Elysion Online ~The Dragonewt and The Summoner~

Chapter 35: Amur minnow's cooking method

Author note:

I think the dismantling of the fish is a little grotesque. Please be careful if you don't like it. I think it's okay from where the first conversation is.

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The first thing to do is to get a reasonable branch from a nearby tree.

Then, take out a cutting board and place the amur minnow on it. The first thing to do is to remove the slime and since the amur minnow is too slimy, use salt to remove the slime.

Remove the scales from the tail fin to the head. Next, lift the gill lids and cut off the base of the gills. Cut the other side in the same way.

The next step is to remove the gills and internal organs. Insert the knife from behind, split the belly and remove the head. Then take out the gills and internal organs.

After that, I used the water I brought from the inn to clean off the scales, blood and gore. I also cleaned the cutting board.

Sprinkle salt on the amur minnow and make sure to sprinkle salt on the inside as well.

This is the key. Normally, I would refrigerate it, but I use magic ice cubes to cool it down.

If you leave it for a while, water will come out. This is the source of the bitterness in the fish. Rinse well with water.

Now it's time to skewer the fish. Start at the gills and stick the skewer into the lower part of the backbone, then wrap the backbone around the skewer.

Now all you have to do is grill it. If you are cooking at home, low heat is basic. If you're using a bonfire, you should use a long flame. The reason for not doing it over high heat or too close is simple. The reason is simple: it burns too quickly. If you cook it too fast, it won't be cooked all the way through and you'll end up with a big mess. Then, fix the skewer with a stone and wait for the rest. Ion is curious and asks me.

"E, Emm...don't you have to turn it over?"

It's an obvious question, but we're not supposed to do that here.

"I know you want to touch it, but you don't have to do anything. If you do anything, you'll drop the skewer"

As I was cooking the fish, Lily woke up and rushed over to me.

"You're cooking! It's unfair!"

"It's not unfair, You cant touch it"

Ion is warning her about what she heard from me. I think she's looking a little smug. It took five minutes to complete. Normally it would take about 30 minutes, but it's a game. Here is the finished product,

Amur Minnow Skewer: Rare 2 Cooking Quality F

Effect: 20% fullness recovery, 1 hour agility (slight) increase

This dish is made by thoroughly preparing amur minnow and seasoning it with salt. It's less bitter than normal.

It looks like a success. Thanks to the fish dealer at my part-time job who taught me how to cook it. Now, let's have Ion eat the first fish dish to mark the occasion.

"Can I eat?"

"Yeah, I originally came here to fish for you"

When I say that, Ion gets embarrassed...damn, so cute.

"T, Then. I'll eat it! Aum!"

Ion takes a bite. Opens her eyes and says what she thinks.

"Oh, it's delicious!"

"That's good"

I was inwardly relieved to see Ion. It was the first time I had ever cooked amur minnow and I was glad to see that it seemed to be okay, even though I used the same skewering method as for landlocked masu salmon, char and sardines.

"Jii"

"Don't look so hard, I'll give it to you"

"I did it! Aah!"

Lily took a bite.

"Tasty, but a little bitter?"

Yes. Well, that's the characteristic of this fish.

"Yes, it's a little bitter. It's definitely slightly bitter, but I can enjoy it

Ion has a sloppy face. Just being able to eat bitter fish makes you feel like an adult, right?

After that, we continued fishing. Perhaps it was the effect of my fishing skill, but I began to catch fish in a short time. But all of them were amur minnow. In the end, I only caught about 10 of them. Now that my fishing skill has leveled up, what should I do?

Name Takuto Summoner Lv15

Vitality 24

Magic Power 54

Strength 17

Defense 10

Agility 15

Dexterity 32

Skills

Bare-handed Lv5

Kicking Lv6

Staff Lv6

Summoning Magic Lv10

Alchemy Lv4

Mining Lv6

Dismantling Lv7

Appraisal Lv7

Identification Lv4

Wind Magic Lv5

Fire Magic Lv6

Earth Magic Lv5

Water Magic Lv5

Dark Magic Lv5

Light Magic Lv5

Lightning Magic Lv2

Explosion Magic Lv2

Wood Magic Lv2

Ice Magic Lv2

Space-time Magic Lv2

Reading Lv4

Cooking Lv7

Feeding Lv3

Fishing Lv1Lv5

"What's wrong?"

Ion asks.

"No, I'm trying to think of a good way to cook Amur minnow"

"Is skewer not good?"

"It's not bad, but if you have a better dish, would you like to try it?"

"Eh...I'm curious about that, but is it really that easy to come up with?"

"It's hard to come up with something completely new"

But this is in a game, not exactly the same as reality. There must be a way to get rid of the smell using real cooking methods...currently I have boar meat, chicken thighs, eggs, salt, honey and amur minnow. What can I do with this...amur minnow...amur minnow...oil?

"Ah! I got an idea!"

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"I'll have to try it to see if it works, but it's worth a try. I've got some chicken thighs"

I'm sure I can make both with that dish. Let's try it! Let's cook!

First of all, prepare the amur minnow in the same way as before. Then cut it into three pieces and put the meat in a bowl. Instead of using a pestle and mortar, I used a wooden branch to grind the fish. The result is a thick fish paste. Take it with my hands and make it round. Finally, pierce the fish paste with a wooden branch and bake it. Yes, this is,

"What's...this?"

"It's a dish called tsukune. I thought that if I cooked the fish slices directly, the smell would disappear. By the way, it's originally made with chicken"

Meat!"

Lily reacted to the word "chicken". It's still the same...and it's almost ready.

Amur minnow's Tsukune: Rare 2 Cooking Quality F+

Effect: 15% fullness recovery, 1 hour agility (slight) increase

This is a dish made by grinding and baking fillets of Amur minnow into dumplings. Salt is used for seasoning.

I'm glad it's recognized as tsukune.

"Here, it's ready. Try it. It's hot, so be careful"

"Yes! Itadakimasu. Huu...huu...amu. Hot!?"

Ion may have thought she had cooled it down properly, but it seems to have been hot inside.

"Hahuhahu...ah, I feel like it's less odorous than before! It's delicious"

It seems to be a success.

Jiii

Lily and the others' gaze attacked, you don't have to do that, I'll make it properly, just wait for me. In addition, I'm making tsukune, a combination of Amur minnow's tsukune and chicken.

I ate it too, but they all had different tastes and were delicious. And as a result, everyone's tastes also diverged.

Lily and Kotetsu prefer chicken, while Ion prefers amur minnow and Gray and Konoha prefer the mix. Gray and Konoha were more interested in fish. They're quite the gourmets. And since I made a lot of things, my cooking skill has improved.

Name Takuto Summoner Lv15

Vitality 24

Magic Power 54

Strength 17

Defense 10

Agility 15

Dexterity 32

Skills

Bare-handed Lv5

Kicking Lv6

Staff Lv6

Summoning Magic Lv10

Alchemy Lv4

Mining Lv6

Dismantling Lv7

Appraisal Lv7

Identification Lv4

Wind Magic Lv5

Fire Magic Lv6

Earth Magic Lv5

Water Magic Lv5

Dark Magic Lv5

Light Magic Lv5

Lightning Magic Lv2

Explosion Magic Lv2

Wood Magic Lv2

Ice Magic Lv2

Space-time Magic Lv2

Reading Lv4

Cooking Lv7Lv8

Feeding Lv3

Fishing Lv5

I wonder if there's anything else I can do with amur minnow, if there's one thing I'm interested in...that's fish sauce. It's a fish sauce made by fermenting fish. You may not be familiar with it in Japan, but you may have heard of nam pla. It is a typical fish sauce used in Thai cuisine.

It's easy to make, just put the fish and salt in a sealed container and leave it there. In reality, it takes over a year to make and the smell when you take it out is said to be very strong, but it makes a huge difference in the range of dishes you can prepare without fish sauce. Soy sauce is a great thing. I'll have to give it a try.

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Author note:

In order to show off Takuto's cooking skills and his ability to recreate the game, I've written about the fish disassembly in detail, but I don't think it's necessary to go this far. In the future, I may modify it so that the dismantling part is removed.

Finally, I've added a fish sauce flag. I've actually made it before, but please be careful when making it. The smell is unbelievable.

Next time, Kayo and younger stepsisters will appear in the game. Look forward to it.