saikyokantei 8: Kakiage and Croquettes

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Saikyō no kantei-shi tte dare no koto?~ Manpuku gohan de i sekai seikatsu ~
Author: Minatose Tsukasa
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Kakiage and Croquettes

A/n: Let’s make dinner with leftover ingredients!

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Yuri silently peeled the potatoes. It’s an act he’s used to, so the connected peel spun about, dancing. Watching that with a surprised face, Yack used a spoon to carefully scrape the meat off the bones. Even though he had already had enough bits that looked like it was enough to eat, he was requested to scrape all of it into the bowl, so he went at it seriously. … Furthermore, he realized that the amount of meat from scraping it off into the bowl was more than he expected. Of course it wasn’t enough for a main dish, though.

Yuri tossed the peeled potatoes into a large stock pot and began to boil them. They boiled with a pinch of salt added in. As he left them to soften, he carefully peeled the vegetables that couldn’t be anything but fragments attached to the peels anymore. The peeled vegetables were cut into slivers.

He was also very accustomed with this technique, and Yack raised sounds of admiration many times. Every time, Yuri would make a troubled smile. … However, the person cooking himself realized that his cooking skills were better than before. Each and every movement went much too smoothly somehow.

 

(… Ah, perhaps this is the effect of the Skill… ?)

 

Yuri’s Cooking Skill is level 50. He didn’t know what the average was, but he had confirmed that MAX was 100, so with that in mind, he thought 50 was a decent level. … But Yuri had no awareness; a Cooking Skill of level 50 is the level of a reputable restaurant. Ignorance is scary.

Anyway, Yuri cooks without worrying about the details. While humming. He’s in an extremely good mood. Yuri’s an otomen so he loves all housework related things, but cooking is his favorite among them. As for why, it’s because cooking is the easiest to make someone happy.

Of course he’s happy with sewing and cleaning too. However, the moment someone eats what he cooked makes him the happiest. He loves it, it’s fun, and so he’ll do his best in cooking. … Well, he did get a ‘Disgusting’ from his surroundings when he brought his homemade lunches (sometimes he made decorated character lunches) and handmade sweets, though.

Even so, there were times when the hungry boys would eat a lot of the snacks Yuri made and say, “It’s delicious.” There were also times when the girls, who normally considered it creepy, want Yuri’s assistance when Valentine’s or their boyfriends’ birthdays approached. At those times, he was a good-natured person who’d kindly help without being upset about it.

 

“Yuri, I got all the meat off, but what do I do with the bones?”

“Ah, we’ll make stock with the bones, so I’d like you to fill that big pot with water and boil it in there.”

“Got it.”

 

It looks like Yack will now follow exactly what Yuri says. At any rate, his obviously resourceful ability was shown directly in front of him. For Yack, who was not very good at cooking on top of not knowing what to do, it was like having a blessing from heaven. He has more than enough ability to do as he was told, at least.

The large amount of animal bones were simmered in the pot. Pig, cow, and chicken had all been mixed together. The meat was also all mixed together, but Yuri intended to mince it, so he didn’t mind. At any rate, the meat was more like a bonus.

 

“Then can I have you use a knife to pound the meat in the bowl and mince it?”

“Yeah, leave it to me!”

 

He might not be good at delicate work, but pounding the meat into minced meat is simple. Giving his consent, Yack gleefully began to pound the meat. … How mysterious. Yack’s face as he curiously enjoyed mincing the meat was a bit scary. His smile was scary. He probably has a lot of accumulated anger. It’s tough being the lowest ranked.

Giving a side glance to such a Yack, Yuri mashed the boiled potatoes. He didn’t find a masher, so he washed the end of a rolling pin cleanly and squashed them with it. The potatoes were boiled to just before crumbling, and were broken down and smashed. While wrestling with such a large amount of potatoes, Yuri really was humming.

Now, what might Yuri be making, can you tell? The answer is croquettes. There weren’t any breadcrumbs, so he made them by grating old bread. He had secured flour and eggs. There was also a lot of potatoes, so he had more than enough to make croquettes. There was only a little bit of meat, but mincing it and flavoring it well with salt and pepper will make a splendid accent to the croquettes.

And so, when Yack finished making the mince, Yuri gave him the mashed potatoes in exchange and began to fry the minced meat. Actually, using diced onions here would make it really good, but unfortunately there weren’t any ingredients. If he used up the onions here, then the other dish would end up far too disappointing, so he endured. Sprinkling salt, pepper, and powdered herbs that probably weren’t used often hidden in the back of the shelf, he adjusted the seasoning.

Now, the trick to seasoning the minced meat for croquettes is to make it slightly heavier in flavor in consideration of mixing it with the potatoes. If you properly add the seasoning, then the flavor won’t be weak even after being mixed with the potatoes. On top of that, the flavor will remain after being fried in oil. This way there’s no need to add sauce or soy sauce unnecessarily, and the salt content will be reduced – sincerely, Yuri’s mother.

 

“Yack, mix this minced meat into the potatoes.”

“Got it!”

 

Returning the flavored minced meat to Yack, Yuri returned his attention to the large amount of finely chopped vegetables in the bowl. In his hands are a bag of flower and a cup of water. First he sprinkled flour on the vegetables, mixing it in with chopsticks. Once the flour was evenly mixed throughout, he stirred as he added water little by little. He regulated the viscosity while mixing by intuition, adjusting the flour and water.

Yuri arranged the scraps of vegetables to make kakiage. For regular tempura, the appearance will be poor if the shape is bad. However, it’s different for kakiage. It’s an arrangement of finely cut vegetables, fried. Being somewhat misshapen is permissable for homecooking. A restaurant would make it by stuffing it in a mold, but normal households would use chopsticks to make a bite sized portion. At least that’s how it was in the Kugimiya household.

By the time Yack had evenly mixed together the minced meat and potatoes, Yuri had tossed kakiage into the hot oil. The sizzle of the oil and the crackling of the liquid popping sounded. Yack made a startled face. He probably doesn’t know what’s being made. But Yuri didn’t pay him any mind, placing the finished, golden-brown kakiage on top of a wire mesh on a tray. It was a great help that he could find something capable of draining the oil. … As expected, he couldn’t find any type of kitchen paper.

Yuri sprinkled salt on top of all the fried kakiage. Eating vegetable kakiage with tentsuya, a broth-based dipping sauce, is also splendid, but Yuri’s personal preference and recommendation is lightly salted. This way the flavor of the vegetables will stand out, and the crispness of the breading can be enjoyed. Taste testing a small piece, the crispness of the breading had a good texture.

 

“… Want to try it?”

 

Yuri smiled wryly as he asked Yack, whose hand had stopped mixing the contents of the bowl. The next moment, he held one out with a smile as Yack nodded vigorously. Cautious of the heat, Yack stuffed it in his mouth, and even as he was huffing due to the heat, his eyes trembled at the unknown taste.

 

“Yuri, what is this!? It’s crispy and super delicious! What. Is this!”

“It’s called kakiage. The vegetables were scraps this time, so I did this and made a breading with the flour and water, frying it in oil. Does it suit your tastes?”

“It’s super good! To make something this delicious from those crappy vegetables …!”

“Ahaha, Yack, you’re exaggerating.”

 

Smiling wryly as Yack was overjoyed, saying, ‘Amazing, amazing!’ Yuri turned the stove off temporarily. Fried food is most delicious when freshly fried. Since that’s the case, once the taste testing was done, he had to move on to the next set of preparations. There wasn’t any saran wrap, so Yuri used a dish cloth to cover the bowl as a lid, then carefully put it in the refrigerator. It would be a disaster if he carelessly spilled it.

 

“Now then, Yack, let’s shape these together.”

“Shape?”

“U-m, squishing them into shapes. Can you take the potatoes and minced meat mixture and make them elliptical, like this? If they’re too big the next step will be troublesome, since they’d fall apart, so you should make them palm-sized, I guess?”

“Got it.”

 

The two of them washed their hands carefully and turned to the mixture of potatoes and minced meat. With a spoon, they each took some and rounded them. Yack wasn’t used to it and made an strange shape, but with Yuri’s advice he was able to make the shape a little nicer. Not know why they were doing it, Yack formed the shapes while tilting his head. … In Yack’s opinion, weren’t these already ready to eat?

He’s not wrong. The minced meat was seasoned and cooked, and the potatoes were also boiled at the beginning. It’s not raw, so there’s no problems to eating it like this. But that way makes it simply mashed potatoes with meat in it. What Yuri wants to make is croquettes. The reason is simple. Mashed potatoes can never be the main dish, but croquettes are more than enough to be the leading role accompanied with rice.

And so, like a mountain on top of a large tray, croquettes were made. The two of them made them silently, but there was quite a large amount. … Well, there was a huge amount of potatoes, so it was obvious they’d make a lot. There are tons of potatoes.

Yuri made nearly three times the amount he always makes at home. There’s only one reason. It’s because there are a lot of healthy, young people here. Their appetites are probably quite something. Yuri’s portion was small for a male high school student, but he knew that the stomachs of growing young men were like black holes. Taking that into account, he made three times the amount he did at home. … While hoping that this would be enough.

 

“Next is the breading. I’ll be in charge of the flour and eggs, so please handle the breadcrumbes, Yack.”

“Breading?”

“Un. Cover it in flour, coat it in beaten egg, and lastly cover it in breadcrumbs, then fry it in oil. It’s called a croquette.”

“Heeh, is it delicious?”

“… Hm~, personally, I’d prefer it over kakiage, I think.”

“Got it! I’ll do my best!”

 

Yack became extremely energetic. That said, he isn’t at fault. Yack is still growing. For a growing boy to be told that it was even tastier than the food he couldn’t imagine made from the very crappy vegetables, there’s no way he wouldn’t be enthusiastic.

And so, preparing bowls with flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in them, the two continued work silently, covering the croquettes. It seems it wasn’t meaningless to have a Skill level of 50, as Yuri handled the work easily with one hand doing the flour and hand doing the eggs. Even though Yack was a bit slow, he covered them with breadcrumbs, shook the extra breadcrumbs off, and put them on the tray. Before long, there was only a mountain of croquettes left in front of them.

 

“Now then, let’s fry one up to taste test.”

 

Yuri fried a croquette with a smile. Yack, who found fried foods a mystery, watched him work seriously. The white breadcrumbs gradually became golden brown. The color was even better than the previous kakiage. Once fried, Yuri set it on top of the oil draining mesh and split it in half.

 

“It’s hot, but here’s half.”

“Un!”

 

Like a kid getting a treat, Yack took the freshly fried croquette in his hand. Yuri also blew on his to cool it. The flavor was better than expected. The flavor of the ingredients might be pretty good. The seasoning was light, with only salt, pepper, and powdered herbs. Even so, the sweetness of the potatoes and the savoriness of the meat, fried, made it indescribably fragrant, making the simple croquette high grade.

Also, fried food is really the best freshly fried.

 

“Really delicious!”

“I’m glad. Then can this be the main accompaniment?”

“It can, it can! Yuri, you’re amazing!”

 

He really is a savior; Yack devoured the hot croquette, and Yuri smiled happily as he watched.

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A/n: Yuri is having fun because he can cook.
Regarding Yack, who’s surprised next to him, he practically ignored him~.
‘My pace’ is scary, lol
I am awaiting your opinions and impressions.

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<t/n: (5/7)
It may be a bit confusing, but a Japanese style meal considers all dishes an accompaniment to rice, called ‘okazu’, but the meal usually contains a ‘main’ okazu, like meat or fish, and other ‘side’ okazu, like stewed vegetables or pickles. So technically, mashed potatoes and croquettes can both be ‘okazu,’ but mashed potatoes can never be the ‘main okazu’ like croquettes can be.
This is only really confusing because okazu is usually translated as ‘side dish,’ so if you see some awkwardness around the translations dealing with the okazu concept here and in the future, please overlook it~.

Also, I know there’s a difference between mincemeat and minced meat, but I’m American so I might have typed mincemeat by mistake because … … er, we get really confused about that. I fixed one, but there might be more.>