Chapter Seventy-three: Meat and the Dungeon, Repeat!
Something simple and delicious… Since I have pork belly, how about rice topped with roasted pork? Simply put, pork bowl. To make it, first I need to roast the pork in the rice cooker, and then use the broth to cook the rice…
Oh, that sounds delicious. Really delicious!
I take out the large slab of pork belly I had stored in the fridge. Thickness-wise, it feels like a fairly thick B5 file folder. It’s not the kind of pork belly with thin streaks of red meat between thick layers of fat. Rather, it has decently thick alternating layers of meat and fat. The contrast between the pure white fat and the pink meat is just beautiful.
From a distance, it almost looks like a huge strawberry shortcake.
“Hmm… according to Survival, it says ‘the high-quality fat is extremely delicious.’ All right, tonight’s dinner is pork bowl!”
Checking Survival before cooking, I see the notes: "The meat is tender with no gamy or foul odors, delicious no matter how it’s cooked." "The high-quality fat becomes meltingly tender and sweet when heated, extremely delicious.”
This must be a sign to make a pork bowl!
…Do I have any kitchen string? Rummaging through the drawers of the Camping Car’s kitchen, I find a roll of kitchen string towards the back. Yes! Now I can tie up that pork belly!
I cut the thicker parts of the meat to even out the thickness, then roll it up like a Swiss roll. With the pure white fat layer on top, and the lean meat and fat spiraled underneath… yup, it really does look like a strawberry roll cake in color.
And to prevent it from unraveling, I tie it up tightly with the kitchen string. Rolling it like this keeps its shape and ensures an even distribution of meat and fat. Maybe it’s because the meat and fat don’t fall apart while cooking?
“Next I just need to sear the surface, parboil it briefly… then toss it in the rice cooker, right?”
Since I rolled it up lengthwise, the plump cylindrical form really does resemble a roll cake. I’ll sear the surface to add some fragrant browning, then parboil it for about 10 minutes to remove some of the excess fat and scum.
Meanwhile, I’ll make a slightly thinned sauce with soy sauce, mirin, sugar, water, and cooking alcohol. Once the parboiling is done, I’ll toss the orc pork belly and sliced ginger into the rice cooker and hit the cook button. Oh, covering it with a cooking sheet with holes will help the flavors permeate the meat. I thinned out the sauce a bit since it will reduce down in the rice cooker mode.
After cooking, I’ll flip it over and leave it in the keep-warm mode for a while, so it’s easy.
“Rin, we’re about to head out, are you ready?”
“Yes, I’ve finished the prep work, so I’m all set!”
Just as I was figuring out what vegetable sides to make, Mr. Ville poked his head into the Camping Car’s entrance. Looks like everyone has finished checking their weapons and armor and is just resting. Noticing I had been using the kitchen, Mr. Ville cast a cleaning spell on the utensils I used. They become sparkling clean and bone dry in an instant—magic is amazing!
“Were you cooking something? I smell shoy or something.”
“I was prepping some orc meat. Going to serve it over rice today!”
“Oh, the ones Ed and Aria hunted yesterday?”
“Yes, just a small part of that huge haul!”
With Mr. Ville nodding in understanding, I gave him a thumbs up and hit the rice cooker button, then exited the Camping Car after him, dismissing its manifestation.
…Come to think of it, what happens to the passage of time inside after dismissing the manifestation? Even if I’m flying, jumping, running, or stumbling around, the interior of the car has never been disturbed, so the rice cooker shouldn’t get knocked over…
Well, even if time stops inside, as long as the rice cooker is undisturbed it’s not a big problem! It may take longer, but I can just reheat it… or rather, just re-manifest it to let time pass.
… So, as I head to join everyone, I notice that Ms. Aria’s expression seems a bit gloomy…?
“Is something wrong? You seem down…”
“…The lower floor… I don’t… want to go down there…”
“Oh? Did something happen?”
“…It’s… cold down there…”
“Yikes!”
As I approached the dejected-looking Ms. Aria, she reached out and cupped my cheek with her hand.
Owwww! What’s with this hand?! It’s like ice!
I know Ms. Aria is sensitive to cold, but this is a bit excessive, isn’t it?! Looking closer, her fingertips are pale white verging on blue—is blood circulation cut off or something?! This is bad!
“Ms. Aria, let me see your hand! Why is it so cold?”
“…Down from the lower floor… the cold air… Rin’s hand is… warm…”
With a brief warning, I take Ms. Aria’s hand to check the temperature and color. No difference between her hands, but her entire arm is cold too, so this is serious. I gesture for her to sit, and we both take a seat on the ground. I lightly massage one hand and forearm at a time. They say when your extremities get cold, it affects not just your body but your mind too.
…As someone with a perpetually summer-like body temperature, I’ve never experienced that dreadful coldness that makes tasks difficult… But it seems my inherent warmth is just what Ms. Aria needed for the chill in her body and soul. She must have been really suffering from the cold.
As warmth slowly returns to her palms, Ms. Aria starts to relax mentally too, and begins to tell me the situation in fragments, sniffling. Summarizing, she had sent out her threads to scout the lover floor, but an "abnormal coldness" (her words) emanated from it. Even so, she couldn’t back down without understanding the terrain and traps, so she pushed on and ended up getting extremely cold.
…For cold-sensitive Ms. Aria, the next floor down might be hellish…
“Oh, that’s right! Everyone, can I have a moment? Let’s make some warming items!”
As I massaged Ms. Aria’s fingers from base to tip in a circular motion, an idea suddenly struck me.
Mugwort!
I have a huge stash of the black mugwort that can be used to make moxa, the warming herb beloved by acupuncturists!
If we’re heading somewhere cold, wouldn’t it be a good idea to make items with at least some warming effect?
Ms. Aria’s eyes lit up at the words "warmth items.”
“Shall we try making some moxa?”
Moxa, companion of moxibustion practitioners, please let me make you!
The Translator’s Corner
Finally, moxa!
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