Chapter 238 - Episode 211: Speaking of Potato Starch…
Real-life dinner today was karaage. Though, deep-frying at home is a hassle, and cleanup is tough, so it was just frozen food heated in the microwave.
I briefly reported yesterday's stream to Miki and thanked her. I was relieved that the comments on the archive were all positive, and it seems people are looking forward to the relaxed main content. From Miki's perspective, it's "something you'd understand if you just thought about it a little," but the depth of that "little thought" is completely different between her and me. Anyway, eating karaage reminded me of something:
"Today, I'm making potato starch."
"Huh?"
Mion doesn't seem to get it, but then again, a normal person wouldn't, would they?
It's a challenge to see if I can extract starch from Odapra (potatoes) and make potato starch (or something similar).
"I see. If it works, let's make a short story about it."
"Yeah. Ah, I feel like someone might have already done it, but… no need to worry about it, I guess."
"Right!"
I filled a bowl-like container with clean water and placed a colander over it. After peeling the Odapra, I grated it into the colander with a grater.
"Can't you mix it directly?"
"Yeah, because I want to roughly remove impurities. Though, filtering it later might also work."
I kneaded the grated Odapra in the colander by hand for a while, then waited for it to settle.
humming sound Sweee, who brought the fairies, was watching it curiously.
"This isn't sweet at all, okay?"
"Shou-kun, can you make desserts with potato starch?"
"Speaking of potato starch desserts… Warabi Mochi? Kinako could probably be made with a stone mortar too. But I need to seriously procure sugar soon."
There's a limit to substituting with Fairy Honey, and I don't want to overwork the fairies.
"Do you think there's sugarcane on the island?"
"It might be better to look for Bluegaris than sugarcane. Oh, right, maybe I should ask the fairies to help me look."
"Bluegaris?"
Normally, when you say sugar, you think of sugarcane. Also known as sugar beet. The sugar extracted from its roots is what they call 'Bluegaris Sugar'.
"There's a plant similar to a radish, and if you use Material Processing, you should be able to make sugar from it? It's just as sweet as sugarcane."
excited fairy sound
Lupi sighs
Sweee seemed to react to 'sweetness'? And Lupi looked exasperated. Sugarcane is sweet if you bite into it, but since Bluegaris is a root, she probably hasn't eaten it before, and it's not sweet unless processed, right?
"If you have time after this, shall we go look for it?"
"Yeah. But the problem is, which one is Bluegaris…"
Should I just ask Bell-buchou? No, she's playing IRO right now, probably even in combat in the Mage's Tower. There should be sugar in the Kingdom, or rather, on the continent, and someone from the [Silver Manor] probably knows about it. But if I don't know what it looks like, there's no way to find it. Is it sold in its unprocessed state? Maybe handled by the Merchant Guild or something… No, wait.
"What's wrong?"
"Yeah. I just thought, 'I should just look it up in the Plant Encyclopedia, shouldn't I?'"
"Ah!"
Last time I read it, I just skimmed it, saying "oh" and "hmm." If I read it with a clear purpose, my skill might even level up again. I should seriously read through the explanations and look for Bluegaris.
I'll get the Plant Encyclopedia from the cabinet on the first floor of the mountain cabin… But before that, I need to finish the potato starch.
"Before that. See, there's white stuff accumulated at the bottom. This is the base for potato starch."
"I see."
Then, I discarded the top layer of water, added fresh water to clean it, and waited for a while. Good, good, it's settling nicely. After discarding as much of the top water as possible, to what remained…
"
Perhaps because there was a lot of water, it consumed a fair bit of MP, but the drying was completed successfully.
"Here. Silky smooth potato starch."
"Amazing!"
This has a long shelf life, so it probably wouldn't hurt to make a lot.
"I'll turn the remaining Odapra into potato starch, and while waiting, I'll search the Plant Encyclopedia for something that looks like Bluegaris."
"Okay!"
If I make a lot at once, the waiting time will be longer, which might be just right?
…
…
…
"Does this look like it?"
"Huh, that one?"
[Bluegaris]
"A plant found throughout the continent, with oval leaves and a blue, round root. It is cultivated for its sugar-rich root."
The description definitely matches Bluegaris. It seems like on the continent, they're making sugar from Bluegaris instead of sugarcane. Its appearance is more like a turnip than a radish? Since I haven't seen real Bluegaris, I can't say for sure, but I don't think its root would be blue.
"It looks like we'll get blue sugar…"
"Probably just the peel."
Either way, to extract sugar, I'd have to peel it, cut it into strips or cubes, and then boil it down. So, to get the fairies to help, I need to ask Sweee… She seems to have gotten bored of me poring over the encyclopedia, and is sleeping with Lupi as a pillow. Is that drooling face because she's eating sweets in her dream and thinking "hehehe"?
"Sweee, can I bother you for a moment?"
humming sound
Perhaps she wasn't completely asleep, as she blinked awake… and wiped her drool with her arm, the queen.
"If we find this plant in the picture, we can make lots of sweets. I'm thinking of going to look for it now, and I'd like all the fairies to help."
excited fairy sound
Sweee flew off as if to say, "Got it!"
First, the southwest forest, maybe? I might as well circle around the dense forest in the southeast too. I might find something other than Bluegaris (Bluegaris?) too.
"It's still just past 9 o'clock now, right?"
"Yes. It's just past 9:10."
"Thanks. Well then, shall we take a stroll around the south side and look for it?"
"Woof!"
Lupi, realizing we were going for a walk, perked up and started playfully nudging me. So cute.
After playing with Lupi for a while, Sweee returned with the fairies.
excited fairy sound
"Alright, alright. Hey, don't pull my clothes. You need to tell me what you want to look for before we go, right?"
In response, Sweee gave a "tehe-pero" (playful sticking out of tongue).
I opened the Plant Encyclopedia and showed them the illustration on the Bluegaris page. The fairies nodded in understanding, but only Sweee looked suspicious, asking, "Will this become sweet~?"
Honestly… I'll show her once we find it…