Chapter 32

After finishing the hunt for the Sea Golem, we returned to the Adventurer Guild in the seaside city.

Certainly, a monster of 4-5 meters in size, with valuable parts not limited to specific areas but the entire shell being highly valuable, meant we could receive a substantial reward.

Even after deducting the cost of transporting the Sea Golem’s corpse to the Adventurer Guild, the value of one Sea Golem was comparable to that of the Awakening Species Shavel Tiger we hunted last time.

Whether the Awakening Species, which is valued similarly to a 4-5 meter monster despite being just a tiger, is impressive, or the fact that a normal individual, not even awakened, is valued similarly to an Awakening Species, is remarkable.

With two monsters hunted, we had managed to secure the funds we initially aimed for.

After selling all but one of the Sea Golem’s claws for cooking, we returned to the inn with heavier pockets and lighter steps.

“Now, the long-awaited cooking time has come.”

“Finally, this moment has arrived…”

“Hmph. Don’t even think about eyeing my share later.”

“That would never happen!”

In my past life, lobster was a delicacy I couldn’t get enough of.

How did it come to this?

Could it be that this world is an inverted world of ingredients?

For a moment, I wondered if serving such precious lobster dishes to those who dislike them was the right choice, but since they followed me to the seaside city despite everything, it’s only fair to treat them to Sea Golem dishes.

Thinking so, I headed to the inn’s kitchen with the Sea Golem’s claw, as large as my torso.

When I asked to borrow the inn’s kitchen, the innkeeper, surprised that a Lizardman was cooking, readily gave me a corner of the kitchen, curious to see how a Lizardman cooks.

Not only that, but he also watched from a distance with keen interest.

I realized then, when I first ate Clam Chowder at this inn, that the innkeeper, like me, was serious about cooking.

Since there’s more than enough claw meat for three, maybe I should share some with the innkeeper.

With that thought, I lifted the claw meat.

I had roughly decided what to cook.

If it were seafood, lobster sashimi wouldn’t be bad, but…

That’s impossible.

First, there’s no soy sauce or wasabi for dipping, and serving thinly sliced raw meat to those already averse to Sea Golem dishes would only make them more repulsed.

Then, should I split the shell in half and make butter-roasted lobster?

But for such a large creature, evenly infusing it with butter would be challenging.

Moreover, I wanted to avoid leaving the Sea Golem’s original form to not disgust the two.

Thinking about it, I’m not a housewife finely chopping bell peppers to sneak them into fried rice for picky children.

In the end, I concluded that mincing and frying it would be best.

But frying it raw would be difficult due to the lack of frying powder, and it would overlap with the fried chicken I made last time.

So, I decided on Menbosha.

With Menbosha, I could substitute frying powder with bread.

After organizing my thoughts, I immediately started preparing the Sea Golem’s claw.

Normally, when cooking lobster claw meat, you split the shell in half and scoop out the meat, but the Sea Golem’s claw is as large as a torso, so I could just extract the meat without cutting the shell.

Incidentally, lobster is one of those creatures with little edible meat relative to its size because the shell is surprisingly thick, leaving less meat inside.

From a 1kg lobster, you might get barely 300g of edible meat.

The Sea Golem’s claw was no different; after extracting the meat, there wasn’t much left.

But I had anticipated the low yield and brought enough for four or five humans to share.

After extracting all the meat, I generously applied the juice of the Predatory Water purchased from the market.

Applying the juice not only adds a refreshing acidity like lemon juice but also detoxifies the toxic components inherent in monster meat.

Once the juice has sufficiently penetrated and the toxicity is removed, I use the leaves of the Bulrush, which absorb and store moisture, to remove excess water.

If too much moisture remains in the Sea Golem’s claw, it could cause excessive oil splatter during frying and make the bread wrapping soggy.

After thoroughly removing the moisture, I finely mince the Sea Golem’s claw meat.

Normally, for regular lobster, smashing it with the side of a kitchen knife would suffice, but for something as large as a Sea Golem, it would take too long, so I use a meat tenderizer to crush it.

The crushed claw meat is seasoned with salt and pepper, then mixed with a bit of potato starch and an egg from the Three-legged Fowl.

Not the whole egg, but only the strained egg white, which is mixed evenly with the crushed claw meat.

The egg white not only adds the unique flavor of eggs but, along with the potato starch, gives the claw meat a stickiness that helps it adhere to the bread when sandwiched.

This completes the filling for the sandwich.

Next, I cut the bread, made solely from purchased flour, into uniform sizes.

I then trim the edges of the bread to leave only the white interior.

The trimmed edges can be cut into small pieces and fried to make croutons, which can be added to Clam Chowder later.

With everything prepared, all that’s left is to sandwich the Sea Golem mixture between the bread slices and fry them.

I pour ample cooking oil into a Chinese wok and adjust the heat.

The key here is that Menbosha is cooked at a much lower oil temperature compared to other fried dishes.

If cooked at over 100 degrees like regular frying, the bread would burn.

The ideal temperature is between 60 to 70 degrees.

Then, I fry the prepared claw meat sandwiches until the bread turns golden brown.

Once one side is golden, I flip it to fry the other side.

When both sides are golden, the Menbosha is complete.

I continue making Menbosha one by one until all the prepared claw meat mixture is transformed into Menbosha.

After completing the Menbosha, I fry the small diced bread edges in the remaining oil to make croutons infused with the Menbosha’s aroma.

As a token of gratitude for lending the kitchen, I give some of the completed Menbosha to the innkeeper, who is amazed, having not expected a Lizardman to make such impressive dishes.

“Until now, I thought Lizardmen’s food was just roughly prepared meat dripping with blood and bitter-tasting grass barely cleaned and served in a bowl… I never imagined they could make such splendid dishes! I’ve had a big misunderstanding!”

“…Well, it’s not exactly a misunderstanding. Most Lizardmen’s diets are at that level.”

“Having received such a precious dish, I can’t just stand by. I must offer something in return.”

“No, there’s no need for that…”

“Still, I’ll provide you with the Clam Chowder you’ve been eating daily.”

“Ah, if it’s food, I’ll gratefully accept.”

Soon, the innkeeper, having received the Menbosha, serves three portions of Clam Chowder to my table as a gesture of thanks.

Although I planned to order it to accompany the Menbosha, food received as a gift feels even more delightful than what I buy myself.

It’s not just about saving money but feeling the goodwill of others.

Cooking for others often brings such small joys in return.

Indeed, sharing a passion for cooking creates a bond with the innkeeper.

With the completed Menbosha and croutons in hand, I return to the table with a warm heart.

As I place the Menbosha on the table, the innkeeper’s complimentary Clam Chowder arrives right on time.

Tonight’s dinner menu:

Bomb Clam Chowder with Sea Golem Menbosha

And croutons as a side dish.

“Now, the dish is complete.”

*Gulp*

Mari, smelling the dish Kurt brought out, unconsciously swallowed her saliva.

“U-unfair, making fried food…”

Isn’t fried food her favorite?

Knowing that, he went out of his way to make her eat Sea Golem dishes.

What a truly despicable method.

But even though her rationality knew the method was unfair, her tongue, remembering the taste of fried food, moved against her will.

The original form of the Sea Golem, which she found disgusting, was nowhere to be found between the bread slices.

If even a trace of its original form remained, no matter how appetizing the smell, her disgust would have prevented her from touching it.

But he had completely concealed the Sea Golem’s appearance with bread.

Instead, what emanated from the dish was the irresistibly greasy and savory aroma unique to fried food.

The golden-brown, glossy bread seemed to entice her on its own.

No, it was enticement itself.

If only she hadn’t known the taste of fried food.

No matter how much this aroma tempted her, she would never have succumbed.

But her tongue, remembering the taste of fried food, began to salivate regardless of her rationality.

The first fried potatoes she ate had a very thin coating since the potatoes themselves acted as the batter, and the fried chicken she ate next had a thick, crispy coating that crunched with every bite.

So, what flavor would bread fried as batter have?

Once this thought took root, it stimulated her imagination and hunger like a tree spreading its roots.

Fried food…

The fried food she hadn’t eaten since arriving in the seaside city.

A new form of fried food using bread.

Crispy and savory fried food.

Delicious fried food.

Ah.

Fried food.

Before she knew it, her hand, as if enchanted, picked up one of the Menbosha Kurt had brought out.

Karina was saying something to her, but to Mari, focused only on the Menbosha before her, it was just background noise.

And so, she brought the Menbosha in her hand to her mouth.

And then…

*Crunch*