kscans

Chapter 36 - Sauce and the Beast. The Prototype

Coming up with an idea is instantaneous, but putting it into practice is no simple matter. After all, he had never even read a recipe for fermented meat in his previous life in Japan. Even Master `Rural Life Guide` seemed to be out of its depth in this area.

But he wasn't one to give up over something like that. He wouldn't have thought of it in the first place if he were.

"...It's still meat... so I guess I'll try using the method for making fish sauce as a reference..."

For some reason, the method for making fish sauce was included, so he began manufacturing a pseudo-fermented meat product, simply substituting monster meat for the ingredients. The ingredients for fish sauce were fish entrails and small fish, so he decided to primarily use monster entrails for the fermented meat as well. He didn't know if that was correct or not. For now, he just had to try. He would be overjoyed if he could produce something edible within a few years.

"I think I remember reading something about the autolysis of proteins... well, whatever."

He had read, in `Rural Life Guide` of all places, that koji was added to Akita's shotturu, but upon closer inspection, it seemed there was also a method that didn't use koji. Also, Oku-Noto's ishiru was apparently made without adding koji. Since obtaining koji was currently impossible, he decided to try making a prototype without it this time.

Just as he was about to begin, he realized something.

"...Whether it succeeds or fails... the smell is probably going to be incredible..."

Realizing this, he decided to make it not in his usual living quarters, but in another house he used for storage. Since he had no idea what the proper procedure was, he decided to make several batches with different methods and conditions to compare them.

"A year for fermentation and aging... this is going to be a long haul..."


He waited patiently like this for a few days, but then Yuri, having lost his patience, was contemplating something mischievous a few days later.

"...They say fermentation and decay are essentially the same thing. ...In that case, couldn't I do something similar with dark magic or earth magic...?"

He found a dark magic spell called [Corrosion], but fortunately or unfortunately, his level was too low to use it. On the other hand, in earth magic, the [Composting] spell seemed to correspond to it. However...

"Hmm... with [Composting], it seems like it would break it down all the way to inorganic matter at once... not at the amino acid or ester stage. ...And if I'm not careful, it seems like I'd be depriving the fermenting microorganisms of their food, the organic matter."

Yuri was disappointed that it wouldn't be that easy, but then...

"...Wait? Fermentation is the work of microorganisms, right? ...Wouldn't they become more active if I raised the temperature?"


Even in the fish sauce made in modern Japan, the reaction is accelerated by heating during fermentation. In fact, even in miso production, heat treatment to promote fermentation, called warm or rapid brewing, is no longer uncommon. It is said that while the original umami of the miso is inferior, the fermentation process, which would normally take about a year, can be shortened to about three months.

However...

"...I don't have something as convenient as a constant temperature incubator here..."

He did have the convenient technology of fire magic, and magic tools were also reasonably widespread. However, at least at Yuri's level, whether with fire magic or magic tools, while it was one thing to "heat" something up all at once in a short time, it was difficult to "warm" it to an appropriate temperature, let alone "maintain" that state for several months. Burning something to a crisp with the fires of hell and maintaining a suitable temperature over a long period were fundamentally different things.

"...There's no such thing as a bimetal, and before that, wasn't that premised on the use of electricity? ...No, is the method of accurately measuring the temperature the bottleneck in the first place...?"

Yuri held his head in his hands over this unexpected problem. He understood that developing a constant temperature incubator would be very useful in the future. However, he also understood that with his current abilities, he had no idea how long it would take. Yuri wanted umami seasoning, and the development of technology for that was not his goal. He would not mistake the means for the end.

After twisting his neck and groaning for a while, Yuri came to a change in thinking...

"...Instead of heating, what if I thought about insulation?"

With the signs of autumn growing stronger each day, a season unsuitable for microbial activity was approaching. Rather than wasting time worrying about heating, wouldn't it be more effective to think about insulation? So, how to do it?

"Speaking of insulation, that would be a vacuum flask... a jar or a pot..."

Being an old man on the inside, an old-fashioned turn of phrase came to his lips, but the direction of his thinking was not wrong. If the container had an insulating structure, it would be possible to keep hot things hot and cold things cold. However, as for whether that would suit his purpose...

"If I give the pot an insulating structure... wait? If I do that... won't it be ineffective even if I try to warm it from the outside?"

Heat should be generated along with the activity of the microorganisms, but since he was trying to warm it to enhance that activity, this could be self-defeating.

"A greenhouse... is impossible, but maybe I can put it in a box or something with an insulating effect? To warm the inside of the box... ah, with hot water... no, instead of putting it in directly, what if I put a container of hot water inside the box?"

It was primitive, and the effect might be limited, but the mechanism was simple. It might be a good place to start.

Thus, Yuri attempted to apply a primitive warm brewing treatment to a portion of the fermenting meat. The results would likely not be known for some time.