kscans

Chapter 110 - The Taste of the Food Stall

No food to sell at the festival.

The response was so unexpected that I had to ask.

"Why do you have to sell things at the festival? Can't you just sell things normally?"

To this, the child replied.

"We can't. The festival is being hosted by Big Sis Yorune. It would be rude for us not to participate."

The reason was a bit hard to grasp.

However, the term 'Big Sis' was intriguing. It was obvious they weren't actually related.

That must mean that Princess Yorune was the one running this orphanage.

I asked.

"What did Lady Yorune have to say about this?"

To this question, the child answered.

"We haven't said anything to Big Sis. If we did, she'd just tell us not to worry. So… because she's been so good to us… we want to be helpful, even just a little."

His voice was on the verge of tears.

So they wanted to repay her kindness. That was it.

I turned to Tina.

"Shall we help them out a bit?"

To my suggestion, Tina replied.

"I think we should. Now that we've heard their story, it would leave a bad taste in our mouths to just leave. I think we can at least help them brainstorm some ideas."

She agreed.

Hearing this, the children's faces lit up with smiles.

"""Thank you, big brother and pretty big sister!!"""

They all thanked us at once. I felt a little embarrassed, but I had already committed. I would do what I could.

First, they let us into the orphanage.

In a word, it was simple.

There were just long tables and chairs lined up, and in the back, a statue of a woman was displayed like in a chapel. Honestly, for an establishment run by royalty, it wasn't particularly clean. It gave the impression of being equipped with only the bare necessities.

I had no intention of commenting on their operating funds. They showed me their ingredients.

Carrots, cabbage, onions, daikon radishes, and green onions.

There weren't many varieties, but they had a good quantity.

When I asked, they told me they grew these themselves. To think children of this age were working… was medieval Earth like this too? But this was no time to get sentimental.

I asked if they had anything else, and they said there were livestock—cows and pigs—in a shed out back.

When they showed me, I saw some rather high-quality livestock. They were well-raised.

At that moment, I noticed a barrel full of tubers. A child explained.

"Oh, that's feed for the livestock. We can harvest a lot of it around here, but it's hard, and it doesn't taste good whether you boil it or roast it. Normally, it's a medicinal herb that nobody pays any attention to, but we always gather it for the livestock, since the other unsellable herbs are scarce."

He answered. The shape looked familiar.

I activated Analysis.

It seemed to be taro. Indeed, eating it raw would just be unpleasant. It wasn't edible unless prepared properly.

It had no adverse effects on the human body. It was no different from Earth's taro.

Wait a minute, the Empire should have ingredients and seasonings from the Republic and the Church.

I said.

"I'm going to do a little shopping. You kids listen to your big sister, okay?"

I spoke in a gentle, child-friendly tone.

The children nodded, and Tina, who was watching, also nodded.

I hurried out and went around the shops.

After a while, I had bought the necessary items.

Dried kelp, soy sauce, and salt. I wanted mirin and sugar, but they didn't have any.

I said to the children.

"I have something I'd like Tina to help with… could you butcher this cow for me?"

Before Tina could answer, a child replied.

"We'll do it. We do it all the time."

They were certainly resilient.

I left the butchering to the children and started the preparations.

First, I used my power to turn a suitable stone into iron and made a huge pot. It was large enough to easily feed ten people. I had Tina fill it with plenty of water and heated it over a bonfire.

Next to it, I made a smaller pot over another bonfire, filled it with water, and put in sliced daikon radish with cross-cuts, and let it simmer. After it had softened, I moved the entire pot, added cold water, and set it aside.

Next, I made another small pot, filled it with water, added diced taro, and boiled it. Once it was soft, I removed it from the pot and placed it on a plate. At that moment, the children brought over the beef.

What I would be using from it was the beef tendon.

Seeing this, Tina said.

"Are you going to use that? It's tough and not edible."

To her question, I replied.

"It's fine. In fact, it has to be this."

I said, continuing my work.

First, I boiled the beef tendon, and once it came to a boil, I poured out the water along with the scum that had collected. I moved the beef tendon to a wire mesh strainer, cleaned the pot, put the beef tendon back in, added the green part of the leeks, and filled it with plenty of water. I brought it to a boil over the bonfire, then reduced the heat and let it simmer for about an hour.

At the same time, the large pot came to a boil, so I added the dried kelp to make a dashi broth, then removed the kelp.

I added a generous amount of soy sauce and a little salt. The flavor was quite plain.

This was what you got with a dashi made without bonito flakes, mirin, or sugar.

But it was fine. No one in this world knew the true taste of this dish.

I added the daikon, taro, and sliced onions to the dashi broth and let it simmer slowly. I checked the beef tendon in the neighboring pot. It was soft, and the smell was gone.

I added it to the large pot and let it simmer further.

Tina asked.

"What is this?"

To her question, I replied.

"This is a traditional dish from my homeland. It's called oden."

I declared with confidence.

The ingredients were simple, but I thought the taste would be good. We immediately decided to have a taste test.

The daikon had absorbed the flavor and was delicious.

The children's reactions were:

"I've never tasted anything like this before. It's delicious."

"This taro… it's so soft. And so flavorful."

"This meat is soft and tasty too."

It was a hit. Tina added.

"The flavor is good, and the ingredients are tender. Plus, it warms you up, making it perfect for a cold region."

Her review was also positive.

Personally, I found it lacking, but it would be good enough. I didn't expect a huge crowd, but I thought it would sell reasonably well.

I said.

"Alright, let's make another batch of this. And we'll skewer the remaining beef, grill it, and sell it. Let's do our best!"

My rallying cry was met with cheers from the children.

From there, we followed the same recipe, and I made a large number of iron plates for serving the customers.

Of course, after they were done eating, we would collect them, wash them clean, and reuse them.