Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 16 - Chapter 2.2

2

Around a half hour had passed while I chatted with Mikel and everyone, so after adding herbs and firewood to the flame in the smoking room, I started heating up the pot with the seaweed.

Just before it reached a boil, I removed the seaweed and tossed in three different types of vegetable. Following Mikel’s guidance, I took the skin off the sheema and ma gigo, while I added the chan, skin and all. When I peeled back the brown skin of the ma gigo, I found slimy cream-colored flesh inside that really resembled gigo.

Fifteen minutes or so later, the vegetables had all gotten soft enough that I could stab a wooden skewer through them, so I doused the flame. For seasoning, I only used some salt I had brought along from the Fa house.

“Yeah, sheema really seems to be a lot like daikon.”

Once I lifted everything up onto a wooden plate, I started by splitting the sheema and ma gigo into enough portions for everyone. When I tasted it, I found the sheema’s flavor reminded me pretty strongly of daikon. The seaweed stock had seeped into it ever so slightly, making for a simple yet wonderful flavor.

“I’ve never tasted anything like this before. I definitely get the feeling that it would pair well with tau oil,” Reina Ruu commented, and Sheera Ruu nodded along.

If I let it boil for longer, it would surely become softer and draw out even more of that sweetness. I definitely wanted to try using it to positive effect at The Great Southern Tree.

The arugula-like ro’hyoi had a perfectly fine taste when fully cooked too. The spice and bitterness disappeared just fine, leaving just a bit of flavor reminiscent of sesame seeds, and it was a bit firmer than even nanaar, which already had a pleasant chewiness to it. It might have been an ingredient better suited to boiling in soy sauce or stir frying rather than just boiling it regularly.

Then, there was the ma gigo and ma pula.

When the skin was peeled from the ma gigo, it lost the sliminess of ordinary gigo, and the texture when you bit into it sort of reminded me of taro. It seemed like it would be good in stews and soups too.

Ma pula didn’t have the bitterness of pula; in exchange there was a very slight sweetness to it. Pula was akin to bell peppers, while the bright red ma pula seemed like it could serve as a substitute for paprika.

Then last up there was the one I had the hardest time picturing how it would taste considering its appearance: the chan. As I took the initiative and went to bite into it first, I wondered just what in the world this black ping pong ball-looking vegetable would taste like...only to find it had a texture that was somewhat soft and rather peculiar, and the inside was slightly sweet and very moist. It might have been a bit like an extra-chewy eggplant? No, I couldn’t say for certain since I didn’t have much experience with them, but it might have actually been closer to a zucchini.

With just the seaweed stock and salt for flavor, I didn’t feel it was all that tasty. Still, if it was a vegetable akin to an eggplant or zucchini, I could probably use it with more heavily flavored or grilled dishes.

“They’re all so bland. I can’t imagine coming to like any of them,” Lem Dom stated, then she shot me a glare. “I know, this is just a taste test, right? I’m not trying to complain about your cooking or anything.”

“I didn’t say you were,” I replied with a strained chuckle, then I turned toward Mikel. “Whether or not I can use them for the banquet in the castle town will come down to the menu I decide on, but it doesn’t seem like there will be any issue with making them available in the post town. Next, I guess we should give the mushrooms a try.”

“You can try them if you want, but if you don’t let those dried mushrooms soak in water overnight, they won’t go back to normal. If you just boil them as they are, they’ll be hard and lacking in flavor.”

That made sense, and I figured it was like returning dried shiitake mushrooms to normal in water. In that case, maybe it would be possible to get a stock from them through that process too.

“Ah, and I also got some wine from other countries too. So what about them?”

“Genos doesn’t have any cooking techniques for using wine to add flavor. However, I’ve heard that in Sym and Mahyudra they sometimes boil meat in wine to remove odors,” Mikel replied, stroking his chin as he gave the matter deep thought. “Kimyuus and karon don’t have much of a stink about them to begin with, so there was no need to do anything like that. I don’t know how it is in Mahyudra, but maybe that method of boiling meat in wine and using a mountain of herbs comes from the stench of gyama raised in the mountains.”

“I see. That’s really interesting... By the way, have you ever been to Sym or Jagar, Mikel?”

“Why should I have to go all the way to some other country? You have to have some seriously eccentric tastes to want to travel to another kingdom when you’re not even a merchant,” Mikel grumbled, then suddenly he shot me a firm glare. “Have you even set foot outside of the forest’s edge and the post town yourself? Can’t imagine you’ve managed to find time for something like that when you’re doing business every single day.”

“Yeah. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I’ve never even visited the Daleim or Turan lands. And I’ve only ever passed through the castle town in a totos carriage, so I haven’t walked around there either.”

Mikel gave an astounded sigh. “And you’ve been using nothing but giba meat too. Have you not even seen a kimyuus being prepared before?”

“That’s right. Actually, I still don’t even know what a live kimyuus looks like...”

When Mikel heard that, he went beyond astounded and landed somewhere around being at a loss for words.

“But you’ve cooked kimyuus and karon dishes before at one of the inns, haven’t you...?”

“Yes. I tried out all sorts of things with the inn owner in order to develop a new menu. He makes them himself now though.”

“So you cooked kimyuus without even knowing what one looks like, huh? If you worked in the same restaurant as me, I would’ve had some choice words to shout at you.”

“It is kinda embarrassing,” I said, scratching my head before turning his daughter’s way. “So then, you must have seen a kimyuus being prepared, right Myme? Was it in Daleim?”

“That’s right. My dad took me there two years ago. And we’re going to go to Dabagg to see a karon farm sometime too!”

“Ooh, I’m jealous,” I replied, at which Myme suddenly leaned forward.

“In that case, why not come with us? Dabagg is half a day away by totos, so we could be back by the following day.”

“I mean, it’s not like I’m planning to cook with karon or anything,” I immediately replied, but it was definitely a proposal that got me excited. Up until now, I hadn’t even dreamed of setting foot outside of Genos. As I gave the matter some thought, I turned toward Reina Ruu. “The people of the forest’s edge don’t go any farther than the post town, right? Is that because it’s against their customs?”

“It’s more like there just isn’t any reason to do so. You can take care of any shopping you have to do in the post town just fine... But not that long ago, we had those men from the branch houses go with Kamyua Yoshu outside of Genos, so I don’t think anyone would complain about it if you have a proper reason.”

In that case, a short trip to Dabagg could be possible depending on how things played out. It seemed like a matter that would be worth discussing with Ai Fa and Donda Ruu.

“I think I’d like to try heading to the Daleim lands first, then. I have acquaintances there, after all.”

It went without saying, but I was thinking of Dora and Tara. Dora’s family plowed fields there, and he sold his crops in the post town.

I had wanted to invite them to the forest’s edge sometime anyway, so it seemed like a decent idea to plan a visit to the Daleim lands as well. That was certain to make Rimee Ruu happy too, as she got along well with Tara.

“The only things in the Turan lands are fuwano and mamaria fields, and those belong to the lord of the land, so we can’t approach them. That made getting to see the aria and tarapa fields in the Daleim lands feel like a really important experience for me,” Myme reminisced.

“I see. I’d love to see them too, then. We’ve only ever seen vegetables being sold in the post town before, right?” I asked, seeking agreement. However, the looks Reina and Sheera Ruu were giving me seemed oddly full of mixed emotions.

“Umm... I’m sorry, but I’ve already seen the kimyuus and the fields in the Daleim lands. And I believe it’s the same for you too, right, Sheera Ruu?”

“It is. I was a bit surprised. I never imagined a kimyuus would look like that.”

“Huh?! You two have been to the Daleim lands?!”

“Yes... When you were kidnapped, we were tasked with searching the post town and the Daleim lands.”

Now I finally understood, and I also felt incredibly apologetic. “Right. I really am sorry for that. And I apologize for getting so worked up when I didn’t know how much you had to do...”

“Please don’t worry yourself about that. None of it was your fault, after all,” Reina Ruu replied with a smile to reassure me. “We didn’t have a chance to take our time and observe the fields back then, so if you head to the Daleim lands, we would love to accompany you.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll talk to Donda Ruu about it. Plus, I’d have to find out in advance if the people of the Daleim lands would welcome us to begin with.”

Those who worked in the Daleim fields feared giba, so it was possible they would be more afraid of the people of the forest’s edge than folks in the post town were. In fact, that did seem to be the case for Dora and Granny Mishil when we first met.

But ever since we exposed Cyclaeus and Ciluel’s crimes, the discrimination toward the people of the forest’s edge had lightened up quite a bit. Still, it wasn’t like we were accepted unconditionally. There were definitely still some out there who saw the people of the forest’s edge as heretics for holding different moral values than the townsfolk, and for being such stolid hunters. Not to mention the fact that the forest alone was seen as the mother of the people who lived there, rather than any of the four great gods. That was just one more reason the townsfolk saw them as incomprehensible.

Even so, there’s a lot less thoughtless scorn and fear flying around. If they can see us as more like slightly strange neighbors rather than heretics, it should be possible for everyone to get along.

As I thought to myself, I popped the leftover chan on the plate into my mouth.

Two hours and some change later, the smoked meat was finally ready.

The meat had already shrunk a bit beforehand, but now that we were laying it out atop a cloth, it was clear that it had gotten even smaller and toughened up. The sausages, for example, were now around half as thick as they had been. The intestines had contracted and become wrinkly, while the meat inside had turned a dark reddish brown.

“It doesn’t seem as tough as normal jerky. Though I’d say it’s become a lot denser.”

As I spoke, I picked up a knife. It was the one that I had been borrowing from Ai Fa, which was a memento from her father. The sausages were one thing, but if I didn’t use this one for the jerky, a cooking knife might be damaged.

“For now, why don’t we go ahead and give this stuff a taste test?”

We had six varieties of meat: thigh, rib, shoulder, and sirloin, the hind leg that had been smoked whole, and the sausages.

I started with the safe choice, the thigh meat, shaving some off and moving it to a plate. Jerky tended to get harder over the course of a few days, but at the moment it seemed like even I could chew through it just fine.

“The taste really does seem to have improved a lot,” Reina Ruu remarked in surprise. “It has a much more abundant flavor just from adding a few herbs and putting more effort into smoking it. I’m sure the men will be quite happy with this too.”

“Yeah. It’d probably be nice and tasty if you threw it into a stew as well.”

The flavor was actually pretty similar to the jerky I knew from back home. In the past, the people of the forest’s edge got pretty much all the salt in their diet from jerky, which meant it had to be so salty it would sting your throat. However, the taste of the meat had grown denser, and then there was the aroma from the herbs on top of that, which gave it a very deep flavor.

After that, we went ahead and tried the rib, shoulder, and sirloin meats in turn.

Personally, I thought the ribs and sirloin had a bit of a dicey taste. The accent provided by their fat content seemed underdeveloped. It wasn’t being brought out to its fullest potential, and the chewy texture wasn’t especially pleasant either.

Still, even though the shoulder meat had the least fat of these cuts, I didn’t feel that it had come out as the best one either. And it sure seemed like as the days passed, it would end up every bit as tough as bonito flakes.

As for the smoked hind leg, it got pretty tender as you went further in. With this much volume, it seemed it needed to be pickled in salt for longer in order to more thoroughly remove the moisture. It wasn’t as if the taste itself was bad, but making sure it would last was important too.

Anyway, I got the feeling that the block of thigh meat was the most suited to being made into jerky for portable rations in the end.

“Delicious! I don’t eat much jerky, but this should be at least as good as stuff made with karon and kimyuus, if not better, right?” Myme exclaimed.

“That’s true. But it needs to sell at one and a half times the price of karon. That means it might be out of reach for most travelers.”

The young girl’s eyes opened wide. “Then why did you want to improve the quality of the jerky? Ah, so it could be tastier for you guys...?”

“That’s of course part of it. But beyond that, I figure jerky can be sold in other towns,” I replied as I thought back. “A merchant group from Sym that we met in the post town bought a whole lot of jerky from us in the past with the intention of selling it. Wealthy folks and merchants in other towns could end up buying it for the novelty even if it’s a bit expensive, right?”

I was definitely concerned that the way things were going, giba meat might end up having its price raised to the same level as karon torso meat. I figured I should search out new ways to sell it, in case that ended up happening.

After I offered that explanation, Myme got a bit of a pained look on her face.

“If giba meat becomes that expensive, it won’t be available in the post town anymore, will it? Karon torso costs around double what leg meat does, right?”

“That’s true. But the folks in the post town may be wealthier than they are now when that time comes. Actually, this noble I know named Polarth said that should be the case.”

Still, we were talking about the far off future. I wanted to try to do everything I could before anything beyond our ability to predict happened.

“Well then, I predicted these sausages should work better than the other types of meat, but let’s see how they turned out.”

The sausages had shrunk down to around one and a half centimeters thick and ten centimeters long. I sliced the links in half, and since there were ten of us here, used up five links in the process.

When I took a bite of those smoked sausages, I found it had a firm texture that reminded me of salami. Still, the fat kneaded into it gave it an appropriate level of tenderness, and it didn’t take much chewing to break it down in my mouth.

The taste from the salt and pico leaves really was striking. And the lilo and other herbs added to its abundant flavor too. It had just as much flavor condensed into it as normal smoked meat, if not more, and just this small amount was enough to seriously satisfy me.

“It sure is tasty! Though I feel really thirsty now.”

After nodding at Myme, I turned toward Reina Ruu and the other women.

“What do you all think? It’s got a wonderful flavor to it, right?”

“Yes. I’d say it’s tastier than the jerky. However, wouldn’t my father and those like him object to how easy it is to eat...?”

“Yeah. If there are more opportunities to eat soft meat at dinner and the jerky gets softer too, I figure a lot of hunters will feel uneasy about that. Naturally, I feel the same way too. So I wanted to try it out as something to be sold and also used as an ingredient in meals.”

“An ingredient in meals?”

“That’s right. If it doesn’t need to last for several months, then there’s no need to dry it out and toughen it up as thoroughly. There are plenty of ways to use it, whether by decreasing the smoking time, or even just grilling it or boiling it instead.” I then pointed toward the smoked rib meat. “And with this stuff, if you dry it out this much, you lose the deliciousness from the fat, but by adjusting the smoking time we can make something different known as bacon. I tried to make some for Shumiral and Balan a while ago with that jerky I gave them, but it came out sort of half-baked. Still, I’m sure I can get it to come out well if I can figure out from scratch how to make bacon the right way.”

“You already had things planned out that far when you decided to start experimenting with jerky, didn’t you?” Reina Ruu questioned with a small sigh, then she stared at me with a firm look in her eyes. “Lately, I feel like I’m seeing the gap between our skill levels more and more clearly. I feel like I’m clinging to the back of a totos running wild...but I’d like to try even harder to make certain it doesn’t throw me off.”

Sheera Ruu and Toor Deen had equally serious expressions on their faces too. Li Sudra watched over the proceedings with a smile, Lem Dom appeared indifferent, and Saris Ran Fou seemed fidgety because she didn’t get what was going on at all... And then there was Yun Sudra, who was staring at me with an oddly passionate look in her eyes. After shooting a glance her way, Reina Ruu leaned toward me.

“Asuta, I ask that you continue instructing me. I’ll give every last bit of strength I’ve got in order not to prove a hindrance.”

“Thanks. It’s very reassuring to hear you say so, Reina Ruu.”

Making bacon and sausage, improving the taste of the giba curry, developing a menu for the welcome banquet, taste testing new ingredients... Plus, mixing fuwano and poitan seemed like it would produce some interesting results soon. Thanks to everyone who assisted me, I had been able to expand my research in so many ways.

“But Asuta, these sausages take quite a bit of effort to prepare, don’t they? We had a lot of women from the Fou and Sudra gathered today, so we managed to finish it in the morning, but what about in the future?” Saris Ran Fou asked in a reserved tone.

I turned to face her with a smile. “I’ve been thinking about that. If we work together to smoke enough meat for everyone like we did today, we can minimize the number of folks needed to make jerky. On top of that, I think we should be able to get the necessary number of people if the Liddo, Gaaz, and Ratsu join in.”

“Ah, that’s true... If just one or two people can smoke this much meat, that should free up quite a few hands.”

“Right. And if they don’t need to head to the post town to make purchases, that would free up even more.”

My words had Saris Ran Fou tilting her head with a confused expression, so I explained. “The truth is, I was thinking of purchasing a new totos and wagon to use for shopping. If we share it with everyone, that should save a lot of time, right? Maybe I can talk to the clan heads and see if that time could be spent helping me out with this.”

“Huh...? You’d buy a totos and wagon for the sake of other clans? But aren’t wagons shockingly expensive?”

“It’s a cheap price to pay for getting help with my work. Making such a large amount of sausage will take an incredible amount of effort. I would never be capable of it on my own.”

The various clan heads surely wouldn’t accept my charity if I were to just buy them a wagon and totos. But I figured if the Fa clan stood to benefit too, I might be able to get them to consider it.

“That’s part of the ‘prosperous lives’ you talk about, right?” Lem Dom chimed in with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’m amazed. You could never think of buying a wagon for another clan if you’re just hunting giba. And if you sell those sausages or whatever they’re called, then an even bigger fortune will come rolling in. It certainly is an outrageous thought.”

“Yeah. We had the price of giba meat unexpectedly go up on us, so it’s become necessary to widen our scope.”

Still, no matter how much we expanded our business dealings, giba meat was essential. Without it, I would have no business at all.

No matter how much of a fortune the people of the forest’s edge amassed, they still couldn’t neglect their hunting duties. As I saw it, my fundamental business principles were built around the question of whether or not they could live prosperous lives without being corrupted.

“It really is something else. The lives of us people of the forest’s edge have changed so completely thanks to a single foreigner,” Lem Dom commented, and then she broke out in a daring grin. “I can’t help but enjoy watching to see if you’ll trip up somewhere, or if you’ll keep on breaking through like a rutting giba.”

“Right. I intend to keep on plunging straight ahead while also making sure I have firm footing.”

And so, our taste testing of the smoked meats came to a close, with a number of topics still left up in the air.