Suzumoto threw something into the air, and Kariya sliced it into bite-sized pieces with a sword swung at unbelievable speed.
Katori catches it below.
…Yes. It’s a potato. A potato.
“Ah, aaaah, sorry Kariya! I cut my finger! Help!”
And next to them, Hariu was peeling a carrot with a knife and cut his hand.
“…”
Kadomi-kun silently sheds tears while clumsily peeling the skin of an onion.
“Eh, what do we do with this? There’s no ham, right?”
“We have bacon, though.”
Toriumi and President ponder over a printout.
“Suzumoto, grind this meat into minced meat.”
“Don’t ask for the impossible.”
Hagasaki-kun goes back and forth between the food storage.
…Yes. We are in the midst of a cooking practice.
It all started with a simple issue.
“We might not be able to go home today,” was all that suddenly came through the “communication.”
…Maito-san must be having a hard time too. She seems to be in the middle of contacting the members of the wind orchestra, and it seems like it’s going to take time, so it must be plan A… Hopefully, it’s something that can be resolved through peaceful negotiations, so we don’t need to worry about her asking for help.
But aside from that, we ran into the problem of “what should we do for dinner.”
I can cook to some extent, but without a rice cooker, I can’t cook rice. Yes, definitely not.
Plus, it depends on having proper cooking equipment.
Instead of a gas stove, Maito-san cooks with firewood or “fire magic.”
And then, the ingredients are just, unknown.
We have meat, big chunks of it, not sliced or minced. Just big pieces.
Vegetables are even more of a mystery. Their sizes are outrageous, the colors are strange, and maybe their properties are different too…? Anyway, we just don’t know how to handle them.
We don’t know the quantities or the ingredients; there’s just too much we don’t know.
…However, a savior appeared.
“Aaaaa! I knew it was here! Found it!”
It was the printout from a cooking practice Hariu had left in his bag.
Since the bag, along with its contents, came to this world, thanks to Hariu’s laziness, we were able to obtain a menu and recipes. Lucky, right? Yes.
The menu on the printout was… hamburger steak, potato salad, orange jelly, and white rice.
…We’ll skip the jelly, but the first two seem doable.
We’ll substitute the rice with bread. Yeah, no choice there.
…If the remaining printout had been for making Chinese rice dumplings, we would have been doomed. Yes.
So, we started cooking… and it was a disaster.
I’m not particularly good, or rather, not at a level I can boast about. Just at a normal level.
…But everyone else is terrible. Terribly bad. This is bad!
Unable to peel vegetables properly without a peeler, holding a knife unsteadily, and in the end, better at cutting with a sword!
Aaaaah, this is not good. Everyone, let’s cook more…
“The onion… is done… I’m going to the bathroom…”
While saluting the ever so innocent Kadomi-kun, I start chopping the onion into fine pieces.
I’m not as fast as Maito-san, but at least I think I’m better than anyone else here…
…But, using the knife that was available, it cuts really well. It feels several times sharper than Hariu’s throwing knives.
I wonder if Maito-san sharpens them every night… Ah, that’s a bit scary, isn’t it.
“…When the bamboo skewer goes through, it’s OK… hm… there… OK, it seems.”
“Kadomi-kun, if it doesn’t stick in without doing that, then it’s no good.”
Suzumoto’s interjections are appreciated. But I wish they would understand the meaning of “the bamboo skewer goes through smoothly” without having to guess.
“So, how long should this be fried?”
“Wow, Hagasaki-kun, how could you let it get to this point…!”
“Ah, no, it’s fine. This level of browning is within acceptable limits, so let’s just plate it for now.”
We plate the caramelized minced onion for the time being.
Otherwise, it seemed like it might burn from the residual heat…
“We don’t have breadcrumbs.”
“Don’t we have bread? Just mince that up, shouldn’t that work? Hm?”
Toriumi heads to the food storage to get bread, crossing paths with Hariu who has just returned.
“Hey, hey, this egg isn’t just ‘one egg’, right? It’s obviously much bigger than a normal egg, isn’t it?”
Hariu brought back an egg larger than a human head.
…There were definitely smaller ones. Please bring those.
“By adding salt to the minced meat and kneading it, actin and myosin dissolve and bond to form actomyosin, creating viscosity and elasticity.”
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
It’s unfortunate that President’s knowledge and actual experience don’t quite connect. Yes, you need to knead it a bit more.
It’s supposed to become like minced tuna, as it says on the printout!
“Uh, the potatoes… ah, were these supposed to be drained?”
On that side, it seems the boiled potatoes were left in the water and have become very soft.
“Ei… ah.”
“Kadomi-kun, it might be better not to poke it anymore. Let’s stop.”
Of course, if they’re overcooked, poking them with a bamboo skewer will just break them!
“We couldn’t find milk, so let’s just go without it. Adding breadcrumbs—”
Well, they are fresh breadcrumbs, so I suppose it won’t turn out too bad.
“Adding the egg… oh! Sorry, the shell got in!”
Why did Hariu try to crack it directly in? Please consult your own skills first!
“When shaping, make it red blood cell-shaped…”
Kadomi-kun, I think you might be mistaking that for white blood cells…
“President, why did it turn out that shape?”
“There’s a thing called sickle cell anemia, which is a genetic abnormality, and it can cause anemia in some people.”
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
That’s not what they mean by red blood cell-shaped! It’s supposed to have a nucleus removed and be dented in the middle, that’s the shape of a red blood cell! You know what you’re doing, right!
“…And then, pat it to remove the air… ah.”
Kadomi-kun, there’s something called adjusting your strength… oh, right, you’re not used to adjusting your strength with the corrections applied. My apologies.
“Uh, by the way, do we have mayonnaise?”
“…I haven’t seen it.”
…We’ve started making potato salad, but I’ve realized I’ve never seen Maito-san use mayonnaise.
“Mayonnaise is emulsified with egg yolk’s lecithin from vinegar and oil, so I think it can be made.”
“Let’s go with salt flavor! Salt flavor.”
I immediately dismissed President’s suggestion. Because if we try to make mayonnaise manually, it’ll definitely separate! I can already foresee that future!
“…So. Who’s going to flip it? Is there a brave soul?”
…Surrounded by the frying pan with the hamburgers, everyone falls silent.
…No one’s stepping forward, huh.
I’ll do it…
“Hey, hey, the sauce for the hamburgers, it says Worcestershire sauce and ketchup, but did we have that?”
“…Let’s just go with salt.”
We can’t use what we don’t have.
Really, how does Maito-san manage everything…?
“It’s kinda… watery.”
Kadomi-kun, who tasted the potato salad, is tilting his head, but that’s expected. After all, the boiled potatoes were just left in the pot as they were!
“Eh, really?… Oh, it’s true. It’s kinda watery.”
“Should we heat it to evaporate the moisture?”
“I don’t like it because it might burn.”
Yes. It will definitely burn. You’ve never fried potatoes, have you? It will burn. It will really burn!
Please, let’s not do that!
…And so, somehow, we managed to get to the actual eating…
“Then, let’s eat.”
Come to think of it, since we’ve arrived in this world, we’ve never missed saying “let’s eat.”
…We tried eating.
“Wow, I’m experiencing ‘neither good nor bad’ right now!”
Hariu’s assessment is very apt.
Exactly that feeling.
Somewhat hard, bland hamburgers, and watery potato salad.
It’s not inedible, but it’s not particularly delicious either…
“…I hope Maito-san comes back tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
…If Maito-san can’t come back tomorrow morning, maybe I should manage breakfast on my own…
…But that worry was unnecessary.
“I’m home!”
“Ah, welcome back.”
Maito-san has returned. She seems like a ghost maid now.
Um, she looks very tired. I’m worried.
“…Er, what’s going on here?”
And Maito-san is looking at the table with a surprised face.
“You said you might not be able to come back. So, we made dinner.”
…Just so you know, we can cook, at least. Yes.
So, Maito-san, please don’t look so moved…
Honestly, if you ask if it was delicious, it was a very iffy line, but Maito-san seemed to eat it very deliciously, or rather, happily.
