Chapter 83

Yuri, who apparently wanted to eat tamagoyaki instead of an omelet, is reporting on the character design, so please take a look if you like!

"Yuri-kun, the frying pan you asked for is ready."

With a smile, Haloz visited and spoke to Yuri, who was hanging laundry in the yard. The apprentices around Yuri greeted Haloz one by one. Yuri, however, remained frozen. Then, in the next moment,

"Really, Mr. Haloz?!"

"Yes, yes, I got it from the craftsman. Here you go."

"Wow, thank you!"

What Haloz offered was a square frying pan. The apprentices, with puzzled faces, peered at it, but Yuri paid no attention. He checked the square frying pan he received from Haloz, his face beaming. This square frying pan was a custom-made item that Yuri had asked the craftsman to make through Haloz, not for business but to satisfy his personal desire.

Yes, a square frying pan, in other words, a tamagoyaki pan.

Yuri wanted to eat tamagoyaki. It's a very familiar egg dish for the Japanese, perhaps one of the two major egg dishes alongside sunny-side up. The hideout only had round frying pans, so while omelets could be made, tamagoyaki couldn't. What? Can't you make tamagoyaki with a round frying pan? Yuri didn't want to call anything that wasn't square "tamagoyaki."

"Yuri, is that a frying pan?"

"Yeah, but it's not just any frying pan. It's called a tamagoyaki pan."

"Tamagoyaki pan?"

The apprentices tilted their heads, wondering what made it different from a regular frying pan. Haloz was trying to suppress a laugh. He had been there when Yuri explained the square frying pan to the craftsman and had even tasted the tamagoyaki the craftsman made with the test square frying pan. It had a different flavor from an omelet, and the craftsman, who liked it, had actually made one for himself. Moreover, Haloz had also gotten one made for his home. His wife was currently practicing making tamagoyaki.

"Alright, since it's been a while, I'll practice too!"

Yuri, who had apparently made a decision on his own, increased the speed at which he hung the laundry. The apprentices, influenced by him, also sped up. Haloz watched them with a smile. ...He thought Haloz would leave after giving the tamagoyaki pan, but it seemed the old man intended to stay. He might be looking for something interesting. In Haloz's mind, Yuri was "a kid who, when given something to meet a request, would return something twice as interesting." The painful part was that it wasn't wrong.

After finishing the laundry, Yuri, followed by the apprentices and Haloz, headed to the kitchen. On the way, he patted Luke's head, who was working hard to clean the hideout. Luke also followed, but the moment he understood that Yuri was going to the kitchen to cook, he turned around. It was a very smart slime, considering hygiene during cooking. ...After the cooking was done, it would come to deal with the food waste, a truly smart slime. When asked if slimes were smart, the answer was "because it's Yuri's familiar."

"Then, I'll make a lot of tamagoyaki for lunch!"

"A lot?"

"More precisely, various flavors of tamagoyaki. Try them and tell me which one you like. That will be your lunch side dish."

"Understood!"

The apprentices gave a wonderful, straightforward response. They loved delicious meals. They were in the stage of eating and growing. It didn't matter if it was an unknown dish. To them, anything Yuri made was basically delicious. ...Please don't say they were being fed. If you say that, everyone in the hideout has their stomachs captured.

In front of the apprentices, Yuri cracked two eggs into a bowl. The bowl was a bit different from a regular one, with a spout. The wisdom of predecessors is amazing. With a spout, the eggs don't spill out. It's really great.

The first tamagoyaki Yuri made was the one he usually ate. The seasoning was granulated dashi and soy sauce. Ideally, dashi soy sauce would be the easiest, but he couldn't find it, so he had to make do. He carefully measured the amount to avoid making it too salty and mixed it with chopsticks, making a pattering sound. To the apprentices, who were curious about what he was making, Yuri smiled and said, "I'm just making tamagoyaki." By the way, the key to making delicious tamagoyaki is not to overmix, so he mixed it until the whites were just broken up.

Meanwhile, Mag, a dashi enthusiast, was looking at the eggs very seriously. With the granulated dashi already in the mix, Mag would probably choose this tamagoyaki. It was that obvious.

"So, what exactly is tamagoyaki? Why do you need a square frying pan?"

"Well, tamagoyaki is a dish where you roll and cook eggs. It's called tamagoyaki because of its square shape, and it's easier to roll that way?"

"Can't you make it with a regular frying pan?"

"It's difficult for me in terms of size and shape. Besides, using a round frying pan makes it feel like an omelet."

"...Oh."

Camil, peering at Yuri's hands from the counter, nodded in understanding. Indeed, eggs cooked in a round frying pan would look like an omelet. However, they still didn't quite understand the process of "rolling and cooking" the eggs. How do you roll liquid eggs? they wondered.

Yuri heated the square frying pan, now known as the tamagoyaki pan, on the stove. He spread sesame oil over the heated pan. While any oil would do, Yuri preferred the taste of tamagoyaki cooked with sesame oil. So, he planned to make the one he liked. He didn't waver.

After spreading the oil evenly, he poured in the egg mixture. He waited for the eggs to cook evenly, then, when the edges started to solidify and could be lifted, he rolled them from the back to the front. For beginners, using a spatula might be easier. Yuri skillfully rolled the eggs with chopsticks.

"What? What is that!"

"Wow, he's really rolling the eggs...!"

"Hold on. They're not fully cooked, right? Why don't they break!?"

"...Delicious?"

"Can you tell the taste just by the smell!?"

While the three apprentices were amazed by Yuri's technique, Mag, staring intently at Yuri's hands, muttered quietly. The eggs were cooking on the sesame oil, and the smell of dashi and soy sauce was spreading. Mag's mind was probably only thinking, "That's delicious. I want to eat it quickly." How did it come to this?

Yuri, ignoring the apprentices, continued making the tamagoyaki. If left unattended, the eggs would overcook and become hard. He didn't care about the children's noise. After rolling the eggs from the back to the front, he pushed them to the back and poured in more egg mixture, lifting the cooked part slightly to let the new mixture flow underneath. He repeated this process, rolling the eggs as they cooked. The key was not to use high heat, as eggs cook quickly and can burn easily. A little more heat was needed to brown the tamagoyaki at the end, but the eggs would cook through during the rolling process.

"Here, it's done~"

He rolled the beautifully rectangular tamagoyaki onto a cutting board. It was still hot, so he couldn't hold it with his hands. He pressed one side with chopsticks and cut it into pieces. With a wry smile, he served the cut tamagoyaki on plates and offered them to the apprentices on the other side of the counter. He left one piece on the cutting board for himself.

"This is tamagoyaki with sesame oil, dashi, and soy sauce. This was the flavor in my home~"

"Dashi"

"Wait, wait, wait, Mag! Don't hog it all! Yack, Camil, secure your share!"

"Understood!"

Ulgrs, who had grabbed Mag in a headlock, shouted as Mag tried to reach for the plate. If left alone, Mag might eat it all. That's what made Mag, Mag. How much do you love dashi? After Yack and Camil tasted it, they both held Mag down. Ulgrs ate during this time, and the last piece of tamagoyaki was given to Mag on the plate. ...Haloz didn't seem to have any intention of eating, so it was fine.

The aroma of sesame oil and the mild flavor of dashi and soy sauce were incredibly delicious. Omelets are seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter, giving them a different image. They thought eggs were amazing. Egg dishes have infinite possibilities.

Since it was cut into six pieces, Mag ended up eating two. However, even after eating two, he still seemed unsatisfied, staring intently at Yuri. Ulgrs lightly tapped Mag's head, telling him not to demand fullness from a taste test, but Mag just looked up lazily without saying anything.

"Alright, I'll make the others, so please wait a bit."

After washing the bowl he used, Yuri started on the next tamagoyaki. Since the seasoning was different, it was better to use a clean bowl or wash the old one. The next one he made was a simple salt-flavored tamagoyaki. He used sesame oil to give it a fragrant finish, making it slightly salty but not too salty.

Next, he made a tamagoyaki with sugar and olive oil. This might seem a bit odd as a side dish, but sweet tamagoyaki is also delicious. The tamagoyaki served in sushi restaurants is often this sweet type.

With these three types of tamagoyaki, the apprentices had different preferences. Ulgrs liked the dashi and soy sauce, Camil liked the sugar, and Yack liked the salt. Camil, who received a reaction like "Is it okay to have a sweet side dish?" answered with a bright smile, "It's delicious, so it's fine." His appearance, which could pass for a well-bred young man if he kept quiet, was in stark contrast to his world.

As for Mag...

"...Just dashi"

"...Huh? Just dashi?"

"Agreed"

Mag was demanding that Yuri make a tamagoyaki with just dashi, not dashi and soy sauce. The apprentices were amazed at his unwavering stance, but he didn't seem to care. Yuri also didn't mind much. He made a tamagoyaki with Japanese dashi and chicken broth granulated dashi, cooked with sesame oil. When he tasted it, it was surprisingly delicious. The dashi enthusiast was indeed formidable.

"Do you really have some weird skill with dashi?"

"No"

"I know it doesn't exist."

Ulgrs, who looked up with a "of course it doesn't exist" expression, grumbled, "Shut up." Behind them, Camil and Yack reached for the dashi-only tamagoyaki. Since it was a taste test, Mag didn't interfere. ...He didn't, but he couldn't help but follow their movements with his eyes, which was endearing.

While the apprentices were making a fuss, Yuri was cleaning up. Haloz, looking very amused, spoke with a laugh. Indeed, the old man was having a lot of fun.

"Tamagoyaki can be made in various ways."

"Yes, the seasoning is a matter of personal preference. You can also add ingredients inside."

"Inside?"

"Like placing boiled spinach or komatsuna in the center, or adding chopped scallions to the eggs."

Haloz nodded, saying, "I see." He would probably tell his wife the various ways to make tamagoyaki when he got home. Tamagoyaki is a dish that evolves with each family's unique flavor.

(...I'll keep quiet about the dashimaki tamagoyaki.)

Watching Mag, who was overjoyed with the dashi-flavored tamagoyaki, Yuri thought. If he told Mag about the dashimaki tamagoyaki, a fluffy tamagoyaki made with dashi, Mag would definitely go for it. Dashimaki tamagoyaki isn't bad, but today he was in the mood for tamagoyaki.

The tamagoyaki pan quietly spread among the ladies, and the dish of tamagoyaki became popular.

Personally, I really like dashi soy sauce with sesame oil, but I think everyone has their own home flavor.

By the way, I was culturally shocked when I saw a friend eating a sweet tamagoyaki with rice.

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