Chapter 276: Chapter 260: Cooking Instructions 2

I made two kinds of udon for lunch: stewed udon noodles made with a simple shoyu-based noodle soup-like substance, and miso-stewed udon noodles; as well as stir-fried eggplant with miso, and gomoku-mame made with various beans and root vegetables.

“What else should we make~?”

(Say, is there a way to make raw vegetables taste better?)

“There’s this thing called mayonnaise.”

(Mayonnaise?)

“Yes, it’s eggs mixed with vinegar and oil.”

Marshelly-san asks me about what goes well with raw vegetables, so I introduce her to mayonnaise.

“”Onii~chan, Onii~chan.””

“Salad.”

“Sauces~?”

“Salad sauce? Ah, you mean dressings! Come to think of it, I spoke about making some, but never actually did it. Then, let’s make that as well!”

“”Let’s make~!””

He might get tired of eating salads with just mayonnaise, so I’m going to try to make salad dressings to prevent that.

And the dressings are something I’ve been meaning to make for Allen and Elena anyway.

“Let’s start with… green onion.”

I’d like to make a few different kinds, but I think I would like to start with a soy sauce-based green onion dressing, which I used to like to use. I’d like to eat it again.

First, I fried the chopped green onions and let them cool, then I mixed them with a little bit of shoyu, vinegar, and oil to adjust the flavors.

“N~… something like this?”

“”Ahhh~””

“N?”

“Tasting~~~”

“Haha, got it, got it.”

As I tasted the shredded lettuce with a bit of the green onion dressing, Allen and Elena opened their mouths so I put some lettuce in their mouths as well.

“”Delish!””

Allen and Elena seemed to like it and opened their mouths again, asking for more.

(Ahh~)

As the children sampled it for the second time, Marshelly-san opened her mouth too.

“Nono, I definitely cannot do that with you, Marshelly-san.”

(Oh my, how unfortunate. But, is it fine for me to taste it as well?)

“Of course. Please have a try.”

I could tell she was joking as she opened her mouth with a chuckle. But even if she wasn’t joking, she just cannot say “ahh” to someone in an adult female form, so I asked her to eat it herself.

(Oh my, it’s delicious.)

“You can add more vinegar to make it sourer, or you can add honey to make it sweeter.”

(So you can change the flavor with a little effort. Right~ Should I try making it with honey?)

“For sure, please give it a try.”

I made a different dressing while Marshelly-san tried to make the green onion dressing to review.

“What should I do next~ sesame?”

Grind the white sesame seeds until they form a paste, then mix in shoyu, vinegar, sugar, and oil.

“This should be fine?”

“”Ahhh~””

The kids opened their mouths before I even tasted it.

“Gee~ you guys are too fast~”

I dipped the lettuce in a bit of sesame dressing, as I did with the green onion dressing, and put it in their mouths.

“How is it?”

“”Dewishh~””

“That so? I’m glad to hear that.”

I tasted it too and the flavor was okay.

But I feel that if I don’t write down the amount of seasoning carefully, I’ll end up with a different taste every time.

Hmm… I’m wondering if I should be more consistent or enjoy the subtle differences every time I make this…

(Please try this one as well.)n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It looks like Marshelly-san has finished making the green onion dressing with honey.

“Let’s have a taste then.”

“Allen too~”

“Elena too~”

“N, it came out very well, Marshelly-san.”

“”This is delish too~””

(Fufu, I’m glad.)

I liked the sweetened dressing Marshelly-san made.

“Is this enough for lunch?”

(It is~ but, I would like to learn a bit more. Hey, Takumi-san, it’s going to be night soon if you leave in the afternoon. Won’t you stay one more night and continue teaching me in the evening and in the morning? Though I say that, the only rewards I can offer is to let you continue picking the fruits and vegetables from the forest, but won’t you consider it?)

Although the appointment was only for today’s breakfast and lunch, Marshelly-san wanted to learn to cook some more.

It’s true that there’s only a limited number of dishes I could teach her with just two meals. But are there any more dishes I can teach that don’t involve meat and fish?

“N~…”

“”Sure~””

While I was hesitating, Allen and Elena gave their approval first.

(Fufu, thank you. But unfortunately, your older brother doesn’t seem too keen on staying.)

“Nono, I’m also fine with staying longer, but I don’t know what more I could teach you, so…”

(Oh my, so it was like that. Let’s see~ I think it’s good that we can now substitute bread with the White Wheat, but I was wondering if there were any dishes made specially with the White Wheat?)

Oh, I see. I did not make anything with rice yet!

“”Curry!””

“Indeed. Let’s make vegetable curry for dinner.”

And maybe something like chop suey but without meat and seafood? Chinese-style fried rice also seems like a good idea, as well as a mini-donburi.

Come to think of it, it’s not only the White Wheat, but Red Wheat should be fine for Oswald-san too, right?

“I would like to teach you about mochi too, but I don’t know where to get Red Wheat. I only have a little remaining…”

When I checked the Red Wheat on my Infinite Storage list, the amount obviously increased.

“… Was it Syl?”

This is… he liked the mochi I sent him before, so he would like more?

“”Onii~chan, what is it?””

“No, I was only confirming how much Red Wheat we have left.”

“Red Wheat!”

“Mochi~!”

“”Wanna eat~!””

(Red Wheat? That’s another rare crop you are talking about~)

“Is it like that, after all?”

(Yes, I don’t know the exact place, but it should be cultivated only in a small part of a region. But, though immediately would be impossible, I would be able to grow it myself, you know?)

It looks like Marshelly-san could grow Red Wheat without any problems.

“There’s a light meal or rather a snack called Mochi, which is made from Red Wheat…”

(Please teach me by all means.)

Since she could get her hands on Red Wheat, I asked her if I should teach her how to make mochi, and she replied instantly that she wants to learn.

“Understood.”

(Fufu, thank you.)

Let’s leave mochi for tomorrow morning. Rice dumplings, red bean paste, roasted soybean flour… grated radish would be nice too. Ah, butter shoyu sounds nice too.

Since the main dishes for the dinner and breakfast have already been decided, I’ll just make stir-fried vegetables and stewed vegetables of different flavors.