SHC18_C18 Gluttons, Rejoice!

Chapter 18: Gluttons, Rejoice!

After our morning walk, it was time for Regulus-kun and me to learn about the household's duties. Today’s lesson? A “science experiment,” which is really just code for developing a new dish with the head chef.

This world is seriously strange. This world boasts an abundance of vegetables and fruits, including tomatoes, avocados, and a variety of other fruits.

Despite the abundance of ingredients, the recipes are surprisingly limited.

Sure, they have basic cooking methods—boiling, grilling, frying, and steaming—but that’s about it.

They have omelets, but not soufflé omelets. Crepes exist, but not mille crepes.

Basically, there are no evolved versions of anything.

That just won’t do.

So, I've been digging through my past life memories and trying to recreate dishes that would feel natural in this world while also satisfying my cravings.

Honestly, all I want is to enjoy a delicious meal.

I washed my hands with soap, helped Regulus-kun into an apron, and we headed into the kitchen.

Waiting for us was the head chef—a big bear of a man in a cook’s coat, with a thick beard around his mouth.

“Thanks for having us, Head Chef!”

“Welcome, Young Masters.”

“Thank you for… having me. I’m Regulus.”

“You did great with your greeting. He’s my younger brother. Please take care of him.”

“Ahh, I’ve heard the stories…”

Regulus-kun bowed politely, and the chef responded with a wry smile.

Thankfully, Rottenmeier-san has taught the staff well—no one gossips or comments on what’s happened over the past few days.

Now, today’s culinary adventure: chawanmushi.

This world has pudding. If pudding exists, then logically, steaming eggs should result in a delicious, jiggly treat.

So why the heck doesn’t chawanmushi exist here?

This is a serious oversight. Even my inner voice from my past life is shouting, “Chawanmushi is amazing!”

So today, that’s what we’re making.

I’d already told the kitchen staff during a previous session, “What do you think about a savory pudding?”—so they’d prepped the ingredients for me.

“Young Master, you always come up with the oddest ideas…”

“I love pudding! But eggs also taste good boiled and eaten with salt.”

“That’s true. Though… pudding with salt would be a bit weird.”

“Only because it’s sweet. What if it weren’t?”

“Hmm, but a pudding that’s not sweet… is that even a pudding?”

Yes. A pudding that’s not sweet is arguably not a pudding.

Now, how to pivot naturally into introducing chawanmushi?

“Let’s review the ways eggs can be cooked.”

“Sure. Boiling and frying are the basics.”

“There’s tamagoyaki, sunny-side-up, omelets, hard-boiled eggs…”

“Poached eggs too!”

Poached eggs exist here, which means the idea of soft-boiled eggs isn’t foreign.

But now that I think about it, they don’t have onsen tamago here either.

“I like my poached eggs a little undercooked.”

“Would you like me to make them for breakfast tomorrow?”

“Yes please!”

Yay! Sometimes all you have to do is ask!

…Okay, back to the chawanmushi mission. Focus.

We usually eat poached eggs on toast or with pepper, but hard-boiled ones get salt.

Maybe I can use that as a segue into eating them with dashi, like onsen tamago.

“Head Chef, when you eat poached eggs, they’re usually served with bacon or salad. But boiled eggs get salt, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Is that because nothing else goes well with them?”

“Not necessarily. I mean, pudding uses sugar, right?”

“Good point… then what would go well with them?”

“Hmm…”

The chef rubbed his bearded chin, thinking deeply.

Honestly, better to let a pro come up with a flavor combo than to just guess.

Eventually, he seemed to have an idea and began boiling some water.

He handed me one egg and a small bowl.

“Let’s try making a poached egg. Young Master, crack this egg into the bowl carefully—don’t break the yolk.”

“Got it!”

I cracked the egg on the counter, peeled it open gently, and poured it into the bowl—perfectly intact, yolk sitting proudly like a tiny sun.

“Nice! First try. We’ll poach it now.”

“Yay!”

He added a bit of vinegar to the boiling water. Then, placing a step stool by the magic-stone-powered stove, he helped Regulus-kun up and guided his hands with the bowl.

“Okay, slowly slide it into the water without breaking the yolk.”

“Mhm!”

As Regulus-kun poured the egg into the swirling hot water, it solidified almost instantly.

The chef quickly shaped it with chopsticks and a ladle, scooped it out, and dropped it into ice water to cool.

A perfect soft-poached egg.

Regulus-kun and I cheered.

The chef placed it in a small dish and handed us a spoon.

“Salt is good, but have you tried it with soy sauce?”

“Soy sauce!”

I gently cut into the egg with my spoon. The yolk oozed out, golden and silky, mixing with the dark soy sauce to create a beautiful contrast.

I tasted a spoonful—then fed the next one to Regulus-kun.

“Yummy!”

“Head Chef, it’s delicious!”

“I thought it might be!”

Soy sauce really does pair perfectly with egg yolk. But this isn’t the end!

Time to unleash my amateur instincts:

“Hey Chef… if soy sauce works, wouldn’t soy-flavored dashi be even better?”

“Dashi, huh… Let’s give it a try.”

The chef made a quick broth and poured a bit over another poached egg.

Once mixed, the flavor was rich and reminiscent of the onsen eggs from my previous life.

I spooned some into Regulus-kun’s expectant mouth—he lit up like a cherub again.

“So tasty!”

“Right?”

“Really?”

We both nodded furiously, and the chef tried it for himself.

He took a thoughtful pause, stroking his beard…

“Young Master, I think we can make savory pudding.”

“Really!? How!?”

“Normally, pudding is made by mixing eggs with milk and sugar. But what if we used dashi instead?”

“That’s amazing!”

A true pro. He’d taken my wild idea and found the perfect path to chawanmushi.

I was so happy I ruffled Regulus-kun’s little chick-like hair—though for some reason, the chef gave me a sad smile.

“Young Master… are you okay?”

“Huh? The egg was great.”

“No, I mean… never mind.”

He shook his head, still smiling bitterly.

Eunie: I'm spent....phew....

PREVIOUS

NEXT