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Chapter 42: The Shock I Felt upon Learning That It’s Only My Family That Bakes Tamago Gohan
——Clap clap.
“……?”
On an autumn morning when the sun has been later in rising.
While walking down a corridor after was.h.i.+ng her face and readying herself in the washroom, Elte-san hears the sound of clapping from the tatami room.
“Linbel-san…… and Natan-san?”
Urged by curiosity to take a peek, Elte-san beholds the dark elf and priest bowing together with beautiful posture.
This pairing looks incredibly out of place in the tatami room. Though it may be said that it’s only natural for otherworlders to look out of place in a tatami room, that doesn’t apply to the similarly otherworlder Yayoi-san.
Especially if a kotatsu has been set out.
“Oh no, I’m gonna be late!”
Despite harboring questions about what the two are doing, Elte-san the full time student hasn’t even 1 minute to waste in the morning.
The entirety of the fault lies with her bed.
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“Ahh, you’re talking about the kamidana.”
Time has flown, and it is now nighttime.
Still curious about Linbel-san’s and Natan-san’s actions from this morning, Elre-san has gone to ask her dad aka Adachi-kun.
Seeing as how she went to him instead of the actual people who did the thing, it can be gleaned how much she has come to not stand on ceremony and depend on him.
“It’s like a small shrine. I think not many people are conscious about it, but I think almost all homes have one.”
Incidentally, there is a kamidana in the author’s house too, but it was only quite recently that I learned that almost all households’ kamidana are dedicated to Amaterasu-sama.
It needs not be said that I immediately turned towards it in a hurry and clapped twice and bowed once.1 The vision I had of Amaterasu-sama flas.h.i.+ng a bright smile and a thumbs up from beyond the kamidana was surely just my imagination.
“So Amaterasu-sama really is watching over everyone.”
“She sure is. Elte-san also give the kamidana a visit when you have time. Etiquette is only secondary, what matters most is to mean it.”
“I understand. I’ll do so tomorrow then.”
With that, the parent and child exchange warm glances.
Today, too, j.a.pan is at peace.
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“See you, Master! Today was delicious as always!”
“Thank you very much. I’ll be waiting for your visit again.”
At a certain restaurant in the Dwarven Kingdom.
After seeing off today’s last lunchtime customer, the j.a.panese chef Juuzou-san heaves a sigh of relief.
“It’s true for the quant.i.ty they eat too, but they really do drink a lot. They chug it down like water, yet why don’t a single one of them drop dead drunk?”
So mutters Juuzou-san in a troubled tone while taking inventory of the food and ingredients that he had used up for today’s lunch. However, there is a smile on his face.
In spite of his grumbles, seeing customers delightedly enjoying his food is the best reward for him.
——Chirin, chirin.
“Nn? Welcome!”
Hearing the bell attached to the store’s front door ring, Juuzou-san pokes his head out from the kitchen and raises his voice.
It’s extremely rare to get a customer this late. So thinking, he directs his eyes towards the figure with a small build that is yet still bigger than the average dwarf. The person has on traveling robes that is hiding his or her face.
“Ah, I’m sorry. Are you closed?”
“No, no, I’m open. I’ve yet to clear away the tables, so please sit at the counter.”
“Ah, sure thing.”
The customer looks relieved upon hearing Juuzou-san’s words.
But when the customer takes off her robe, Juuzou-san sucks in a breath of air.
“…… j.a.panese?”
Black hair. Of course there are people in this world with black hair too, but the color of those eyes and skin is a combination that he has yet to see in this world, yet was extremely familiar with in his previous world.
“As I’d guessed, you are j.a.panese too. My name is Tonegawa Asahi. Right now I am under the care of Galdeia Kingdom from the south.”
“…… I am Soga Juuzou. I had indeed heard that there are other j.a.panese in this world, but to think the day would come when I’d meet one.”
The customer who had come turns out to be the short-tempered queen consort.
Due to the other person being someone older, she is acting completely meek. If the king sees her right now, he would be rolling on the floor in laughter.
“I’m embarra.s.sed to say so, but it was because I heard of a j.a.panese cook being in the Dwarven Kingdom that I came. I was hoping that I would find the taste of my homeland here.”
“I see. So your order is ‘Taste of Homeland,’ is that correct?”
As if she doesn’t want to be seen as gluttonous, Asahi looks truly embarra.s.sed, which causes Juuzou-san to smile wryly when replying.
“Please wait a short while.”
So saying, Juuzou-san heads towards the kitchen.
Well then, what should I cook for her?
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“Thank you for waiting.”
“This is……”
The food that came out after a short while. Its appearance causes Asahi-san to widen her eyes in shock.
“Miso soup?! There is miso on this side?!”
“Yes there is. Apparently it’s quite common in a country called Homura, and I was able to get my hands on some thanks to a merchant who’s a regular customer of mine. But then again, on this side it is mainly eaten as a side dish, so miso soup isn’t very well known.”
Though it might come as a surprise, miso used to be a rather high-cla.s.s ingredient. It being used to make soup began in the Kamakura period (1185 – 1333 AD) when samurai society became developed.
After it became possible to make miso in one’s own home, the movement took off, until it got to the point where each house being able to drink miso soup became something to take for granted.
“And then this is…… ehh, but it’s Thai rice.”
“Yes, the rice in this world seems similar to Indica rice. If I remember correctly, Thai rice is indeed cla.s.sified under Indica rice.” 2
Seeing that rice lined up next to the miso soup, Asahi-san’s face looks slightly disappointed. Understanding the reason for her reaction, Juuzou-san cannot help but to smile wryly.
Back when j.a.pan had a shortage of rice, the country imported large amounts of Thai rice. But due to how different it was to the traditional j.a.panese rice, its reception was terrible, and many people came to hold the pre-conception that Thai rice = disgusting.
But actually that was all because of a certain misunderstanding.
“Well, just think of it as me having tricked you and give it a try. There’s egg and soy sauce too.”
“…… Then, pardon me.”
Following Juuzou-san’s words, Asahi-san adds an egg and some soy sauce to her bowl of rice.
Incidentally, raw egg on rice3 is possible only in j.a.pan where all foods follow a high standard of hygiene management. In other countries, doing so could very well expose you to salmonella and other germs which could cause serious health issues, so be very careful.
As for people who break open raw eggs into a mug and then drink it straight, they must be out of their minds. More like, how can anybody even drink something like that? 4
“….. This is?!”
“How is it? It’s different from j.a.panese rice, but it’s delicious all the same, right?”
After taking a mouthful of rice mixed with egg and soy sauce, Asahi-san’s eyes widen.
j.a.panese people are under the conception that Thai rice is disgusting mainly because the correct cooking method was not conveyed together with the rice itself.
Thai rice needs to be boiled with a large amount of water before being simmered, but many j.a.panese steamed it like they would with j.a.panese rice. Nowadays, the correct cooking method is easily searchable, so there are voices re-evaluating the value of Thai rice.
Dear readers, if you ever happen to get your hands on some Thai rice, please do cook it appropriately.
“Then some miso soup…… Ahh, this is so nostalgic. Even though I didn’t really drink it all the time back in j.a.pan.”
Despite normally not paying it much mind, only to suddenly have a fierce craving for it while overseas. Perhaps miso soup has already been engraved upon the genes of the j.a.panese populace.
“Did you find that to your liking?”
“…… Very much so.”
In the end, Asahi-san put down her chopsticks only after asking for two more servings of both the soup and the rice.
She has on such a brilliant smile that her usual sourly face seems like a lie. It’s to the degree where if the king was present, Juuzou-san’s life might be in danger.
“Today’s fare was quite modest, as I was focusing on making it j.a.panese-like. However, if you like Western-style too, I can make more elaborate dishes. Feel free to try it the next time you come.”
“That sounds wonderful. I definitely will.”
After emphatically declaring so, Asahi-san leaves the store with the smile still on her face.
Juuzou-san sees her off with a smile on his face too. Upon confirming that she’s truly gone, he heaves a sigh as if releasing the tension in his body.
“…… Was it bad to serve raw egg on rice to a queen consort? But she was j.a.panese, so……”
Asahi-san of Galdeia Kingdom.
Actually Juuzou-san had already guessed Asahi-san’s ident.i.ty from that alone.
Today, too, this otherworld is at peace.
1 The full list of instructions about how to pray at a jinja (s.h.i.+nto shrine) is very long (you can read it explained in detail here), but the bare minimum is known to be “clap twice, then make a 90° bow.”
2 Apparently all rice in the world can be cla.s.sified under two large categories: j.a.ponica and Indica. j.a.ponica is grown in temperate climates (ex. Portugal, Spain, j.a.pan, California, Italy) and are round and do not easily crack or break. Indica is grown in hot climates (ex. Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Southern China) and are long and tend to break easily. See the full article here.
3Tamago-kake Gohan (official abbrev. TKG) is literally breaking a raw egg over a bowl of steaming rice, adding some soy sauce, then mixing it. The hot rice helps to ‘cook’ the egg. Then after mixing it all up, you get an egg rice that wasn’t fried.
4 Here’s a video of Rocky doing exactly what the author described. Then feel free to read the video comments where people debate the pros and cons of doing this lol.
