Chapter 55

Summary of the previous chapter ------------------------------------------------------

Everyone chopped the ingredients and prepared the sauce.

"I hope it doesn't turn out to be a disappointment... Let's go to the kitchen for now. We can't cook here."

"Okay!"

Haruka and Aera moved to the kitchen with a slight smile.

The rest of them watched from the corner of the kitchen, as it was too narrow to work together.

"First, we need oil, so let's extract it from the meat."

"Understood. We just need to take the fatty parts, right?"

They prepared a large pot and started putting the fat from the boar into it.

There was quite a lot of subcutaneous fat, so it quickly accumulated.

Aera's technique was particularly impressive, as she skillfully trimmed the fat from the meat.

"Hey, isn't frying tonkatsu in lard really bad for your health?"

"I always thought frying was done with vegetable oil..."

"There are places that fry with lard. It's solid at room temperature, so it's less greasy or something. I don't know if it's good or bad for you, though."

"It's basically a lump of cholesterol."

"But I think it's also weird when they use a lot of vegetable oil and claim, 'It's cholesterol-free!'"

"Plant-based oils are cholesterol-free, which isn't a lie. But it is a lie."

When it comes to food, it's ultimately about the quantity.

Even if something is good for you, eating too much can be harmful.

Diet plans that focus on a single food item are the worst.

If everyone who started them continued seriously, there would likely be significant health issues.

But most people would probably stop before that.

"Aera, you're really skilled. —This amount should be good."

"I've butchered a lot of meat. Are we using all of this? It's quite a lot."

"Yes. Please heat it up and melt it."

"Okay."

Aera lifted the pot and placed it on the stove, performing some operation.

Is that... a magic tool?

I thought stoves that use firewood were common, but Aera seems to have invested in this area.

Or maybe she was swayed by the "self-proclaimed consultant"?

"Next, we need to cut the meat into thick slices... Which part should we use?"

"I prefer the loin!"

"I like the fillet more."

"Naoko liked the loin, right?"

"I don't have a strong preference, but sure."

Small fillet cutlets are good, but thick slices of tonkatsu have a satisfying texture.

It also makes you feel like you're indulging, which might be a bit of a guilty pleasure?

"Let's make a variety of cuts, focusing on the loin. Aera, can you cut the loin into pieces of this size and thickness?"

"Okay."

After cutting a certain number of pieces, they pounded them and lightly salted them.

"Let's use a batter for convenience. Aera, do you have any eggs?"

"Yes, but using eggs will make it more expensive if we serve it in the restaurant."

Unlike the modern era where eggs are cheap, eggs in this time are quite expensive.

There are some available, so there must be some poultry farming, but it's probably not industrial-scale cage farming.

In Japan, eggs became easily available only after a considerable time post-war, so it's not surprising.

"Water is fine, but using eggs will make it tastier. I'll leave that decision to you."

While saying this, Haruka mixed eggs and flour to make a batter.

It looks like tempura batter.

"Hey, Natsuki, is this called a batter? It's different from the tonkatsu I know."

"Naoko, you use flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, right? Sometimes it's flour, milk, flour, egg, then breadcrumbs."

"We use the former. So, we dip the meat in this and then coat it with breadcrumbs?"

"Yes. Using the batter makes it easier and less likely to fail. I don't use it, though."

From the tone, Natsuki seems a bit skeptical.

I don't have a strong preference, so as long as it's delicious, it's fine.

"Aera, do you have any bread? It's okay if it's a bit hard... Thanks. Natsuki, can you grate this?"

"Understood."

While Natsuki grated the bread to make breadcrumbs, Haruka and Aera started coating the meat in the batter.

"Right, you put this in hot oil, right?"

"Yes, that's right. As long as you pay attention to the oil temperature, it's not too difficult... Let's try it."

Haruka tested the oil temperature by dropping breadcrumbs into it, then put the coated meat in.

A light sound accompanied by a tempting aroma filled the air.

The smell of just oil isn't particularly good, but it's a kind of conditioned reflex, I guess.

"Let's fry it for about this long. Would you like to try?"

"Sure!"

Aera took over from Haruka and started frying the tonkatsu.

At first, she was a bit hesitant, but after a few pieces, her technique became confident.

They made enough for six people, so it took about ten minutes to fry all the tonkatsu.

"Done. Now, we just need to add the sauce and either eat it as is or put it in a sandwich... But it feels a bit lacking as a meal."

The tonkatsu looks delicious and makes you want to eat it right away, but nutritionally, it's not great.

There's dessert with dindles, but I'd like some salad.

"In that case, I'll make something. We have some fresh organs, after all."

The moment I thought, "I'd like some salad," she said that?

No, Aera isn't bad, but the thought of a salad made with organs came to mind.

"Fresh organs" is a powerful phrase.

"...Fresh organs?"

Yeah, it's still a bit off-putting.

Just hearing those words makes it sound dangerous, and Haruka's expression shows a bit of hesitation.

So, I added a bit more context.

"Aera collected some 'motsu' during today's hunt."

"Oh, I see... Aera, can I watch? I'm not very familiar with how to handle 'motsu.'"

It's interesting how 'motsu' is recognized as food.

Aera took out a heart, liver, kidneys, and tongue from the refrigerator and arranged them on a cutting board.

They look quite grotesque.

Even if you call them heart, liver, and tongue, the appearance doesn't change.

"Let's start, then."

Aera, who looks like a child, smiled and started cutting open the heart.

Just the description alone sounds quite dangerous. Yeah, I'll wait in the customer area.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Sorry for the wait~"

In the end, Toya and I waited in the customer area, while Natsuki and Yuki watched the cooking.

Aera, being a pro, worked quickly, and soon we had tonkatsu, vegetable soup, stir-fried organs, and grilled meat.

"Wow, it looks delicious! But, of course, let's start with the tonkatsu!"

Toya took the sauce pot Aera offered and poured it over the tonkatsu before taking a bite.

"Delicious! Mmm!"

Don't talk with your mouth full. I can understand what you're saying, though.

But I was also eager, so I took a bite of the tonkatsu.

"Mmm~!"

The crispy texture, sweet sauce, and the juice that oozes out combine to make it very delicious.

The meat itself is probably very good. At least, compared to the regular pork we usually buy, it's several levels better.

If I were to point out a flaw, using coarser breadcrumbs might add more crunch.

The bread we grated was a bit dry, so it ended up quite fine.

But even so, Haruka and the others, as well as Aera, are eating with smiles, so this dish is probably well-suited to the people in this world.

"We can put this in a sandwich. ...Hmm. A slightly softer bread and a bit of accent might be good."

Aera, who immediately tried it in a sandwich, said this.

What else do they put in a katsu sandwich?

Cabbage or lettuce? Some have mustard?

"But this will sell! Once the sauce is ready, we can start selling it. The question is how much to sell it for..."

"How much will the cost be?"

"Well, it depends on which part we use, but if we use this much and cheaper cuts... maybe 15 rea?"

The size Aera indicated is probably about 50 grams.

Meat in this world is a bit more expensive than in our world.

The price we get for the meat we hunt is about 5 rea per gram, but that includes fat and bones, so the edible part is much less.

"Tonkatsu is pretty good no matter which part you use."

"Exactly! I tried a fatty cut for the first time, and it was quite delicious, falling apart in my mouth!"

"I'm not a fan of fatty cuts, but everything else was delicious."

Toya seemed to enjoy the fatty cut, but Natsuki found it a bit too much. Yuki and Haruka nodded in agreement.

I'd be okay with a fatty cut once in a while. Or, if we boil it to remove the fat before frying, it might be delicious.

"I think it would be good to buy a whole animal and use the better parts for more upscale dishes. We need some fat for tonkatsu, after all. What do you think, Aera?"

"Buying a whole animal would be ideal, but it's difficult with butchers. They don't like being bought out."

In this world, livestock is limited to certain regions, so the local butchers rely on hunters and adventurers like us for their supply.

This makes the supply unstable, and if they allow whole animals to be bought, they won't have enough for other customers.

The ability to easily order more animals is only possible with livestock and distribution.

"Hmm, we hunt quite a bit, so we could supply a whole animal..."

"Really!? I'll buy it at a higher price than butchers! I'll also buy the organs if you bring them."

So, if we don't go through the butchers, we can provide the organs and sell them.

Aera's organ dishes were all delicious, so they should sell well.

"What do you think, everyone?"

"I'm fine with it."

Toya immediately agreed, and Yuki and Natsuki nodded in agreement.

"I don't mind, but we won't always be hunting boars, right? How will we handle that?"

Haruka nodded but raised a concern about stable supply.

"We'll either have to limit sales to when we have stock or find other sources."

"From our perspective, it won't be a problem if we suddenly can't buy anymore, so it's better to keep looking for sources. If regular customers come in, we might not need to focus on katsu sandwiches."

"Originally, it was meant to be an early morning promotional sale. If we shift to a more upscale menu, we might not need to push so hard in the morning."

Aera nodded in agreement with our words.

"Right. I'll consider that. For now, let's start a week after the sauce is ready."

"Got it. We'll be leaving now. We have preparations for tomorrow."

"Aera, will you be okay starting tomorrow? Do you need any help?"

"No, I planned to run it alone! Plus, you've already helped me a lot."

Aera pointed to the signboards outside the store, which were surprisingly well-drawn.

They were done in white chalk but had shading and decorative typography.

Yuki had drawn them in her free time, a skill I didn't know she had.

"Color chalk would have made it even better," she said, but the result was already impressive.

"We'll come by to eat sometimes, so feel free to ask for help if you need it."

"Thank you."

With that, we said goodnight to Aera and headed back to our inn for the night.