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Skipjack Tuna Dishes
「I’m thirsty. Let’s get some fruit juice」
I was lying around lazily inside my room, but I got up from the bed because I got thirsty.
It would be easier if I just drink the fruit juice I stored using Space magic, but this also serves as a change of pace for me. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
When you shut yourself in a room with cold air drifting inside, your body will become stiff so you need to have some proper amount of exercise.
After I stood up, I turn my head and arms around, stretched my body all at once, and loosened my muscles before walking out.
When I open the door, moderately warm air caress my skin.
Currently, there are a lot of buckets of ice I made with Ice magic put in various places inside the mansion. Thanks to that, the inside of the mansion is mostly cooler than the outside.
On such a fall-like temperature, I go down to the first floor and enter the kitchen.
「Bartolo―, give me some juiceー」
Even when I entered while saying that, there was no reply from Bartolo.
If it’s the usual then he will return with a suitable reply like 「Ou」, but I wonder if he’s not inside now?
So I thought, but when I look around I saw Bartolo in the middle of the kitchen.
「……hmーm, what should I do next」
Bartolo groans while staring at something on the table.
And maybe because there are creases between his forehead that his already fiendish face becomes even more dreadful right now. That face is very impressive that you can’t help but wonder if he’s angry.
Although, Bartolo is not a guy who’s gonna be angry for no reason.
I wonder what kind of thought he’s having that he didn’t even notice I entered the kitchen?
Curious, I approach Bartolo instead of the refrigerated magic tools for juice. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Bartolo, what are you worried about?」
「Owaahh!?」
When I get close and call out to him, Bartolo shrinks away in surprise.
「The heck, it’s you, boy. Please, can you just approach normally without erasing your presence?」
「No, I think I approached you just like normal though.....」
In the kitchen, are things like cooking utensils and knives inside, so it’s prohibited to make a mischievous joke and surprise people here. So if I do that, they won’t let me enter the kitchen again.
「Oh well, I was also thinking hard so it can’t be helped」
「Thinking about cooking?」
「Yeah, it’s about the sea fish you all brought back. I was doing a bit of trial and error」
Looking at the place Bartolo points to, there are thinly-sliced frozen tuna on the chopping board, with carpaccio, soy sauce pickles, and steak lined up on the table.
He had probably defroze the ingredients I brought back and froze them with Ice magic immediately to make some cooking. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Ooh, it’s true. They’ve been properly pan-seared a bit, eh」
「Aah, the memo said that the tuna will have more umami if we did that and it will be less risky in doing that, you also told me that boy」
Right, that’s because tuna has a lot of bacteria on its skin, and eating them raw can be dangerous. So the bacteria will die if you lightly grill them with fire, the moisture will decrease and will improve the texture. Also, the meat's umami is concentrated, so if you want to eat them raw, you should chop them in pieces.
Moreover - I guess the chef of Sylford’s house knows that from long years of experience -  the chef taught me that when I was freezing the fish with Ice magic and also wrote me a memo containing points to take note of. The chef at Eric’s house is truly excellent and kind.
「Can I try eating them?」
「Aah, give them a taste」
When I asks him that, Bartolo arrange the chopped fish for me and put soy sauce on a small plate.
First I grab a thinly-sliced pan-seared fish with my finger and lightly dip it into the soy sauce before eating it.
The large meat of the tuna sits on my tongue, and when I chew on it, the rich flavor of the tuna and soy sauce spreads inside my mouth.
Un, it has the peculiar taste as before, but this combination of the rich fat taste and soy sauce that envelops it is amazing.
「Un, it’s delicious. It’s been nicely seared and thinly sliced」
「Yeah, but it still has a bit of a particular taste or rather smells to it, so I think it will be easier to eat if we have a condiment to erase that smell, but how did they make it in the Sylford’s house?」
「Un, they used ginger, onion, or grated daikon. Also, they have no soy sauce, so they use a citrusy sauce and made the taste refreshing」
「I knew it! If that’s the case, I have to make the condiments to make it easier to eat」
After I answer him like that, Bartolo says that with an innocent smile on his face.
I guess he’s happy that his intuition as a chef hit the mark. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
Even Bartolo - who usually has a frightening look - can smile like a kid at times like this.
「Can I also eat this steak here?」
I ask Bartolo, as he moves the thinly-sliced pan-seared fish away cheerfully.
It was a tuna steak-like thing besides the other thinly-sliced pan-seared fish. It is also grilled with soy sauce-base and looks really delicious.
「Ooh, but it doesn’t have condiments in it」
As Bartolo says that with a laugh, I stab the steak with a fork and put it into my mouth.
Different from the thinly-sliced chopped meat, the steak has a firm texture. But, when I teeth bit into the steak, it softly crumbles inside my mouth, letting out a refreshing taste.
「Un un, they certainly have no condiments, but I don’t think that matters thanks to the right amount of sauce」
The flavor of the skipjack tuna is unique, but I guess it’s because the soy sauce-based tare sauce is slightly sweetened that I don’t mind the smell that much. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Is that so? Then, I will give it a bit more onion and ginger than the thinly-sliced fish and grill it, thanks. That was a good reference」
I got a bit embarrassed when you thanked me like that directly. Even though I was just tasting it a bit.
「Ohh, not good. I have to make a boxed lunch for the jouchan’s lunch」
As I’m feeling a little embarrassed, Bartolo starts to prepare some food as though he just remembered something.
Now that he mentions it, Eleonora-neesan went to have a vigilante corps training today. It’s going to be noon, so I guess he has to quickly prepare her lunch box.
「What are you going to make for the boxed lunch today?」
「……I was too absorbed in the skipjack tuna that I didn’t think about it」
「Why don’t you just put that steak with rice?」
If it’s skipjack tuna steak and rice, they will surely go well with each other. Isn’t that enough for a boxed lunch?
「Nah, as expected, just that alone will be too poor. It’s a boxed lunch for a girl after all」
Aah, I see. Since Eleonora-neesan is there it means it's = Ema-oneesama and Sheila, and besides, recently there are also several girls that came to participate in the vigilante corps. I guess it’s not a good idea to make a boxed lunch for a guy. It’s also a tough decision for Bartolo.
Although, I’m unsure if he can make a boxed lunch with a nice appearance right now. He needs to provide a delicious and unusual dish that requires less effort and time. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Then, what about making a grilled tuna onigiri? Though it doesn’t look that gorgeous, it’s easy to make since it’s using precious sea fish」
「Oh? What kind of meal is that?」
Bartolo approaches me looking interested when I suggest that to him, so I explain it to him.
Grilled tuna onigiri is, finely chopping the seared thinly-sliced tuna like a namerou1, then you mix them with rice and grill it. A konamasu should be another name for it for the fisherman dish from Miyazaki prefecture in Japan.\n(Konamasu, should be something like this)
「I see, so it’s something like a grilled onigiri mixed with the tuna, huh? That seems delicious, but it’s only that.....」
Listening to one part of my explanation, Bartolo folds his arms and groans. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Fufufufu, Bartolo. That’s not all」
「What?」
「Grilled tuna onigiri is delicious enough if you eat them like that, but in this hot season, when you eat them with cold stock soup, it will become even more delicious. When you pour the cold soup on the onigiri, it will softly crumble, and when you take a bite of the rice with the sliced meat.....」
When I deliberately tell him about it in a slow manner of talking as if imagining it, Bartolo makes a swallowing sound, I guess he also imagined the scene.
「W, well, we also have some rice ready, shall we make them then」
Yay. Honestly I just want to eat that for lunch, but in this season where it is easy for one to lose one’s appetite due to the heat, it will also be easy for Eleonora-neesan to eat them so it should be fine, right?
Although if you ask me if it’s going to be a girly boxed lunch or not, it definitely won’t be one....