' The taste changes depending on the oil temperature and the batter. It's a complex cooking method."

He took the sweet potato out of the oil, drained it, and served it on four plates.

"Please try it with or without salt."

Emilia tried it first without any seasoning.

"The texture is interesting. It's delicious."

"This is a taste that makes you want a drink."

Hearing about a drink, he remembered the ale he had bought. He had wanted beer, but it seemed beer hadn't been invented in this world.

He took a chilled ale barrel from the refrigerated storage crystal, poured it into wooden cups, and served it.

"It's daytime, but one cup won't hurt."

In this country, a cup of ale was considered as harmless as water, and it was common to have a light drink during lunch.

Isarco took a sip of the ale.

"Wow, this is good."

He seemed to enjoy the cold ale.

In the summer, high-end restaurants and noble households used magic to create ice to chill drinks, but the catalysts for the ice-making magic were expensive, making it a luxury only the wealthy could afford.

"Hmm, cold ale. It feels like being a noble."

The professor was in a good mood with the cold ale. Ricardo also wanted to drink, but at twelve, it was too early to start drinking.

Bernardo looked at the refrigerated storage crystal with a sharp eye.

"That's a refrigerated storage crystal. With the hot season approaching, we should start preparing to sell them. I'll count on you."

Feeling the approaching hot season, Bernardo seemed to be thinking about making a profit from the refrigerated storage crystals.

After serving various vegetable tempura and fritters, he served the fish tempura, which the guests thoroughly enjoyed.

Satisfied with the taste of the tempura, Professor Roland shared his knowledge about demon trees.

Ricardo asked detailed questions about the demon tree Tamiel and inquired if there was a way to defeat a group of demon trees.

"Hunting a group... That's reckless."

"But, demon trees must have some weakness."

The professor shook his head.

"The only weakness is the tumor in the tree's core. There's nothing else..."

Ricardo thought for a moment and asked,

"What about lightning? Would a lightning magic spell be effective against a group of demon trees?"

"I'm not an expert in magic, but I think it would be effective. However, your goal is to obtain the materials from the demon trees, right? Using lightning magic would damage those materials."

Bernardo looked disappointed.

"What about poison?"

"Yes, poison that affects demon trees... It might exist."

"Does it?"

"I've heard that the venom of the Steel Scorpion is effective. It won't kill them, but it will paralyze them."

"Steel Scorpion... Another tough monster. It's said that even high-level magic can't defeat it."

Isarco exclaimed,

"Is it that powerful?"

"Their exoskeleton is as hard as steel armor, and even high-level spells like 'Nine Heavens Rending Wind' and 'Crushing Flame' couldn't defeat them."

He asked if the 'Sun Flame Bullet' could defeat them, but Isarco said he didn't know.

The Steel Scorpion is said to inhabit the Ascali Volcano south of the capital.

"I'll try to see if I can capture one."

Ricardo decided to go to the Ascali Volcano.

2017/10/16 Typo corrections