Alright, let’s get started on making more foods for our trip.
Speaking of which, Fer and the rest have fallen asleep after a breakfast of Bolognese Dogs. [2] It is basically hotdog buns stuffed with meaty Bolognese Sauce, the tomato sauce had soaked into the buns and was just too delicious.
However, the best thing about Bolognese Dogs was that it’s really easy to put together, and speed was of the essence when Fer and the rest woke up complaining about their hungry stomachs. So, I stuffed their mouths with some yummy, easy to make Bolognese Dogs.
Right now, I’m facing the battlefield that is the kitchen again. Today will be the last day I have a fully equipped kitchen to myself, so the plan is to make soups. All kinds of soups. [6] After trying the clam soup at the morning market, I found myself missing proper soups from my previous life.
That’s right, let’s make Pork Miso Soups, Beef Stew and Clam Chowders.
Since I have all these Mini Clams, they would make great Clam Chowders since I’ve already taken the time to remove sand from them.
Of course, making chowder required more than just clams, so [Net Super], here we go!
Potatoes, carrots, onions, radish, burdock, and konjac. I also bought a can of demi-glace sauce as well as red wine, white wine, butter, bacon and milk. Since the vegetables could be used for other dishes, I bought loads.
I have already bought most of the seasoning when making Bolognese Sauce, so there’s no need to buy more. Well, if I find myself missing any ingredients, I can just open up [Net Super], so no big deal.
Yosh, let’s get started!
Chop, chop, chop…
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…
“Fu-, the prep work for the soups are all done, now all I have to do is let them simmer. Hmm, I should probably raise the temperature for the beef stew a bit, na…”
Technically, I guess Beef Stew isn’t soup, but a stew… Maa, I guess that’s alright.
While the two pots were simmering away, I should make the Clam Chowder.
Hmm, I have Pork Soup and Beef Stew for the meat category, and Clam Chowder under seafood… I wonder, should I make another seafood dish?
Well, there’s still plenty of time, so let’s do it!
Let’s see, when it comes to seafood soups, what should I make… Oh, how about some Tomato Fish Soup with some of those excellent white fish? Yes, excellent idea.
But first, let’s get started with the Clam Chowder since that takes up a lot more time.
Clam chowder in a brown plate. The main ingredients are shellfish, broth, butter, potatoes and onions. New England soup also known as Boston clam chowder. On a dark gray background. Sideview. Copyspace.
First, dice up some carrots, potatoes, and onions. Cut the bacon into 1cm squares. I cut up a lot more carrots and potatoes than is needed since some of it would be used to make the Tomato Fish Soup later.
Now to handle the clams. [6] I could just dump them into the broth, but since the clams were so fresh and delicious, I decided to make the effort to add another step. In my largest frying pan, I scattered the Mini Clams in them and poured white wine until it just barely covered the clams. Then, I covered the pan and steamed the Mini Clams until they popped open. [1] Once the clams opened up, I removed the meat from the shells and put them aside. I also collected the wine and clam liquid. This umami packed clam and wine liquid would be gorgeous when stirred into the Chowder later.
I cleaned the pan and put it back on the fire.
It’s time to cook the other ingredients.
First, I melted a cube of butter and quickly toasted the bacon over medium heat until the edges browned a little. Then, I added the potatoes, carrots and onions and stir-fry everything until the onions become translucent.
Time to whisk in the flour. I lowered the fire under the pan and got ready. Once the flour is in, I quickly whisked everything together, doing my best to avoid lumps. Once the flour has been stirred in, I added water, a cube of consommé broth stock, and adjusted the flavour with salt and pepper.
Once the vegetables are tender, I stirred in the white wine and clam juice I had collected earlier. Finally, when the flavour is right, I threw in the cooked clams as well as a cup of milk to give the chowder its signature white and creamy appearance.
Ooh, it looks good. Let’s have a taste.
The natural sweetness of the vegetables and the umami from the bacon and mini clams gave this dish a rich and mellow taste that was simply irresistible.
I patted myself on the back. Good job, me!
I wanted to make the Tomato Fish Soup next, but time must have run away from me because Fer, Sui and Dora-chan suddenly came trooping into the kitchen demanding lunch.
Ah, well, who am I to deny my precious familiars?
Anyway, today’s lunch is Tempura Don. Tempura by itself isn’t very filling, but by padding it with rice, it soon became a whole meal by itself. Not to mention, fried food could be kind of greasy after a while so eating Tempura with rice is definitely a good idea.
Tempura Don is pretty easy to assemble. All I have to do is scoop out the rice base, arrange various Tempura on top and drizzle a sauce made with soy sauce, granulated dashi and sugar. I’m pleased to report that it’s very well received.
Tempura
After lunch, I continued cooking.
I decided to use Tyrant Fish for the Tomato Fish Soup. Though it did not look like it, this fish is actually quite light and delicious. Kind of similar to cod so it’s perfect for making Tomato Fish Soup.
For the Tomato Fish Soup, I’m going to need some fresh garlic and canned tomatoes. Ah, I found that I have used up all my canned tomatoes for the Bolognese, so let’s get more from [Net Super]. Hmm, let’s get some more fresh garlic too.
To make the Tomato Fish Soup, first, chop the garlic and stir fry it in a large frying pan with some olive oil. Stir-fry it until fragrant but not brown. Next, throw in the onions, potatoes and carrots I had cut earlier when making Clam Chowder.
Once the onions became translucent, I dumped a whole can of whole, peeled tomatoes in, crushing them slightly with the back of my spoon. Next, I dissolved some consommé cubes in warm water and pour that in. Once the vegetables began to bubble, I lowered the fire and let the ingredients simmer. While the soup was simmering, I sliced the Tyrant Fish into bite-size pieces and set them aside. When the vegetables are tender, it was time to stir in the fish slices. The final taste of the soups could be adjusted with salt and pepper.
Hmm, the tomatoes really complimented the taste of the white fish. The refreshing sweetness of the vegetables is really great too.
When I checked the time, I found that I still have some time till dinner, so, “Let’s make more things!”
I’ve already made Beef Stew, so this time, let’s make some stewed pork. That’s right, something like Pork Kakuni with Soft Boiled Eggs. [6] Pork Kakuni is really easy to make if you don’t care about the appearance of the meat or the clearness of the broth. I only care about the taste, and I really don’t think Fer and the rest would care if their Pork Kakuni is perfectly square or not.
[6] To make Pork Kakuni, or any kind of pork stew, first, sear the pork in the pan with some salad oil to brown the pork. Then, remove the pork and throw the excess oil out and stir-fry some sliced onions until translucent. Once the onions are translucent, pour in the divine combination of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake to make the base sauce for the stew. Once the mixture began to bubble, place the pork pieces back in and let it sit and simmer for a couple of hours.
While my various soups and stews were simmering, I took out all my remaining portable stoves and make pots and pots of rice. Some of the cooked rice was moved to a container and put away warm, others were made into all kinds of rice balls with different fillings in them. Some rice balls were made into Onigiri Meatrolls. These were aimed towards my meat, meat, meat loving familiars. For variety, I sliced up Orc, Bloody Hornbull and Wyvern meat as meat wraps around these meaty rice balls.
If I’m too tired to cook, I can just let Fer and Co eat these meat wrapped rice balls. Not only would they be great travelling food, they’d make great dungeon ration food too. [1] As I continued to think up various recipes, my hands automatically shaped the rice into little bales. Before I know it, I have several rows of rice bales on the tray. The next thing to do was wrap these bales in strips of marinated meat and bake over medium-high heat in the oven.
“Fu~ I guess that should do it, na,”
I’ve absently made quite a lot, but that’s fine. In you guys go into my [Item Box].
“Guess I should start preparing supper soon. Since lunch was seafood-based Tempura, I’m sure they’ll be wanting meat, meat, meat again. Aaaah, but I’m so tired. Let’s just make something simple…”
The simple dinner ended up being a Teriyaki Cockatrice Don. All I have to do is brown the bird meat on the pan, pour away excess oil and then simmer the meat in store-bought Teriyaki sauce.
Next, I scooped out large amounts of rice, placed the sliced Teriyaki Cockatrice on and drizzled some of the sauce over everything. Finally, I placed a handful of shredded cabbages on the side like a little mountain and the Teriyaki Cockatrice Don. Simple, filling and tasty.
The chorus of ‘delicious’ and ‘seconds’ came as expected, followed by a plea for dessert. So, I got them some cakes and puddings from Fujiya.
As expected, everyone is very happy to end their meal with Fujiya’s dessert.
[Gumihou: Aaah, I’ve actually made all of the above except for Clam Chowder. Mostly because I don’t like clams in general…]
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