Chapter 209: The Village Festival and the Proposal for the Local Specialty (5/5)

Those three fishes were supposedly inedible because they’re ‘poisonous’.

It was really bugging me, so I wanted to know if I could sort them out by relying on Identify and the poison slime.

Of course, there was no guaranteeing the taste after rendering them safe for consumption, so I stealthily tasted them.

I’d intended on being discreet about it, but who would’ve thought Niki-kun was watching me the whole time!

“Heh heh!　It seems you were hoping not to get caught, but you forget that I’m a prankster expert!” [Niki]

“I can’t believe I’m being put in the same group as a prankster now…” [Ryouma]

And so, I had to explain the situation to the feudal lord and the others who had no idea what was going on.

“And I’m sure you’re dying to taste it now, aren’t you?” [Ryouma]

“But of course. Poisonous food aren’t eaten and are thrown away precisely because they’re poisonous. If there’s actually a way to eat them and they turn out to be really delicious, then our food supply will increase and my people’s lives will improve; hence, as a feudal lord, I am very interested in your findings. If it’s possible at all, I would love to try eating these poisonous fish.” [Porco]

“I’m also curious…” [Village Headman]

Even the village headman was interested. What’s more is that we have plenty of the necessary ingredients and seasonings since we purchased them recently from town. It might be because they got the help of a dragon newt specialist, but they had a lot of Japanese seasoning stocked up like miso and soy sauce.

Anyway, with all that, there was just no way for me to refuse.

“Alright then. I’ll use Identify and make sure that the food isn’t poisonous.” [Ryouma]

“Yes. I’m aware this is still an experimental dish. Be at ease and just throw me what you’ve got.” [Porco]

I took out the ingredient from my Dimension Home.

“If you don’t mind, I’d love to help out too.” [Head Chef]

I took the head chef on his offer and we started working on the food.

Before long we served ‘Heated Ash-Dried Red Mullet’, ‘Scorpionfish Tempura’, ‘Unseasoned Grilled Eel and Eel broiled in soy-sauce’, ‘Pufferfish Sashimi’, ‘Boiled Pufferfish Dish’, and ‘Hot Sake with Grilled Pufferfish Fins’.

As a result…

“And here I was wondering what would happen to the fish after you buried it in ash. Can I have another?” [Village Head]

“This is delicious, de gowasu!” [Tairyuzan]

“Indeed… This has been skilfully cut and the meat inside so fluffy. It’s really delicious, de gozaru. It would be a waste not to eat something so delicious. Please give me another fish, some vegetable tempuras and other side dishes too.” [Kichomaru]

“Delicious!　There are no bones to worry about and it doesn’t stink of mud at all! 　Just how did you prepare this?” [Piguu]

“Piguu, it’ll taste even better if you cover it in sauce. This boiled puffer fish dish is really sophisticated, and this sake with heated puffer fish fin has really good umami… I can’t believe we’ve left such good food to waste just because we were scared of the poison.” [Porco]

Everyone happily ate the properly prepared and seasoned eel, scorpionfish, and pufferfish.

That’s good and all, but…

“We don’t have any ash-dried fish left!　I’ve fried the assortment of tempuras!　The eel was prepared by letting it rest for three days in freshwater and removed the mud from inside it. Its bones are hard, so when handling it, you need to finely cut up—” [Ryouma]

“Ryouma-kun, I’ll explain everything later,　so just focus on the food for now!” [Head Chef]

“Alright!　But just remember that as delicious as pufferfish are you have to be careful with the poison!” [Ryouma]

“Don’t worry. I won’t forget.” [Porco]

After hearing the feudal lord’s reply, I went back to cooking.

As for why…

“Hey, can we taste those ash-dried fish of yours too?” [Villager 1]

“One puffer fish sashimi please!” [Villager 2]

“Tempura for me!” [Villager 3]

“Do you still have any grilled or broiled eel left!?” [Villager 4]

…That’s because the smell coming from all the food – especially, the smell coming from the broiled eel – had attracted all the villagers.

The feudal lord did announce prior to just relax and have fun, so before anyone knew it, the crowd around us was already just like the crowds around popular food carts.

“Uha ha ha ha!　This is awesome!” [Villager 5]

“These bastards are always eating through our nets, but starting next year, we’re going to be eating you!” [Villager 6]

“We need more sake!” [Villager 7]

“Anything’s fine, so just keep them dishes coming!” [Villager 8]

Ugh, we’re out of ingredients…

“Ah, we’re out of pufferfish!　The next batch of scorpionfish is also the last!” [Head Chef]

“How about some eel instead!?” [Ryouma]

We still have some eel, but at this rate…!　Ah, but if I turn it into hitsumabushi (chopped kabayaki eel on rice), I just might be able to serve it to more people.

Right. There are still some meat gyoza left, so I should serve those!　It’s a rare opportunity, so I might as well use the extra rice to make fried rice.

We should also have some shappaya among the preserved food we bought at town. If I let it rest in the deodorizing liquid of the deodorant slime, wash it, and then fry it in sesame oil, I should be able to turn it into a snack!

There’s not enough sake?　The fruit wine I made by soaking fruits in the drunk slime’s alcohol should do!　Maybe I can make a cocktail too!

“Hey, we have some excess ingredients. If you want you can use them.” [Mei]

“Thank you!” [Ryouma]

Mei-san brought some of her excess food ingredients over. What a huge help!　With this we can still fight!!

I don’t know if it’s because of the atmosphere brought about by the festival, but the villagers that kept on coming started to have a strange tension about them. Still, it’s unexpectedly fun.

I make what I can with the ingredients at hand and offer them to the guests.

Like this the night gradually grew late.