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Now then, we decided to have a sukiyaki in the workshop space at the back of Alice’s miscellaneous goods store, in a tatami room that had somehow been built there before I knew it.
All the ingredients were already cut and prepared. I was to be the main cook this time, so Alice was just going to teach me how to make it.
[Now then, about sukiyaki, many people don’t know this about sukiyakis, but just like eels, there are actually two types, one is Kansai-style and the other is Kanto-style.]
[Eh? Is that so?]
[Kansai-style? Kanto-style?]
[Errr, you could say they’re like regional differences.]
I did know about how there are different styles for preparing eel and okonomiyaki, as it was well-known, but I didn’t know that there were differences for sukiyaki as well…… but I wonder what sukiyaki we had back home? I used to live in the Kanto region, but Mom was from the Kansai area, so could it be a Kansai-style one?
Also, Kuro obviously doesn’t understand what Kanto and Kansai were, as she curiously looked at Alice, so Alice explained to her.
[There are many small differences between them, but the biggest difference had to be how the meat is handled. First, the Kanto-style melts beef fat in the pot and grill a small amount of meat. After that, the warish*ta is poured in and meat and other ingredients are simmered.]
[Fumu fumu, what about the Kansai-style then?]
[Kansai-style grills most of the meat first. Also, their sukiyaki had their ingredients gradually added to adjust its taste. It may be surprising, but only the Kanto-style uses warish*ta, while the Kansai-style instead uses sugar, cooking sake, soy sauce and well-moistened vegetables, so compared to the Kanto-style, which uses warish*ta, Kansai-style’s has less overall moisture.]
[Heehhh……]
The one I had was Kanto-style then. The main difference between Kanto-style and Kansai-style is that Kanto-style mainly stews their meat, while Kansai-style mainly grills it?
[Incidentally, the Kansai-style doesn’t use warish*ta, so the skill of the chef greatly influences the flavor, so cooking with this style could be difficult.]
[Hey, hey, Shalltear. Why do they stew meat in sukiyaki?]
[The reason is that sukiyaki was based on a dish called beef hot pot. Incidentally, as the “hot pot” in its name implies, beef stew is made by simmering the meat in warish*ta from the beginning.]
[I see, Shalltear is as knowledgeable as ever.]
In fact, Alice is really dependable in this situation. There’s also the fact that she’s good at cooking, and when it comes to food, what’s most notable is her preventing Kuro from throwing stuff she just thought of in her baby castellas. Just that alone makes me feel much safer.
In any case, we decided to start cooking. By the way, what I’m making is the Kanto-style.
[After first melting the beef fat, lightly grill the green onions before the meat. Doing this would make the meat more fragrant when grilled.]
[Like this?]
[Yes. When the aroma starts to come out, add a little beef, lightly grill both sides, and then add the warish*ta. This makes the taste of the beef more prominent and is delicious.]
After being explained how to cook it, the three of us each ate a piece of meat. When I dipped it lightly in the beaten egg and put it in my mouth, I felt a savory aroma, probably because it was grilled, and it was very tasty.
[After the meat has warmed up to a certain degree, change the heat to low and put in the ingredients, simmering the meat as we ate. One thing to keep in mind is to cook the shirataki noodles away from the beef.]
[Unnn? Why is that?]
[Because the calcium from the lime used in the manufacturing process of the shirataki would make the meat tough and dark.]
The ingredients are added and simmered according to Alice’s instructions. The sweet aroma of the warish*ta stimulates the appetite. When the beef was cooked to a certain degree, we ate some. Unlike when it was grilled, this one has a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth tenderness.
The rice was served with grilled green onions and bok choy in between the beef.
[It’s delicious. It goes well with rice.]
[Well, using soy sauce and dishes that go well with rice are relatively minor in this world.]
[I’m used to it, but it certainly is hard to use chopsticks for the first time. Ah, the shirataki noodles are also delicious.]
[As expected, compared to bread, rice is quite minor…… Well, not like this couldn’t be matched with bread, right?]
As a Japanese, I feel like doing that is just heretical, but even if you eat it with bread, I don’t think it wouldn’t match.
Of course, I still think matching it with rice is the best……
While eating sukiyaki and chatting about various things, Kuro seemed to have suddenly remembered something and asked Alice.
[By the way, Shalltear. You mentioned how that amusement park will be opened to the public soon……]
[Are you going to invest?]
[Fine by me~~ I’ve got several lands opened and setting up a large amusement park there would be a good idea. Considering the balance between countries though, it would be difficult to build it in the Human Realm right away.]
[It would be better if we build it in the Demon Realm and raise awareness of it after all~~]
They’re talking about this matter quite leisurely, but since it’s Kuro, she probably decided to invest in it because she thought it would be effective to see various things while playing.
Well, I think Alice had already expected this development when she brought up playing in the amusement park in the first place……
In any case, the day when an amusement park will be built in the Demon Realm may not be far off.
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