Chapter 18: Steamed Chicken with Everyone

Staren, who had come down to the first floor in response to my call, looked at the chicken stew (which he claimed to be) in the bowl and gave me a sympathetic look.

“Human, have your cooking skills finally gone bad too?”

“No, this is Victoria’s cooking, not mine.”

“So what do you want me to do about it? Clean up the trash yourself.”

“Trash? That’s too harsh. You shouldn’t treat food like that.”

At my words, Staren’s expression grew even more sympathetic.

“The problem isn’t your cooking skills; it’s your eyes. This isn’t food. It’s just chicken scraps soaked in water.”

“No…”

…I can’t deny it.

I sighed and asked Staren.

“I’ve got a question for you.”

“Yes, Master! Feel free to ask anything!”

“Why did you burn the chicken? No, how did you burn it when you’re supposed to put it in water and boil it?”

“I heard that it’s tastier if you grill the meat before putting it in the broth! So, I grilled it first!”

I was a little surprised by that answer.

The statement itself was true.

‘You know about the Maillard reaction, huh?’

Maybe she has some knowledge of cooking…

But my train of thought was completely shattered by the next question.

“So, how did you burn the chicken then?”

“I grilled it extra to make it tastier, just like I heard!”

“Why did you put fish in the chicken stew?”

“Fish is delicious! If you add something delicious to something delicious, it’ll taste even better!”

“So, did you taste it?”

“I couldn’t taste the dish before serving it to you, Master!”

Alright, I’m sure now.

She’s definitely the type who should never be in the kitchen.

No, how does she manage to pick exactly what shouldn’t be done in cooking?

It’s like the person who couldn’t cook, who used to be a meme, has materialized.

When I told her she had failed, Victoria slumped down on the spot.

“This can’t be… My parents definitely said it was delicious…”

“Just curious, but did you cook often at home?”

“No… After my first dish, my parents wouldn’t let me near the kitchen because they wanted to save my talent…”

Hmm. It’s not that her parents’ taste buds are strange, it’s just that they were telling white lies to prevent their daughter from feeling discouraged.

She has good parents.

But even so, some things are just not acceptable.

I tried to lift Victoria, who was still in despair.

At that moment, Staren slyly spoke to me.

“Human, why not just accept her?”

“What?”

What’s this? Why is Staren saying something like that suddenly?

Did he, unknowingly, develop some human emotions?

At the suspicious look on my face, he made a displeased expression and explained his reasoning.

“She’s the type who can just watch a technique and mimic it. If you make her follow your cooking, it’ll help her.”

“Well, that’s a plausible idea, but…”

“And then, I have a question about that.”
Staren asked me in a quiet, almost whispering voice.

“Your sword technique, is it really something that other humans can learn?”

I could feel my expression faltering at those words.

“He’s definitely curious about it.”

I had already been wondering about it after hearing that Victoria had tried to imitate my sword technique.

The question of whether this technique is something only I can use.

Even though solving that question might not change anything,

if, by any chance, there’s something to learn about me from it…

I quickly shook my head.

“No, that’s not possible. I really don’t have the time.”

“Well, teaching her cooking would solve that, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, it might solve that. But when would that happen? Until then, it would just eat up my time.”

“Then at least make her help with prepping the ingredients. When humans take on apprentices, they usually start with menial tasks, right?”

Is that so?

When I read martial arts novels, they often show apprentices starting with basic tasks like fetching water or chopping firewood for years.

Even in the artisan guilds in this world, it’s common for apprentices to spend years doing menial jobs.

Helping with ingredient prep would definitely be helpful right now, so it would certainly make things easier if I accepted her.

Eventually, I was persuaded and nodded.

“Alright, if you help with the restaurant work, I’ll teach you during the free time I have. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to teach you well, though.”

“Really?”

“Cooking seems like something you’ll have to learn quite a bit of, so let’s start with ingredient prep. That’s something you can handle, right?”

“Of course! But…”

Grrr…

Victoria awkwardly laughed as her stomach growled.

“Would it be alright if I ate something before that?”

“Oh, has the time passed already?”

I often lose track of time here since there’s no clock.

At Victoria’s words, Staren nodded in agreement.

“How about yakitori for lunch?”

“But we had that yesterday.”

“What’s the big deal about having it again today? What’s the difference?”

“Well, I’m tired of it.”

But I couldn’t just ignore Staren’s opinion, who is a reliable member of our team.

So, I compromised and brought up a different dish with soy sauce.

“Then, let’s have steamed chicken today.”

“Steamed chicken?”

“Yeah. It’s not quite like yakitori, but it’s a dish that uses similar ingredients.”

“Well, if that’s the case…”

Good, compromise achieved.

I led Victoria, who was still confused about what steamed chicken was, back to the kitchen.

The ingredients we needed were chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, and garlic.

For spices, I prepared soy sauce, pepper, and sugar.

‘The original recipe also calls for oyster sauce and black bean paste powder.’

I clicked my tongue in disappointment.

The black bean paste powder was something I could let go of, but I wondered if I could find some oyster sauce.

Looking at the soy sauce, I thought it was unlikely that we wouldn’t have oyster sauce.

If only I could find the oyster sauce, the savory taste of these dishes would greatly improve.

“Well, I don’t have it right now, so I’ll have to make do.”

Let’s just skip those for now.

I took out the chicken and placed it on the cutting board in front of me, then said to Victoria,

“Can you prep the vegetables while I handle the chicken?”

“Yes! How should I prep them?”

“Just cut them into cubes.”

“Into cubes! Got it!”

I quickly chopped the chicken and tried to watch Victoria as she prepped the vegetables.

But surprisingly, she finished cutting the vegetables right as I finished with the chicken.

“I’m done!”

“What? Already?”

That was fast!

Not only was she fast, but the vegetables were cut perfectly evenly.

She made the mistake of cutting the leeks and garlic into cubes as well, following my instructions too literally,

But that’s fine.

With this speed, if I just have her handle the ingredient prep, she’ll earn her keep.

I smiled at the unexpected result and put all the ingredients into the pot.

Then, I added soy sauce and sugar in a 2:1 ratio.

After adding just a bit of water to prevent burning, I covered the pot and turned up the heat.

Now, I let it cook leisurely for about 20 minutes.

If it looks like it might burn, I add more water and occasionally shake the pot to mix everything.

And here’s the next step!

I pulled out something I had recently acquired, and Victoria asked,

“Is that rice?”

“Oh, you know it?”

“Yes! My hometown is near a village that grows rice, so I used to eat it sometimes!”

You can’t have steamed chicken without rice.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the same rice I used to eat in Korea.

The rice consumed in Korea is short-grain Japonica rice, round and sticky, but the rice commonly eaten here is a long-grain variety called Indica, often used in Southeast Asian rice dishes.

This type of rice has less stickiness, so when you fry it, it turns fluffy and delicious, but if you just cook it as rice, it’s a bit difficult to eat with chopsticks.

“Well, since I’m not using chopsticks anyway.”

It’s fine, I can just use a spoon.

I poured the rice into the pot, added enough water to cover it just past the first knuckle of my index finger, brought it to a boil, discarded the water, and closed the lid to let it steam.

As time passed, the kitchen filled with the delicious aroma of the steamed chicken and rice.

Victoria kept glancing at the pot, swallowing her saliva.

“This is the first time I’ve smelled something like this, but it smells like it’s going to taste amazing!”

“The taste will be even better than the smell. Staren! Call Selly!”

“She’s already sitting next to me!”

When I looked out into the hall, Selly was sitting next to Staren with a pouty face.

I had told her to stay upstairs until I called her down in case there was danger.

Seeing my expression, Selly screamed,

“You’re trying to eat something delicious without me again!”

Ah, right.

The dishes I made the other day to eat with Selly, I ended up eating without her.

It was an unavoidable situation, so I understood, but it seems she had been holding onto it.

I shook my head with a feeling of apology.

“Yeah, today, eat plenty.”

I opened the lid when I felt the dish had cooked enough to check the doneness of the potatoes and carrots.

A skewer easily piercing through with no resistance.

That means it’s done.

I took out plates, served the steamed chicken and rice, and brought them to the table.

Selly, who had initially looked disgruntled at the unfamiliar dish, now had a curious expression on her face.

“What’s this?”

“It’s steamed chicken. A dish where chicken and vegetables are steamed in a soy sauce.”

“It looks delicious! Let’s eat quickly!”

“Yeah, Victoria, you sit down too.”

“To eat with my master…!”

Selly and Victoria, both with excited expressions, picked up their utensils.

Staren… is already eating.

Still not distinguishing between what to eat and what not to eat, she was chewing on the chicken bone.

I also picked up my fork and grabbed a large piece of chicken.

Then, I took a big bite.

A smile unconsciously spread across my face as the taste filled my mouth.

“Yeah, this is the taste.”

The salty soy sauce and the sweetness that brings out the umami!

And when I scoop a spoonful of rice to go with it, there’s nothing better.

Selly and Victoria, who had been watching me with glances as they ate the unfamiliar food, followed suit, putting chicken and rice into their mouths.

After chewing and swallowing, they both shouted at the same time.

“It’s delicious!”

“It’s delicious!”

Yeah, there’s no way it wouldn’t be.

After sharing their thoughts, the two focused on their meal, and I indulged in the steamed chicken I hadn’t had in a while.

For a while, the only sound in the hall was the clattering of dishes.