Chapter 3

Sizzle~

The Basilisk meat placed on the sufficiently heated iron plate soon began to emit a delicious aroma.

Grrrr~

The smell awakened Theo’s stomach, which had been forgotten while being chased by the Basilisk, and it began to make its presence known.

“Th-this is……”

“Hahaha! Don’t worry about it. At that age, you get hungry just by breathing.”

Whether Theo’s face turned red or not, the Lizardman just laughed it off and focused on grilling the meat.

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The sizzling sound of the meat grilling alone was enough to stimulate anyone’s appetite.

The sound alone implied that it was delicious.

In fact, the boy, who had initially been reluctant when I offered to serve him, now had a look of gluttony on his face.

However, I didn’t let the sound distract me and stayed focused on grilling the meat.

The key to grilling meat is to remove the moisture from the surface.

That’s why I had to go through the process of removing the juice from the Predatory Water fruit that was used to marinate the Basilisk meat.

Why remove the moisture?

When meat is exposed to high heat, a chemical reaction between the sugars and proteins inside the meat causes browning and the release of aroma, known as the Maillard reaction.

This reaction deepens the flavor of the meat and enhances its umami.

The Maillard reaction occurs at temperatures above 120 degrees Celsius, the boiling point of water, and is most active between 170 and 180 degrees Celsius.

However, since water boils at 100 degrees, if there is moisture on the surface of the meat, it will evaporate, preventing the meat from receiving enough heat.

After carefully removing the moisture, I flipped the Basilisk meat to ensure it cooked evenly.

Another important point when grilling meat is to cook it briefly over high heat, not exceeding 200 degrees.

If the temperature is too high, the meat will burn before the Maillard reaction occurs.

Also, you shouldn’t grill it for too long because if the meat isn’t cooked enough, the Maillard reaction won’t happen properly, but if you grill it too long, the moisture inside the meat will evaporate, making it tough and dry.

After all the effort to tenderize the meat using the Predatory Water fruit, it would be counterproductive to overcook it and make it tough again.

I quickly removed the properly cooked Basilisk steak from the iron plate.

Then, instead of plating it immediately, I let it rest for a while.

The human boy, who had joined as a guest, was now completely fixated on the meat, eagerly waiting to eat, but eating the meat right away wouldn’t bring out 100% of the Basilisk steak’s flavor.

Another important point for enjoying steak.

Resting.

The residual heat on the surface of the meat allows the inside to cook while the moisture and nutrients that separated from the meat during cooking are reabsorbed, enhancing the texture.

In fact, if you find freshly grilled meat to be dry, it’s often because the meat wasn’t rested enough, causing the proteins and moisture to separate.

The resting time varies depending on the thickness of the meat and the type of meat, ranging from 2 to 10 minutes.

“Hmm. For a Basilisk steak, about 8 minutes should do.”

“8, 8 minutes?”

“That’s the time you have to wait before eating the Basilisk steak.”

“But in 8 minutes, the meat will get cold……”

“No. Unless it’s winter, leaving it at room temperature for 8 minutes won’t make the meat cold. Even if it does, you can just lightly heat the surface again.”

In the meantime, I prepared the sauce to accompany the steak.

I added oil and the remaining marinade from the Predatory Water fruit to the Basilisk meat left on the iron plate.

Then, I added flour dissolved in water to prevent clumping, seasoned it simply, and let it simmer.

This alone completed the instant gravy sauce using the Basilisk’s juices.

By the time the gravy sauce was done, the Basilisk steak had finished resting.

Thus, the meal of Basilisk steak with Predatory Water-based gravy sauce and One-Horned Rabbit stew was complete.

Adding a salad to go with it would have been perfect, but since I don’t particularly like vegetables and making a salad would have been too much work, I settled for two dishes.

It’s lacking in many elements to be called a full Basilisk steak meal……

Maybe I’ll call it the Basilisk Steak Light Meal.

<Basilisk Steak Light Meal>

Basilisk Steak

Predatory Water Fruit Sauce

Stew with Smoked One-Horned Rabbit Meat

I served the completed dishes on two plates, one portion each, and placed them in front of the boy.

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Theo stared at the food the Lizardman had brought out with a dazed expression.

“I-is this really Basilisk meat…?”

When he first heard the Lizardman was going to serve him a meal, he thought it would be some bloody meat with bitter, unwashed grass haphazardly served in a bowl……

But the food he received was a luxurious dish he had never seen before, living in a small rural village.

Of course, Basilisk meat and Predatory Water fruit were rare ingredients he had never encountered in his life……

But what made the dish feel luxurious wasn’t the rarity of the ingredients but the result of the cooking process using those ingredients.

The Basilisk’s unique white and red snake-like flesh, now beautifully browned and sizzling on the plate, was topped with a sauce that combined the fruity tanginess and the meat’s savory umami, striking his stomach with anticipation.

Moreover, the stew, prepared earlier, emitted a subtle aroma of various spices, and surprisingly, it was also generously filled with meat.

Honestly, given Theo’s not-so-wealthy family background, the stew alone would have been a special treat.

But that wasn’t all.

When cooking wild game, not raised for consumption, it’s natural for the meat to have a distinct gamey smell, especially in a hunter’s temporary hut.

But as if by magic, neither the Basilisk steak nor the meat-filled stew had any trace of that gamey smell.

Theo looked at the Lizardman with newfound respect.

Though nothing particularly complex was done, it was clear that the Lizardman had used meticulous methods developed through long research to bring out the best flavors in the food.

In fact, the simplicity of the actions made the techniques even more noticeable.

Theo, forgetting that the meat in front of him could be poisonous, quietly swallowed his saliva.

“Staring at it won’t make the food jump into your mouth. Eat it before it gets cold.”

Gulp.

At those words, Theo carefully cut into the Basilisk steak with a knife.

The first thing he noticed was how the meat tenderly split under the knife’s gentle pressure without much force.

Generally, the more an animal moves and the heavier its body, the tougher its meat tends to be.

More movement means more muscle mass, and a heavier body requires more muscle to support it.

Not to mention, this meat came from a massive monster large enough to fill the hut.

Naturally, he expected it to be quite tough, even with tenderizing measures.

When he was younger, during a village festival, they slaughtered an old ox that could no longer work, and the whole village shared the meat.

He thought it would be at least as tough as that ox meat.

But this tender texture, like that of a hen’s meat, what could it mean?

He cut a bite-sized piece of Basilisk meat, generously coated it with the Predatory Water fruit sauce, and brought it to his mouth. The light in the hut reflected off the meat, giving it a glossy, honey-like sheen.

“Th-then, I’ll eat……”

And as if entranced, he put the Basilisk steak into his mouth.