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“That’s right, the things in Osaka, I can make them here, yan. Moreover, they are super cheap and delicious. Ah, I have so many things to prepare, wa!”
On top of that, Haruna seemed to be caught up in a strange feeling she had never experienced before.
It was a sense of purpose, no, of duty!
‘This was the reason I’m sent here’, ‘The reason why I was born’ kinds of thoughts ran through her head. This kind of sensation was definitely not a hallucination.
“Ah, didn’t that Goddess say something about dis…?”
The Goddess had said something about Okonomiyaki, about spreading Okonomiyaki in this world.
At that time, she was not sure what that Goddess was talking about.
Now though, she understood everything. However, when she set out to buy all the necessary things, almost none was to be found. Well, that’s natural, since the concept of Okonomiyaki haven’t exist yet, how could she easily get her hands on Okonomiyaki related items.
It was Haruna’s duty to bring the concept of Okonomiyaki into this world.
“Well, then I’ll make it wa! Yes! Ah yes, I’d like those cabbages, please! And do you have leeks, leeks!”
They do not have the green leeks found on earth, but there was a leek flavoured type of vegetable. Also, they do have chives.
“Yes, I’ll get these, wa!”
Next was pork. To prevent spoilage, she chose to buy preserved type of meat, after looking around she chose to buy one of the cheapest ham available.
“Where should I get flour ya! Ah yes, I’ll ask those people selling bread, wa!”
Haruna had no problem obtaining the flour.carrying her shopping on her shoulder, she hurried back to Martha’s inn.
===
“Okami-san, I’m going to borrow your kitchen, ya!”
“Okay, but what are you making?”
“Okonomiyaki, ya!”
The Okonomiyaki has both meat and vegetables in it. The carbs came from the batter used to hold it all together. The Goddess’ reason to spread this food was finally understood by Haruna.
Naturally, the sauce they use in Japan was not available here. For now, she will use local sauces as substitute. She would have to adjust the flavour of the sauce using salt and local spices.
However, she’s still missing an iron grilling plate.
“Okami-san, do you have any thin armour lying around?”
“Ah, there should be some in the warehouse. One of the Adventurer’s left it here and never came back for it.”
When she saw the actual thing, it looked looked surprisingly usable. So she immediately took it apart. The breastplate cover seemed to suit her purpose best.
“Yes, this looks like it could make a good grilling plate.”
First, fry up some of the flour to make tenkasu [1]. Tenkasu plays an important part in terms of the Okonomiyaki’s texture, giving it a slight crispy sensation.
She then place some cold water into a large bowl, added flour and whipped it quickly to incorporate air into the mixture. Then, she added some sliced cabbage and folded it into the thin batter.
When the make shift iron plate grew hot, she plopped the flour and cabbage mixture on it in a circle. On top of that, she placed the meat. Finely sliced ham that she had just bought that morning.
And on top of that, a slice of cheese settled on the circular pile.[2]
Once the Okonomiyaki became nice and fluffy, a somewhat suitable sauce was slapped on, and it’s done!
The cheese really brought everything together, she’ll have to make the next one with just salt and cheese.
“Okonomiyaki – Old Saxon Town version, ya! Go ahead, try it!”
“That’s a weird looking floured dish,”
Martha picked up the unfamiliar round flat thing with her hands, and braced herself to take a bite. Forks were mostly used by the rich and autocratic, and haven’t caught on yet with the common folk.
The meat used were actually the cheap jerky type of ham that’s quite difficult to chew. However, since the ham was so finely sliced, it can be bitten apart without a problem.
“Hot…! Hot…!”
“Well, it just came off the grill plate, but if you say ‘ ha fu ha fu’ while eating, the heat won’t be too bad.”
Haruna was watching Martha’s reaction closely.
An unexpected, “It, it’s delicious!” was unwillingly dragged out of Martha’s lips…
“That’s great! The cabbages really gave it a nice crunchy feeling, against a fluffy pancake batter base, the sensation it creates is really unique da! Try eating it with this strong flavour sauce, the combination will be perfect, ya!”
The feeling of ‘This is my win, na!’ was so great that Haruna did a fist pump.
“Yes, now let’s make one with just cheese, ya!”
“Oh, so these are cheese, and not ham. Ooh, this one’s delicious too!”
All kinds of good reactions and suggestions kept popping up.
“The cheese has melted a little, and the grill marks here made it even more aromatic! Oh, it’s good! This thing, I want to try putting in on my inn’s menu. It really fills you up and so easy to make.”
“That’s right, being able to eat until one is full is really great! Also, we can experiment with all kinds of ingredients!”
And that, was how the Okonomiyaki was born in this Other World.
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The very next day, the Okonomiyaki was introduced to the general population, the dungeon goers anyway. Haruna’s [Adventurer’s Convenience Store, Haru-chan] immediately began offering Okonomiyaki as part of their food options.
Both ingredients and grill plate was carried down to the 13th floor. Magic was used to create fire.
Kokon as well as the rest of the staff gather round with a stupefied expression on their faces as they stared at the strange food.
“This, just what the heck is this?”
“Looks about done! Go ahead and have a taste.”
As they sampled the freshly cooked food, all kinds of surprised voices began bursting out one after another.
“This is not good… This body is meant to serve God, how could I eat something so delicious…this, goes against all my religious teachings…”
It’s near impossible to have hot, freshly cooked food down in the dungeon. Eating a fresh Okonomiyaki was equivalent to getting a massive shock.
“Though it’s delicious, all the ingredients used in dis recipe is dirt cheap. God won’t be angry at you if there’s no expensive ingredient in it.”
While Haruna was still in Japan, Okonomiyaki was, slowly but surely, becoming a high class dish. This was something that Haruna was totally against. She was determined to keep this food cheap, fun and carefree and to maintain the essence of Konamon[3] style of cooking in this world.
“Everyone, it’s time to eat Okonomiyaki~! Starting from tomorrow it’s 5 bronze coins each. Try one today at super cheap price of 1 bronze coin, ya! Big service for our lovely customers, selling below cost!”
“Dis is ham and cheese flavour, ham with 3 different kinds of cheese, ya! Today’s ham and cheese is also 1 bronze coins!”
In order to save on the cost of water for washing dishes. The special Restoration Magic [Hotel New Awaji]’s hot water was used.
Haruna used a self service system for additional sauces and condiments. Customers could choose whatever additional sauce or condiment they like to put on the Okonomiyaki by themselves.
There’s an actual restaurant in the middle of the dungeon now.
Interested Adventurers immediately gather round to check out this hot new place.
The first Adventurers who came up to try were Haru-chan’s regulars. They all held a hot piece of Okonomiyaki each and simultaneously took the first bite. The moment the food entered the customers’ mouth, Haruna nearly quivered with nervousness.
“Delicious!”
At that single word, her nervousness vanished as she breathed out.
“It’s different from pasta, bread or other flour based snacks!It’s a completely new flavour!”
“Getting to eat freshly cooked hot meals at level 13 is really something to be thankful for!”
“The flavour could change so easily, I won’t get bored by it!”
“In this case, won’t monsters be happy too?”
Following a sense of relief, tears actually welled up in her eyes. “Dis is so great, wa… dis level of happiness, it’s almost the same as when the Tigers[4] won, wa…”
To see tears on the face of an unimaginably powerful and peerless Adventurer, all the customers and staff of [Haru-chan] stared at her in some sort of stupefied fascination.
“Even a demon could cry, this is…”
At Kokon’s words, Haruna made a ‘pu!’ sound as she nearly choked on her laughter. She slapped her own chest a few times as she tried to regain some control.
“Don’t say demon, na. At least say I’m a tiger. When did Kokon develop such a boke sense of humour? Dis is awesome!”
“It’s definitely after I joined as Manager’s staff, this thing happened before I realized it…I myself am very surprised.”
This Kokon will someday be taught the art of boke and tsukkomi [5] comedy talk by the irrepressible Haruna. They will one day form a comedy duo that will storm the Old Capital in order to push stand up comedy as a form of entertainment.
But that’s a story far into the future.
The future that will only come if continue to read this at prosperousfood dot com
[1] Tenkasu – Basically tempura scraps, if you want to make Okonomiyaki but don’t want to trouble yourself making tenkasu, just crush up some plain potato chips!
[2]Personally, I think there are some problems in Haruna’s Okonomiyaki cooking technique. She didn’t use the tenkasu for example, and normally people don’t place cheese on top since you have to flip it. The cheese will get stuck on the grill plate. I have so many beef against this recipe.
[3]Konamon – Is used to refer to floured dishes that made Osaka famous: Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki etc. Konamon is probably a squashed together word from ‘Komugiko na Mono’ which literally translates to Floured Things.