Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi-Chapter 582: Grilled Dragon Turtle
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Chapter 582: Grilled Dragon Turtle
Eguchi Ren: Sorry for the late upload (sweats)
Gumihou: Sorry everyone, I may only post two chapters per week from now on, at least until the busy season is over. I have several other things that need to be done before certain deadlinesโฆ T_T
โโฆIโm boredโฆโ
โUmu, so bored.โ
โโBoringโฆโ
โโSui is bored~~โโ
It had been five days since I had left the Dragon Turtle at the Adventurerโs Guild. It wasnโt long before Fer, Grandpa Gon, Dora-chan and Sui became tired of hanging around with nothing to do.
โWhy donโt you take a nap?โ I said suggested half-heartedly.
Fer snorted. โIโm bored,โ he repeated.
Grandpa Gon said, โI have slept for about 200 years. I could stay awake for the next 100 years.โ
[1] Thatโฆ was actually mind-boggling. I canโt imagine being awake for more than three days in a row, let alone 100 yearsโฆ Will I die if I try to stay awake for more than a week? I heard that people could die from lack of sleepโฆ
Sui and Dora-chan were saying something like โNaps are boringโ and โDonโt wanna sleep anymore!โ [1] and more significantly โWhere is the Dragon Turtle meat?โ
In short, everyone had had enough free time and wanted some action if they did not get to eat Dragon Turtle. Itโs not like I could just distract them with dragon meat every time, right?
However, there was nothing much I could do about the Dragon Turtle that had been sent for dismantling. Itโs all in the hands of the Guild now.
Every day, the first thing they ask after breakfast is โWhere is the Dragon Turtle meat?โ, โCan we eat Dragon Turtle meat today?โ
Haahhโฆ
I could only calm them down by telling them that Johan-san was not back yet, but I think we were close to the limit of the Gluttonous Quartetโs patience.
Frankly, I was a little surprised they lasted this long.
Fer had been saying โWe canโt eat the Dragon Turtle, so letโs go and huntโ from day three onwardsโฆ
I was running out of excuses when a messenger came from the Adventurersโ Guild telling me that the dismantling had been completed. Great, I was this close to barging in and telling Willem-san to just hack off a limb for usโฆ
Message received, I hurried over to the Adventurerโs Guild with my hungry familiars.
โW-we managed to complete the dismantling,โ said an exhausted-looking man.
I recognised him as Johan-sanโs helper. I think heโs on some sort of apprenticeship? Anyway, he was the number person two in the demolition department.
โThis was his first time taking something as huge as a Dragon Turtle apart. Moreover, it is a new type of creature, so you canโt fault him for being slow. Especially since he did not have Johan-san around for advice,โ said Willem-san pointedly.
Haha, sorry.
Still, I donโt mind being dissed like this, especially since I really need this meat to prevent my familiars from dragging me off for another trauma-inducing hunt.
โNo, no, youโve really helped me, haha.โ
โThe work may not be very neat, so please forgive me,โ said the apprentice.
โItโs fine, itโs fine, you must have been surprised when the Guild Master suddenly gave you this big job, right? Iโm sure you did your best. In fact, I think itโs great that you managed to complete such a big job in five days without proper guidance. It may not be pretty, but we can still eat it!โ I said cheerfully.
Thatโs right, the most important point was that I have Dragon Turtle meat in my hands now~ With a final wave goodbye, I left the Guild with meat and the partially dismantled Dragon Turtle. Things like shell pieces, skin and fangs as well as other valuable materials would be processed by Johan-san once heโs back. For now, Willem-san insists that I take everything back with me and to not return until Johan-san is back in Carelina.
[1] โWait! Donโt do that! Come back and report to the Guild if youโre travelling on that dragon of yours!โ Willem-san shouted suddenly.
[1] โHaha, I had been wondering about thatโฆโ
In fact, I hope to not travel anywhere on GG Airways as long as possible. Trust me.
โโMaster, I look forward to dinner.โ
โUmu, dinner should be excellent tonight,โ
โโIโm going to stuff myself when we get back!โโ
โโYay~ Dragonny~~ Turtleee~~โโ
Looks like everyoneโs eager, eh?
โHmm, how should I cook thisโฆโ I must do the standard taste testing before deciding on a menu.
I was immediately shuttled off to the kitchen with everyoneโs great expectations for tonightโs dinner. Well, first, letโs take a closer look at the meat. The flesh was white, closer to fish than red mammal meat.
After making a test taste batch, I picked up the piece of meat with my chopsticks hummed thoughtfully to myself, โCome to think of it, the Dragon Turtle looks like of like a creature from earthโฆ yes, it looks a lot like an Alligator Snapping Turtle. [2] My friend had one as a pet and it was pretty vicious, I remembered thinking that it looked kind of like Godzillaโฆ when viewed from a certain angleโฆ
Arrghh, now Iโm going to think of this as Godzilla meat, um, itโs fine, itโs fine, Fer and Grandpa Gon said that itโs delicious, so, yeah.
โHup!โ
I threw the piece of meat into my mouth and forced myself to chew slowly. It hadโฆ a certain amount of chewiness that was definitely not fish-like, with a surprisingly elegant umami.
How should I describe it?
It has the chewiness of a soft-shelled turtle and the elegant umami ofโฆ puffer fish? It definitely doesnโt have the scummy feel of a badly cooked soft-shelled turtleโฆ
Soโฆ
โIt would probably be delicious as a hotpot, but arenโt we having too many hotpots these days? Ugh, if it isnโt hotpot itโs karaage. I want to make something different with this. Hmmโฆโ
Thatโs right. Thereโs that!
Back in my Salaryman Era, I had grilled pufferfish with one of our more eccentric customers. I was surprised to find out that people actually eat pufferfish grilled.
โLetโs see, the sauce should be something like thisโฆโ I pulled out garlic, soy sauce, some sakรฉ as well as some large plastic bags. โI remember the garlic flavour being pretty mild, so letโs not go overboard with it.โ
I turned to look at the Dragon Turtle meat glistening on the cutting board. It lookedโฆ really delicious now. Thatโs right, how often do I get to eat pufferfish- I mean, Dragon Turtle?
After cutting the meat into appropriate sizes, I sprinkled a little sakรฉ over it, letting it rest as I prepared the marinade. There was no strong odour from the meat, but a little sakรฉ goes a long way in making something delicious~
The marinade was just a simple soy sauce and grated garlic (not too much), which I combined with the sakรฉ covered fish- Dragon Turtle meat before putting them into the Ziploc bags. After filling up two large bags, I thought it would be nice to have a different flavour profile and bought Salt Koji [3]. Garlic is nice, but it could get a little intense. An elegant salty flavour from natural seasoning like Salt Koji would further enhance the flavour of the Dragon Turtle meat.
Of course, we canโt just use Salt Koji alone, I made the Salt Koji marinade with plenty of Salt Koji as well as a little grated garlic and grated ginger for a more balanced flavour.
โRight,โ I said as I patted the Ziploc bags of meat, โIโm going to start the fire now, so you guys just chill out here, okay?โ
Naturally, to charcoal grill something, itโs time for my BBQ stove to shine! This time, I take my time setting up the fire with a fire starter. [1] Fer often got impatient at this point and asked โWhy donโt you just use a Fireball?โ
Itโs because I donโt want to damage my stove for one thing. For another, there was no point getting the fire started too soon since the fish- I mean, Dragon Turtle meat needed some time to marinade. In fact, by the time the fire was just right and the net all set up, it was still a little too soon, but from the heads poking up from behind bushes, I donโt think I could drag this out any longer.
โYou are grilling it?โ
โGrilledโฆ I wonder how it will turn outโฆโ
โโOu, itโs going to be super fragrant, right? Right?โโ
โโSui wants to eat it quickly~~โโ
โHold on, Iโm going to fetch the meat now, so watch the fire, okay?โ
I donโt actually need anyone to watch the fire, but it would give them something to do if I say that. Anyway, I quickly collected the Ziploc bags of meat and returned.
โRight, letโs start grilling!โ
โYay!!โ
Since fish meat sometimes sticks onto the grill or falls through the grate, I took extra precautions and placed a net over the grill. As soon as the first piece of meat touched the net, a nice sizzling sound filled the air. The scent of garlic wafted to my nose and I nearly drooled.
[1] A quick glance to the left showed me that the Gluttonous Quartet was already drooling and was staring at the single piece of sizzling meat with shiny eyes. I quickly lined up the Dragon Turtle meat onto the net. Garlic marinade ones on the left and Salt Koji on the right.
Luckily, before too many โIs it done yetโ, I managed to flip every single piece of meat at least once and was soon filling up bowls with the first batch of the Grilled Dragon Turtle meat.
โRight, itโs done now. Careful, itโs hot. [4]โ
[4]
โUmu, not bad.โ
โIt is very fragrant. Master, may I have some alcohol with it?โ
โโItโs my first time trying Dragon Turtle! Itโs super delish!!โ
โโMister Turtle is yummy~โโ
Ah, so Sui has decided that the Dragon Turtle is more turtle than dragon? As for Grandpa Gonโs request, I totally understand why he would want a beer. The smell alone was making me craving for a cold one.
So, I generously emptied two bottles of beer into a deep bowl and handed it to Grandpa Gon.
โDrink in moderation.โ
Then, I also got myself some Grilled Dragon Turtle as well as a bottle of beer on the side.
โWoah, this is good! Both are pretty good in their own way. Oh, thatโs right, I should get that too.โ
โThatโ being a box of good spicy seasoning. Just a tiny pinch will do. The original Grilled Dragon Turtle was already delicious on its own, but adding just a touch of spiciness really-
โHey, whatโs that red powder? Also, I want seconds,โ
โFer! Your face is a little too close! Canโt you smell it? Itโs spicy powder, it will make the meat spicy.โ
โSpicy? I donโt mind spiciness. Make my seconds spicy.โ
โI wish to try the spicy one as well, Master.โ
โโHere too!โโ
โโSui donโt want spicyโฆ painโฆโโ
Thatโs right, the word for spicy and pain is the same in Japanese, haha. Well, I got the seconds ready, making sure that Suiโs portion is pain free.
[Gumihou: I worked at a fugu restaurant before! Itโs this shop https://www.kichisei.com/ Iโฆ washed dishes thereโฆ I was scolded a lot too. Haha]
[1] Add details
[2] There was very little segue into โsnapping turtleโ so I put in a bit more detail. Especially since I deleted some โoh wow, Iโm getting used to this place arenโt I?โ
[3] Salt Koji โ natural seasoning that could be used to enhance the umami of a dish
[4] Deleted: Be careful, it has small bones in it. f(r)eenovelkiss
Gumihou: Bones? Inโฆ turtle meat? Moreover, small bones in turtle meat??! Dude, youโre not eating salmon or bass which may have floating pin bones in it, so, please nope.
Video on how to remove pin bones โ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0AuP1A9F2U
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