Chapter Thirty-eight: It Is Better to Let a Gratin Burn Than to Let a Silent Firefly Burn Itself
I’ll leave the cheese-layered bake in the oven while I finish sautéing the sea bass and making a carpaccio-style salad with the sashimi cuts. For the sashimi, I actually wanted to have it with plum soy sauce, wasabi soy sauce, or vinegar miso, but fermented flavors tend to be divisive… So this time, I’ll just have it with dressing in salad style.
“Hmm… I think I don’t need flour coating this time.”
While it’s hard to resist a classic meunière, I think I’ll try to achieve crispy skin, like with a butter roasting, this time. I want to savor the natural flavor of the fish itself. Once the frying pan is heated, I’ll add a layer of oil and then slowly cook the seasoned fillets, starting with the skin side down over low heat! The fish will likely curl up, so I’ll gently press it down with a spatula to keep it flat as it cooks.
Then, I’ll leave it alone without touching it until it’s cooked through to a certain extent, maintaining the low heat. It’s tempting to fiddle with it, but I’ll resist the urge! Being patient is key! If you mess with it too much, the flesh might fall apart…
…But you know, it’s nice to move around like this because it helps me forget about things for a while.
“In the meantime, I’ll slice up some tomatoes and cucumbers, and take out the chilled sashimi…”
“You certainly have an efficient way of working.”
“Well, they do say ‘Proper prep is 80% of the work’.”
By this point, the fillets in the frying pan seem to be mostly cooked through. The thickest part of the flesh, about two-thirds of the way in, is starting to turn opaque. Now I just need to quickly flip the fillets to avoid breaking them and cook the other side briefly. Then, it’s ready to serve.
I’ll plate each serving on individual dishes, garnished with the sliced tomatoes and cucumbers I prepared earlier. I’ll also add some salad greens on the side… For the sauce, it’ll be a dressing-style sauce made by roughly mixing diced tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and vinegar.
Just in time—the oven chimes to signal the baked dish is ready! Oh! It’s great that everything finished cooking with such good timing!
As I turn around, I notice everyone is already seated at their places…!
“Will there be enough room on the table…?”
“It does look a bit cramped… should we eat outside like yesterday?”
“Hmm… I think we can juuust make it work if we squeeze in. Mr. Ville, please stay in your seat.”
I tried bringing the sautéed fish plates to the table, but considering that the rice bowl and the cheese bake are also coming, it might be a bit tight… Well, yeah, I might have gotten carried away with the quantity… I’m aware of that! I got excited about having vegetables at hand, and they turned out so delicious that I got carried away…
Even if it might overflow the table a bit, I think we’ll manage somehow! There’s also the option of me eating in the kitchen… and it’s not like anything is blocking the way since it’s an open space, but I’d rather eat with everyone!
With individual plates of roasted fish, a massive pot of tomato rice, and the bubbling cheese bake… The plain wooden table suddenly burst into vivid color. I pull out the foldable chair from the infinite storage and settle it into the birthday seat.
“Here we are, my apologies for the wait!”
“…That’s quite a lot of vegetables, isn’t it…?”
“I tried to incorporate plenty of fat and richness to make the veggies more satisfying!”
“Ahh… our members don’t really eat many veggies. Sorry for the trouble!”
“No, actually, I wanted to eat them, so it’s my selfish desire I’m imposing on you all… I should be the one apologizing.”
I bowed slightly to Mr. Xenon, who looked a bit dejected, and Mr. Ed smoothly followed up.
Mr. Ed, despite his flashy appearance, is actually quite considerate, right…?
Well, I do feel a bit guilty for having them accommodate my desire to eat vegetables, so I’ll try to serve up heartier bear meat portions.
“Delicious! Even the veggies are delicious! The cheese and tomatoes are great!”
“A-Aria’s eating veggies!? Rin… how did you…?”
“The ingredients themselves are just delicious, that’s all.”
Ms. Aria must have taken a liking to the cheese and tomato combo from the earlier tasting, as she’s already digging into the cheese bake.
Seeing this, Mr. Ed’s eyes became wide with surprise, but is it really that shocking…?
The vegetables and cheese in this world are just richly flavorful and delicious. It’s not my cooking skills, just exceptional base ingredients.
“I had thought veggies were meant to be boiled to mush or eaten raw, no in-between… never did I imagine they could be transformed like this…!”
“Mush or raw, huh… yes, that would make me hate veggies too…”
“Indeed, this tomato rice is quite good. Having it after the fish is refreshing, and with the salad the sweet and sour flavors meld nicely… very delicious.”
“Right? The tomato rice is refreshing but still has a richness from the butter, so it doesn’t feel too light with the veggies!”
Piercing the glistening eggplant, which has absorbed plenty of tomato juice and the richness of cheese, with the fork, Mr. Ville admired it.
Yup, unless it’s being puréed into a sauce or something, having to eat tasteless, textureless mush that was once vegetables would be rough. Texture is quite an underestimated element when it comes to food.
Even Mr. Xenon, who initially looked skeptical about the vegetables, seems to have taken a liking to the tomato rice.
Next, I should make a stir-fried version of tomato rice! It’s richer and more flavorful than the simmered version… I wonder if it would be delicious as omelet rice.
As I watch everyone happily tuck into the veggie dishes, I also pick up my chopsticks to indulge in the sautéed sea bass, or is it more like a poêléed dish? We are a bit short on cutlery, you see…
Piercing through the crisped skin with my chopsticks, it crackles and separates to reveal the plump, snowy white flesh underneath. The light, crispy crunch of the seared skin has a pleasant richness from being gently cooked to render out excess oil. Sometimes you get fish with an unpleasant fishy or muddy aroma, but this is top-notch stuff—a real winner! The flesh has a firm yet tender texture, almost bouncing back when bitten into, and it’s soft and gentle on the palate because it hasn’t been cooked to the point of losing all its moisture.
The vinegary tomato acidity cuts through any lingering oil, making it incredibly moreish.
The sashimi still has a firm, snappy texture that resists until you really bite down, releasing a burst of savory umami with each chew.
…Seafish is just delicious…!
The eggplant and tomato cheese bake lived up to its promise of being utterly delectable. The eggplant, having absorbed every last drop of oil, juice, and flavor it could, melts into velvety submission, while the heated tomatoes remain sweet and soft with a hint of acidity, and the cheese, packed with the unique umami of fermented foods, melt and intertwined to perfection… With just a hint of salt and pepper, the richness of the cheese cuts through the sweetness of the vegetables, leaving nothing lacking in satisfaction.
“See, vegetables can be quite tasty, no?”
“Ah, if they’re like this, I could get behind eating veggies…!”
“I’ll keep working on making them irresistible! Good food is motivating, after all.”
I clench my fist, and Mr. Ville bumps it firmly with his own.
Yes! I’ll do my best as the cook from now on!
The translator’s corner
About the chapter title and the firefly in particular. Most likely, it refers to the Japanese saying “鳴く蝉よりも鳴かぬ蛍が身を焦がす” (The firefly that does not chirp burns more than the cicada that does), which roughly means "even if someone is silent or doesn’t brag about their accomplishments, their actions or presence can still have a significant impact or consequence".
PS. A couple months ago, I overcooked some veggies (in a soup) and it got mushy and barely edible :). So much so that I still remember about that.
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