Chapter 53 - Pork Shabu-shabu and Grilled Eggplant
"Once again, I’m taking the easy route. Is it alright if I use the magic stove and a pot?"
"I really appreciate it every time. If there's anything I can help with, please let me know."
Following the previous time, they both stood together in the kitchen once again.
Dahlia decided to stop hesitating and just ask Volf for help without holding back.
"I'll prepare the pot, so could you please grate the radish with this?"
"Radish? Grate?"
Volf looked at the radish and the grater she handed him with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.
She set aside the question of whether it was appropriate to let a member of a Count's family do such things, convincing herself that the tower was her domain. Otherwise, being pulled back to reality would only make her stomach ache.
"This is called a 'grater.' You rub the radish against it like this to grate it. Be careful with your hands."
"I got it. I'll give it a try."
Volf answered, rolling up his sleeves, and the energy and strength he used caught her completely off guard.
He nearly scraped his fingers with the grater but stopped just in time, leaving a tiny scratch on his nail.
"Volf, you don't need to do it that forcefully!"
"Dahlia, this is a task you shouldn't be doing. A grater is dangerous. You should use body enhancement for this."
"Body enhancement isn't necessary for grating radish! Please stop pressing your fingers into the radish!"
The explanation and execution went awry, and they ended up spending a considerable amount of time just grating the radish.
As for the ginger, Dahlia secretly grated it using a smaller grater.
While the water boiled in the pot, she grilled the eggplants on the magic stove's grill.
Once the skin was well-charred, she took it off the heat and set it aside on a plate. After they cooled a bit more, she planned to peel the skin off with a skewer. When Volf asked about it, she explained, and he deftly peeled the skin off despite it still being hot.
Surprised, she was told that it was a skill honed from peeling the burnt outer layers of meat during expeditions—a sad reason.
She couldn’t help but feel that she should definitely improve the compact magic stove and make sure he has one.
Afterward, she cut the vegetables and arranged the glasses, finally setting up the compact magic stove on the table.
"Uh, I'm sorry it's so little, but this is a different type of eastern alcohol from last time. If it runs out, we'll switch to wine."
The eastern alcohol was in a small white bottle.
However, even though it was the same cloudy white wine Volf had brought last, this one was dry.
"I'll buy the eastern liquor next time."
"Then please do."
"Buying glasses for the eastern liquor tomorrow might be tough."
"Yes, it seems I'll have to go to the guild first. But I'm really grateful for the work I've received. So, let's make a toast."
As she said that, a thought crossed her mind.
How many times had she toasted with Volf until now? How many more toasts would they have in the future?
It was just a passing thought, but she unconsciously tightened her grip on her glass.
"Uh... Let's toast to my gratitude for the work I've received and to the prosperity of the Chivalric Order and the company. Cheers."
"Let's toast to my gratitude for always being served delicious food and to the prosperity of the Chivalric Order and my company. Cheers."
Their words grew longer, and they finally clinked their glasses together.
This eastern liquor was slightly chilled, but the aroma and sharpness remained intact.
After the cool, spicy taste passed through her mouth and throat, the complex aroma of the liquor slowly rose. The distinct warmth of alcohol came with it, and the moment it disappeared, she was almost tempted to take another sip.
"This... is a dangerous drink."
"Yes, it should be drunk in smaller glasses... Is the name 'Breath' because of the aroma that lingers after drinking?"
"I get it now. That lingering aroma, even though it’s spicy... so they have that in eastern liquor too."
Trying new liquors was quite enjoyable, but it seemed she was gradually following in her father’s drinking habits, so she decided to be cautious.
For now, she thought she would make sure to stay sober once every four days—and with that thought, she took another sip of the eastern liquor.
"Today we're having pork shabu-shabu. Here, we'll blanch the pork."
She decided to set the liquor aside for now and focus on cooking.
She plunged the thinly sliced pork into the hot water.
"Once the color changes properly, take it out and enjoy it with grated radish and either fish sauce or salt. If you don’t like radish, there’s also tomato sauce. You can also add lemon juice or eat it with salt and pepper."
Tomato sauce was her father's favorite.
He also liked the grated radish, but he especially enjoyed the tomato sauce.
Dahlia’s tomato sauce was simply chopped tomatoes mixed with salt, black pepper, and a little olive oil.
Carlo, on the other hand, didn’t use the sauce as a side; he preferred to wrap the meat with the tomato sauce as the main part.
Incidentally, Irma also liked the tomato sauce but added chopped onions. Marcella preferred black ale with her pork shabu-shabu, along with lemon and salt and pepper. She suddenly remembered that Tobias liked the grated radish with just salt.
It was interesting how everyone had their own preferences.
She, however, was open to all of it.
Wolf, seated before an array of small dishes, shifted his gaze from one to the next.
"You should try everything once until you know what you like."
"Got it."
"Oh, for the first plate, try the pork shabu-shabu with just fish sauce or salt, and then taste the liquor."
While glancing at Volf, who was seriously cooking the pork shabu-shabu, Dahlia began eating herself.
The pork was quite good, with a sweet fat. It was just on the edge of being greasy, but when boiled, the excess fat melted away. It was much softer than it looked, and passed through her mouth without any strong aftertaste.
When she followed it with the liquor, the previous spiciness seemed to pass through in a different way, and the aroma became even clearer.
It was always a pleasure when the liquor and food paired so perfectly.
She wondered if Volf, sitting across from her, was chewing a lot as usual, but that wasn't the case.
He ate the pork shabu-shabu with salt, then drank some liquor. After that, he added grated radish and ate the pork with the radish, followed by more liquor.
After repeating that a few times, he remained still, frozen in place.
"Did you not like it?"
Thinking that this time he had finally encountered something he didn't like, she called out to him.
"No, it's really delicious. After drinking this, the pork tastes sweet. The next drink goes down easily and flows even more. It creates a chain effect... I need to stop for a bit, or else the alcohol will run out quickly."
"That’s true, this combination does make it go down easily. But when this liquor runs out, I’ll switch to a dry white wine. That’ll go well with it too."
"Why hasn’t this been served in restaurants before?"
His golden eyes seemed to be looking at her with a hint of resentment.
Even if he gave her such a look, the compact magic stove had only been created recently.
There were various types of thinly sliced pork shabu-shabu served at restaurants in the capital, but it was usually a cold dish served with vegetables during the summer. It was subtly different from the one made in a hot pot.
"Dahlia, you’ve probably chosen the wrong profession... Well, not really wrong, but shouldn’t you also run a diner?"
"Oh, this would be easy and nice, wouldn’t it? A diner where you just put a pot on the table. The ingredients can be chosen by the customer."
"We’ll have different ales, spirits, and eastern liquor on the wall, prepared with temperature control, so customers can buy and drink by the glass."
"Wait, I’d actually want to go there myself. Also, isn’t that more of a tavern than a diner? Oh, if you could offer all the snacks in small bowls, like pickles or fried foods, and just pick from those, that’d be great."
"We could also place a fryer pot on the table."
"That would work for solo diners too, a counter with individual hot pots would be great."
After that, while continuing to enjoy the pork shabu-shabu, their conversation turned into a rather useless exchange of hopes and fantasies about alcohol.
After some time, Dahlia switched from eastern liquor to white wine and added more ingredients to the pot.
"I’ll add salt and vegetables, and in a little while, I’ll put in some wheat dumplings. They’ll be like bread."
"You’re going to boil the wheat dumplings?"
"Is that something you don’t like?"
"No, I've never had them boiled like this in a pot. I’ve only ever had wheat dumplings that were deep-fried."
"Oh, you mean the sweet ones from street vendors. These are good too. And while they cook, please try the grilled eggplant."
"I know I’m the one who peeled it, but this doesn’t really look like eggplant, does it?"
The young man tilted his head, staring intently at the grilled eggplant with his golden eyes.
The eggplant had a pale greenish-white appearance, so it probably looked strange to him.
Dahlia offered ginger and fish sauce with it, hoping he’d at least give it a try. Unfortunately, there was no soy sauce, so she had to substitute with a modified fish sauce.
The characteristic sweetness and aroma of the eggplant, its tender texture, followed by the sharpness of the ginger.
In her past life, she had only come to appreciate this dish near the end of her life, but in this life, she had started making it often when she began cooking.
Both her father in her past life and her father in this life were fond of this dish.
"...I think I might like this."
Dahlia wanted to ask why he was unsure, but Volf’s chewing had increased, so she decided not to.
"People who like grilled eggplant tend to like alcohol."
This was a theory of her father from her previous life, but it might actually be quite accurate.
After that, she picked at the vegetables in the pot and ate the wheat dumplings, which were well soaked in the broth.
It seemed that Volf liked this as well, as he neatly finished the entire dish.
Come to think of it, this was the fourth time they had shared a meal at the same table in the tower.
The young man across from her might not have kept track, but of the four meals, three times they had used a pot to cook and once they had grilled fish. She felt she might need to reconsider their future meals.
As she was pondering what to make for their fifth meal, she noticed Volf smiling at her.
"It’s the fourth time, huh? I’m getting treated to a nice meal again."
The words seemed to have been read aloud from her thoughts, and Dahlia was left speechless, simply nodding as she finished her glass.
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